Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Bidston Hill Underground Tunnels Part 1

No 8

Just didn't exist.
A Solid Brick wall and nothing behind it.
We at first thought it was above the "Arm Chair"
but this wasn't to be.

Ah well, it was just a thought.
I should have guessed the experts would already have spotted the possibility.

The Number 8 Emergency exit does not Exist there is the main entrance and a exit and the shaft 3 ways in only

the number 8 exit it says thats part of the unfinished was not dug

yerrrr
nice one robbo!

< hangs head in shame >
I'll just go and sit quietly in the corner and keep my dumb ideas to myself in future lol

No need dude keep them coming

Was there definately only one vent - this would be very unusual especially for something this size!!

Was there possibly any service tunnels for water, drains, electricity etc - funny putting toilets in the middle other than minimising average distance to walk.

definately only one vent, there is drains and they used a generator for the electricity

I think the generator would only be used in case of mains failure. I'm assuming the Bidston shelters were mains fed, as were the Tranmere ones. The Tranmere incoming mains feed was exposed earlier this year when the builders "discovered" the shaft cap.

To have a generator running all the time wouldn't be a barrel of laughs if you were down there. The old Exide "Glassklad" batteries would have kept selected lights burning if all else failed. When they failed ...... keep eating the carrots !!

Hi. Joined just so i can comment on this thread. I went through the tunnels in 1976, From the Rods entrance on Hoylake road as then this was just covered with inch thick corragated iron a bit of banked up soil & at that time it wasn't really a problem to get in, sort of a rite of passage thing & being a girl i had something to prove.
From what i've read things have changed a bit down there, then it was full of loads of old iron bedsteads rubble and office furniture, ie cabinets/ desks but i remember it was dry as a bone, youd expect some wet from being under the hill, but there was none at all. I now know from looking at the maps & pictures you've put up here that we made it all the way to the bidston hill emergency exit the rusty machinery we saw i now know from reading on here were for ventilation (exit 2 on the map) & the ladders and gantrys of course weren't as worn then as now look or maybe we were just light as shite & lucky because me and one mate climbed up to the top. Im not sure what it was capped & to be honest i never thought about it until now, but we opened it & had a look around . If i remember right from standing on the top most gantry and poking our heads out the windmill was off to the right through the brush maybe 3/400 yards away. We never climbed out though as we had 3 mates who wouldnt climb waiting at the bottom so we went back down, got lost & after spending the night lost the fire brigade rescued us the next morning. After that i think a girder reinforced brick wall was put up & concrete poured also the exits were probably blocked off but we never went to check.
Hope this is of interest to someone.

Ah, so you're the reason they closed them off lol. Nice one for sharing that information Razzi, very interesting.

Sorry, bout this, maybe its my age but ... at the top of the ladders the windmill was actually off to the left not the right & also thinking about it & looking again at the pictures you've put up, all those red walls weren't there so maybe they were also a late 70s addition because it doesnt look so much of a warren anymore & easier to navigate now. There were also rumours of an old capped entrance somewhere near or in the grounds of Vyner school/bottom of boundary road.I cant see how tho as it's all flat grassland.. except for the wooded area as you enter Bidston village on the right from hoylake road or the raised private horsefield to the right of boundary which would once of been land belonging to the hall i'd guess.

Your answers

This pic scale is spot on it does,nt go any feather in to the hill as this that is how you see is