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

haha you got it

...glad to know one of us has got a brain!

or as Oliver Hardy put it 'two minds without a single thought' :))

That's where I got it from. You can download the complete volumes 1&2 of the Notes and Queries (1892/3). Full of fascinating stuff, particularly the complete Bidston parish registers with notes about the various Bidston families. Highly recommended.

Just to confuse you all even more concerning the origins of 'Fender', you might be interested to know that the term also refers to a type of levee or embankment constructed to protect against flooding.

Any stream which becomes managed as part of a drainage system and has raised banks added to it can, therefore, be termed a fender. Sometimes local history books talk about 'The Main Fender' in Wirral, presumably to distinguish it from lesser ones.

I'd hazard a guess that any name changes in the river system came about following the enclosure of Wallasey Pool.

...forgot to add that I dug out a copy of Greg Dawson's book on Thingwall earlier today. As I suspected, he does briefly mention an ancient bridge at Landican, saying that if you look at local field-names you'll notice '...a Carr Bridge Meadow now a rugby Pitch by the Woodchurch flyover'.

He goes on to say that '...there must have been an old bridge across the marsh and River Fender, where the ancient footpath to Oxton is. Hence the field name'.

So there you go Erainn. That'll be a pint, crisps, and a packet of peanuts you owe us now!!!

Bit off the mark there. This bridge is located where the underpass now linka Woodchurch High School through to the playing fields that connect to Woodchurch Road opposite Durley Drive. This was part of Landican township, but is swamped by the woodchurch estate now.

Fair enough mate!

Can't say I know the area that well myself. I was just reporting back on what Greg Dawson's book says.

Thanks for your feedback anyway.

peanuts, is it? hahaha

It's good and helpful infor to be sure, yet it's not in the area my researches are heading..that said next time you fancy a brown over bitter and a pickled egg I'll be happy to oblige

That being so how does that tie-in with the re-naming of
the Main fender becoming the Birket,and the Ford Brook renamed as the Fender, as shown by the 19thC map posted previously. What were the dates of the Wallasey Pool construction pre-or ante the date of the Map?

Wallasey Pool is a natural inlet, the docks etc, were started around the 1820s.
The old Woodchurch secondary school was in Carr Bridge rd, behind the schools playing fields lay the Fender, to cross the Fender there was a bridge, the bridge was in direct line with the Railway bridge (arched brick construction) which led to a rough lane, the lane went up towards Noctorum/Oxton. Though that particular bridge wasn't ancient, i always understood it to be called Carr bridge, and i would have thought bridges get replaced at the same site as the years go by, the lane would have been a very old track. The bridge by the rugby ground/Woodchurch rd prior to to M53 being built was and probably still is, Prenton Bridge.

You know what they say, Erainn - "you pay peanuts, you get monkeys"!!! Personally, I'm more of a gerkin kind of guy!

...nice work bert. Some interesting comments there. We'll get to the bottom of this mystery eventually.

It would be great if one of our technical members could overlay a drawing of all the streams & rivers on to a map of the Wirral, with a brief history alongside each stretch showing the name changes over the years. Would this be possible?

Gherkins eh..now I know you are from the Wirral