Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request River Fender

No worries mate!

It's a nice little book with quite a bit on local wildlife & nature, as well as the history of the rivers & streams.

Forgot to mention but, if you look on ebay at the moment, there's quite a few old lantern slide photographs for sale, many of which are of old Wirral and North Wales. One of these in particular claims to be of an old bridge crossing in Wirral, circ.1890-1900.

Well worth a look even if you're not interested in buying. Just type in 'lantern slides' on ebay search. There's quite a few different sellers but most of the Wirral ones I saw were on pages 10 and 11.

Enjoy!

Thanks for that info, interesting photo, but the bridge size is larger/different to the one I'm looking for, probably younger too.

Sorry about that, but can't suggest much else other than checking the Greg Dawson books. He's the local expert on all things relating to Thingwall & Landican. If there was a 'Landican Bridge' anywhere in the area I'm sure he'd have written about it.

Sounds to me like it's an ancient stone bridge that you're after, in which case, it may have been part of a pack-horse route. There used to be a few on the Wirral, including the one at Storeton known as Roman Road.

No worries

Shall try and find a copy og the book you mentioned.

Thanks for your help.

19th century map showing some bridges on the main Fender which runs to the Ford brook, through to Landican

Fascinating maps, thanks for sharing, do you have at a larger resolution, particularly towards Storeton area?

There was a stone bridge across the fender which was reputedly early-medieval in date, including a sculpted image. Now destroyed.

Destroyed?! As in making way for M53 or some other vandalism? Any ideas on location?

The Main Fender on the map seems to me to be the Birket nowadays

There was some engineering of those rivers during the mid/late 19th Century?

Towards Storeton

Many thanks for your kindness in sharing that

Have it the river in question is marked on the map you kindly shared, not as the Fender, but the Ford Brook, and it is this which crosses the course of Landican Lane. Was the name of that river/stream changed sometime later? Does anyone have any recollection/info/maps on the Ford Brook?

The Main Fender is indeed now known as the Birket and the Ford Brook is now the River Fender, it would be interesting to find out when these name changes took place, and who's responsibility is it to change the name of a river.