The ship was first uncovered in 1938 when the Railway Inn was being knocked down and rebuilt further from the road, the site of the old pub being made into a car park.
Workers were advised by the foreman to cover the ship over again so as not to delay construction.
Another photo of the original Railway Inn in the 1930s, and two views of the existing pub, one taken in 1938, shortly after completion, the other in the early 1960s. Fascinatingly, a close up of the 1938 pic reveals that the bit at the left-hand side of the pub was originally its very own built-in bus shelter! Not many pubs could boast one of those...
Thanks for the great photo's. I remember now having had the bus shelter pointed out to me a long time ago. Also, I noticed that the old building bears a great likeness in its design to other BBC pubs, namely the old Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey Village, and the old Lighthouse Inn in Hoylake.
