Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Steam wagon water filling point's.

Not that long ago (but before i joined Wirral history) i did a bit of reserch in our area into water filling points for steam vehicles. To cut a long story short the trail led me to two places on the Wirral where two of these historic items where located.
Both where located on the A41, i soon found the one located in Great Sutton but was unable to locate the one in Bromborough despite ringing W.B.C to see if they could help (no better than useless in reality). The lady i spoke to at EPNBC on the other hand was very helpfull and and even offerd to send me a picture.
The website i have linked (i hope) shows the C.W&C website for one of these items but the website seems to say there are two of these "water points" in their area but yet i can only find one.
My original source of the water point locations said there where only two (Great sutton and Bromborough) in our area.
Come on you lot lets see if we can find these two "missing" items of history.

WATER POINTS CW&C

Nice pic i like steam engines very much

I will have a mutch over the weekend any clues ??

The exact location of the one in Bromborough i dont know, apart from the fact it is/was in Brom
They where operated by a "key" i am lucky to have a key for one of the ones that where located in Liverpool, you payed a fee to use the boxes for twelve months (ish).
One of the last ones to be used (so i have been told) was near Warrington. Boxes of this type only seemed to radiate from Liverpool, others of different design's where used elsewhere in other urban areas of the country.
Bellow is a pic taken in Liverpool showing one in use, as far as i can tell no other ones have survived in the Liverpool area apart from the ones on the Wirral.

Up until recently, I used to drive a Fowler Steam Roller that belongs to a Museum I worked at. When out on the road we just headed for the nearest hydrant and screwed in a standpipe to top up the tank. Some standpipes had a built-in meter - ours didn't !!

I never realised there were specific watering points for rollers and steam lorries. I can just remember the Birkenhead Corp. ones. They used to use the hydrants as well.

Passed my test on a Fowler (Class G). That was a laugh and a half !

cool what do they look like just so we all know what they look like ?? plz

Just seen the pic History book. I'm sure there used to be one somewhere near the Singleton Ave/Woodchurch Rd junction. Massive, shiny (due to kids climbing on it) cast iron affair. I think it had "WCWB" (West Cheshire Water Board)on the door.

I can remember the steam lorry's driving along New Chester Road In the Lower Tranmere area when i was a youngster. {the 1940s}

sadly the steam roller pic is not mine so i feel i cant post a larger res image. It's not the clearest of pics anyway. I think i have a better one of the same roller somewhere.

And for those who easly fall asleep when reading trivial info please look away now !!!.

............. The steam roller in the small pic was new in 1923 to Neston and Parkgate U.D.C by the early 1950's it had fallen out of use and lay in the Neston council depot in Brook st (soon to be a supermarket so i'm told). It was sold to two people from North Wales in 1955 who got it going again and used it for it's intended purpose for a couple of years.
It then fell out of use once again but was still owned by one of the two who had bought it from the council until he passed away about five years ago.

Sorry for being boreing !.

Yes the council depot in brook street (called Belmont cottage)has now been flattened and will be used for extra parking spaces.It was a lovely sandstone cottage (probably 2 at one time)that were i think railway workers cottages.I've attached a couple of pictures taken just before they were bulldozed

Shame; why do they have to demolish stuff like this? They'd make lovely homes if renovated.

Nice pics of the old cottage. the depot where the steam roller used to be was in fact on the left just after the houses, the market was/is held where the old depot was. Belmont cottage was a bit further down on the right just by the bridge (as can be seen in Nestonlads pics). I can just about remember the old depot as i used to go to visit someone who lived in the cottages on the other side of the road when i was young these houses where knocked down and they built the new row of shops.

I must add that i am not old enough to remember the steam roller being in the depot, someone told me thats where it was kept !!!.

This may be a load of old tosh but i seem to remember being told a long time ago now that Belmont cottage had at one time been farm buildings but was cut of from the rest of the farm when the railway was built.
I know this is what happend down at what i think was Scott's or perhaps it was Tozers farm on the left in Bridge street where the retirement homes are now, before the railway was built i think the farm land was where the Legion and stanney field is today (i think). I just may have a very old pic (late 1890's) showing a haystack and thrashing equipment on the sight where the legion is today but i think it was taken after the railway was built. I will have to have a good rummage once again and see if i still have the picture.

Bit of a pity, but i don't know the in's and out's of it all, but as you say it looks ok to be used for something.
Not on topic at all but,- an old place was knocked down where a friend lives (south midlands) it was listed but it was argued by the developer that his ownership pre dated it's listed status so he was within his rights to knock it down, and so it was reduced to rubble !!!!. My friend now says what is the point of listing buildings if they can be knocked down anyway !!!.

Rant over

Back to water points !!.

Found this in the book: 'Reflections on the Mersey' by Frank Unwin. A good read.

Is this a water filling point I found on Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead? If so, I saw another of these somewhere else a couple of days ago, just trying to remember where.

i go past that twice a day and sometimes more almost every day for the last 20 years and have never noticed that before lol.