Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral Pubs Past & Present 103 Shakespeare Hotel 234 Chester Street

Shakespeare Hotel on the corner of Chester Street and Waterloo Place



The Prince Alfred is on the opposite corner (on the left).

Just to correct the caption. The Shakespeare is the pub on the left and the Prince Alfred is the pub on the right.

dont know how many times we have made this correction regarding the shakespeare been on the left hand side of waterloo place. when i read the caption last night i thought NOT AGAIN

Never mind the pub. WHY is there a coke brazier in the middle of the tram tracks ?

this would probably be a cocky watchmans fire

They are the rails for horse drawn trams. The electric cars needed heavier rails and were laid (or re-laid)to a higher specification. This included the way the sets were to be laid around them. Note the pattern here and compare with the later ones.
This could have been taken around the time of the conversion, circa 1901. The photo is comparable with others taken on Borough Road at the time, which also include a watchmans fire.
Note the numbers to the right of the doorstep - 2604. I don't know what it is for, but in the Borough Road ones, the photographer kindly included a board with the date on it.

confirmed on map

I notice on the map it's spelled "Shakspere". Anyone know which it was?
(I would have expected the Ordnance Survey to get it right).

a pic

The Shakespeare in December 1965.

wow, it took a while to get my bearings but the above pic is exactly where the wall is then to the end of the shops were pc word is isn't it.
If so then its totally unrecognisable.

But.. you recognised it.

No actually, I looked on street view to make sure I had the right place and followed road to the end where pc world is.

Good picture, not seen that one before. It also gives us an idea when the Prince Alfred was demolished, as the ground seems freshly cleared.

My best guess is that its location is now part of the central reservation between the northbound lane going to the flyover / link road to Central station, and the southbound lanes coming from the Woodside direction towards Lairds main gate roundabout.

In the background, far left, is the old railway bridge which got replaced with a wider one to coincide with the new road layout. This became redundant and was eventually removed. The area of the railway sidings became the new trading estate. The PC world building, at the north end, was actually a later addition to the others, but in the same style. Just wind back Google Earth to 2000 and you'll see.

I don't think the road alignment moved very far on the river side of New Chester Road at this point, perhaps only the width of the pavement, while the west side, including the pubs, were completely demolished for the approach roads.

The picture below is taken from almost the same place as the one above. As far as I can tell, the bus is cutting through the last part of Wellington Place, intended to be a works access, but he had come along the wrong bit of road in error. ( I know, I was there!)

I would never in a million years of recognised it.

The yellow dot marks the approximate location of the old Shakespeare, seen on today's road layout.

Superb - Look at the water tower in the back - must ba 50,000 gallon capacity.
The railways behind the pub were the carriage sidings - known by some as Mason Street carriage sidings, which I can't readily work out as access from Mason Street would not be direct.

Mason St

What year is that map, please Bert?

Hi Yoller,

1967/70

Thanks, Bert. Do you know where I could get a copy?

Mason Street of course - now it makes sense - great map Bert - show the area before it was brutalised by the Tunnel approach scheme and before the Cally became marooned in the middle of the roundabout.

This picture, captioned 1954, shows Chester Street with the Shakespeare pub on the left at the junction of Waterloo Place, just by the traffic lights. The Prince Alfred pub is a bit further along, directly across the road from the Shakespeare. The railway bridge, now demolished, used to carry trains into Cammell Lairds.

Although all the buildings to the left along Chester Street were demolished in 1966-1967 to make way for the flyover and underpass as part of the tunnel approaches scheme, Chester Street still follows the same general line today.

Facinating and many thanks for the invaluable info, however I cannot find Waterloo Place or Wellington Place on my 1909 map, although I am sure I must have seen these places as a child but I cannot think where. I do remember the Wellinton Hotel on Borough Road at the top of Thomas Street but cannot think of where Waterloo Place stood Can you please offer a pointer.

Many Thanks

Tony

Central Station - Hind st leading into Blackpool st leading into Waterloo Place - Chester st.
Also got to it at the bottom of Thomas st and Jackson st and Tunnel Rd.
Nowadays it's just by PC World in rock retail park

Top of Thomas st was the Borough Hotel

I think there may be a bit of confusion over the location of the Shakespeare because Norton referred to 'Wellington Place' in his previous posting, when I think he meant Waterloo Place. As far as I remember, there was no Wellington Place in this part of Birkenhead.

You can't see Waterloo Place on the Godfrey 1909 map because it is not shown - the map is cut off at the southern end and does not go far enough down to reach Waterloo Place. But if you follow Derek's directions, you can reach what remains of Waterloo Place today.

There was a Wellington Hotel, at the junction of The Haymarket and the extreme eastern end of Grange Road, just across from the top of Jackson Street.

Many Thanks to all you very knowledgable Wirral Folk. Yes, I now know exactly where Waterloo Place once stood and the great pubs that stood there. I now remember walking under the now demolished railway bridge at the bottom of Hind Steet near to the Gas Works. Thanks again for jogging my memory. Best Wishes to all for your invaluable help.

Tony

Hiya - On some threads I see a link to an image posted but whenever I click them I see 'you do not have access to download this attachment' Can anyone help please?