Forums Forums Wirral Information Ask - Wiki Wirral Ash Brook? Maybe.

I think there was once a brook that started around mount road. I guess This has now been culverted and runs under Heswall Avenue and Brimstage Avenue and crosses Kings road to make its way into the Allotments where it emerges briefly. There it runs after heavy rain in a ditch or small valley along the south side of the allotments until it reaches a grid near Kingsbrook way and vanishes from view,

From this point on it is underground now, and has been turned into a sewer I guess, but its original course can be clearly seen in the course it cut in the land along the South side of the allotments behind the houses on Princes Boulevard until it gets to the cae park behind Bebington Road Tesco. It crosses Kings road near the Kings and following the lowest point continues behind the Sops making its way towards Woodhey , passing teh oval and following the road to Bebindgton stations and passing below the railway bridge.

From there it runs - I guess - under Brook street through Port sunlight and passes under the New Chester Road between Corniche Rd and Lodge Lane, Goes under the bypass and emerges as the main sewage input to Bromborough Waste treatment plant.

From looking at road names such as Kingsbrook Road, and Brook Street I expect it was called the something brook, and the oldest road I can find which may have been built when it was still a recognisable brook is Ashbrook Terrace suspect it might once have been called the Ash Brook.

I have been told it was called the Withert, but I am sceptical about this,

Can anyone confirm ny guesswork here? Is it the Ash Brook? If not, what?

I really don't think it has ever had a formal name so so it was probably nicknamed locally in different areas hence Dale, Withert, Wood, Ash etc all occurring depending who you speak to.

A fair length was the formal boundary of Tranmere yet isn't named in the boundary description, just described.

My favourite would be Wood Burn but that's because I am half jock, it would tie up with its source being in Storeton Wood.

You can see in the corner a wet spot by the railings 1002 borough road nearly opposite brimstage avenue. The next easiest place to see it is off princess gardens kingsbrook then its culverted past beb station to pass in-front of levers museum . On a good day you can here it at the large grids . A friend saw it when the grids where lifted.

The culvert starts at the back of the Kings Arms car park (where the bowling green used to be).

I should have its source was Pine Woods, not Storeton Woods as I said above.

I think the culvert starts much higher up than the Kings Arms ca park. Up in Kingsbrook way.

I think from that point on its a sewer serving the houses on the northern side of Princes Boulevard. That said I haven't done any serious exploring.

There is still a stream bed down past the allotments all the way to the Kings Arms, I don't know if it has water in it, I'll have a look. They could have put a culvert under the stream bed but I doubt it, they could have simply laid a ground pipe along the route instead of digging a deep cut and shut

When the bowling green was still at the Kings Arms there was definitely water in that stream (1970s).

I'm guessing Kingsbrook Way is having their surface water and maybe foul water pumped back up to the main sewer on Borough Road by the pumping station at the SE end of Kingsbrook Way and at the same time diverting the stream's water the same way. This could be part of the plans to reduce surface water that floods the lower part of Kings Lane by diverting the stream to Borough Road.

It also looks like there may be underground flood tanks at the pumping station.

A possible flaw in my argument is that we have had floods since Kingsbrook Way was built (1996?) but I don't know when the pumping station was built and perhaps it still has an overflow down the stream bed. If the Kings Arms culvert is little used it will accumulate debris easily. I assume the Kings Road surface water also leads into the culvert or they have an overflow between the two in one direction or the other

It looks like the stream was also diverted slightly when WestGarth was built (which became Galtres School, since replaced by Galtres Park) which might be when the culvert was built.

The area around Woodburn area has had significant changes in land level, no maps have any ponds there so the stream had a clear route which clearly it doesn't any longer.

There was another stream between what is now Buckingham Avenue and Kingswood Boulevard who's source is even less clear, it joined this stream around the Jackson Close area but looks like it had been diverted that way.

Had a quick look but I didn't go into the allotments, I took some photographs but its so overgrown at the moment that they probably aren't of much use, I might put some up later.

From maps and aerials, behind part of Kingsbrook Way there is a short section of culvert behind number 8 to 12, I couldn't see the exit from 12 because of overgrowth.

Between number 12 and the sewage pump/tanks beside 102 Princes Boulevard there is water flowing down the stream, I couldn't see if there was an entrance to the pump from the stream. I did find a sneaky way into the allotments that somebody has created but didn't try it.

After the sewage pump area there is water carrying on down the stream behind 102 and 100 Princes Boulevard, in fact somebody is using the stream bed as a water garden which is great.

Behind Galtres Park there is a flat bottomed stream bed that has been maintained not long ago, the bed is clear of overgrowth and you could easily walk along it. There is no sign of running water.

Behind the Kings Arms is similar to behind Galtres Park except a lot deeper because its further up the hill, I couldn't see or get a picture of where the entrance to the culvert is because of overgrowth over the wall.

The steep spoil from Tesco's car park foundation is threatening to run down the slope into the stream bed in places.

I'll try this again when the overgrowth is less and maybe have a look from the allotments.

I wonder if the Records office in Birkenhead might be able to throw some light on the history of the stream?

Wirral Archive, it would be difficult without a name to search for but presumably they have water-courses documents, reports etc. A few people have attempted to map Wirral's streams in the past but ultimately there have been to many unnamed tributaries or multiple tributaries with the same name.

Kingsbrook Way's, Tesco's and King's Arm's planning docs may be of use, none of those are available online but you can visit them. There may be documentation for Port Sunlight Village when it was built, perhaps their museum could help. Merseyrail may have some also information, they must have documentation on culverts going under their line.

Title Deeds for King's Arms may have mention of riparian ownership or otherwise

The diameter of the Kingsbrook Way culvert would be intersting, I suspect it is a lot smaller than the Kings Arms one. They should get visible later in the year when the overgrowth dies back, the Kings Arms culvert should be visible from Tesco's car park railings then.

I suspect it is more sewer than stream from the Kings arms onwards. It must take everything from Bebington from teh right and there is a lot of building to the left too.

It probably sees a tributary from Town Lane and another at about Beb station too.

It used to be visible before the trees grew as it entered the Bromborough sewage works but by that time it was probably everything except what comes from teh Pumping station at the Dell. I remember it at about four feet wide and maybe a foot deep, going at a fast walking or slow running speed.

The outfall was where Woodhead Row is now, to direct it back to Bromborough Sewage Works would require pumping and sure enough there are two buildings on the end of Woodhead Row, One is an electricity sub-station, the farthest SW may be a pump. This has been rebuilt very recently so the planning docs should be online - I hate the new planning website, its almost unusable compared to the one they had a few years back.

I suspect the culvert/ sewer would have been redirected to where it leave Port Sunlight between Corniche and Lodge lane. The pumping station at the end of Woodhead Row, if it is a pumping station, is probably there only to handle local sewage and pump it back up to the main sewer. I doubt it is a pumping station though. Any sewage from that area would probably go under the A41 and be combined with what comes from the houses beyond the road.

Like you I find the new planning site unusable and don't feel inclined to wrestle with it.

Talking of pumping stations, where does the pumping station at Spital dam pump its sewage to? That's the one by ten Busy Bees childcare place

You are quite correct, its a rather extravagant bin shed which strangely might belong to the Council. Port sunlight probably has a covenent about leaving bins outside.

We've looked at that area before on the forum, I think we were trying to figure out what the concrete(?) posts at differing heights are on the land beside Woodhead Row, the land has a look of the old stream..

I always expect to see manhole covers in the vicinity of the monument (Leverhulme Memorial) beside the museum as that is where the original culvert terminated before Port Sunlight was built, I keep going back but don't find anything. I always presumed the culvert was extended down the original stream as there was the outfall where it joined the wharf.

I think there is a large drain running down Greendale Road going from previous road works, no idea which direction it flows but I'd guess towards Port Sunlight works even though the road slopes slightly in the opposite direction. If its the opposite direction there must be a massive drain down Bebington Road through New Ferry. I need to have a look for double manhole covers which usually indicate large junctions.

Spital dam is complicated, it was tidal at one time with high tides, the old Storeton Railway route has pipes in places which might be connected with the Spital Dam pump. Road is flooded today by the mini-roundabout.

The strange concrete pillars are new to me. I don't know the area very well. Have you any explanation for them?

As to the current 'Ashbrook sewer' I suspect at or about Bebington station it received contributions from both directions of Bebington road and probably Greendale road too. From there I am told it runs under Brook street and Lower Road and goes east of the Art Gallery, under the roundabout, and under the sunken garden part of the Leverhulms Hotel next to the school and thence between Corniche Rd and Lodge lane . A cast iron vent pipe stands at the A41 end of the grassed area, and I think it crosses the A41 at this point.

There used to be a footpath from teh other side of the road leading up to Beaconsfield road and I think it probably ran below that. The footpath was taken by builders some years ago to construct houses so it probably runs under them. I hope for their sake it never needs attention at that point. From there it skips under the bypass and runs under the playing fields behind Greylands Road to the sewage works. At this point I reckon with the aid of Google Earth it is about 10 metres deep.

I don't know where the sewage from Woorhead Row/ Water street and adjacent low level land goes or how it gets there. Its possible that it flows to the Spital Dam pumping station and from there to joins the Ashbrook sewer. Perhaps it is pumped to the works end of Greendale road which would explain the existence of the sewer you observed there?

Going backwards on your route and using google earth/maps.

Beside the last house on Corona Road there is a large circular manhole cover

Across the end of Corona, immediately before the car park, there was a roadwork cutting crossing the road.

Directly the other side of the bypass near the end of Beaconfield there is a manhole cover.

Very nearly inline with the previous two there was a roadwork cutting inline with part of St Michael's Park (across its dog-leg)

On New Chester Road at the end of Corniche there is a large manhole cover which had a roadwork cutting towards the new houses.

The Beaconsfield to Shorefields underpass/footpath still exists but there aren't any obvious manhole covers there..