I am carrying out a study on the Kingsway and would greatly appreciate any information on the segements were constructed some where near Mold and casualty information on either the Kingsway or Queensway
If you have any other information on the tunnels you may want to part with, I may be able to use it and would be very grateful
Queensway construction suffered 17 deaths. Spoil from both tunnels was deposited in two different Storeton quarries as well as, in the case of Queensway, Otterspool. If you want to know all about Queensway, you should buy the book "The Story of the Mersey Tunnel, officially Named Queensway". Available from tunnel H.Q., George's Dock Building, Liverpool.
There's also a booklet called 'The Mersey Tunnel - The Story of an Undertaking,' which was published for the Mersey Tunnel Joint Committee and tells the story of the construction. I think it was originally brought out soon after the tunnel opened.
JOSEPH BONNER 26th July 1926 Aged 26 JOHN JOSEPH McNULTY 17th September 1928 Aged 29 JAMES HERBERT BROWN 29th November 1928 Aged 18 JOHN WILLIAM BLAKELEY 7th July 1929 Aged 34 JOHN McNICHOLAS 13th September 1929 Aged 55 HENRY FRANCIS GARRETT DE MOUL 28th September 1929 Aged 25 JOSEPH COLLEGE 11th December 1929 Aged 62 JAMES MICHAEL WILMOTT 27th December 1929 Aged 42 JOHN CARBERRY 24th March 1930 Aged 26 ALBERT WHITE 27th November 1930 Aged 42 ALFRED PITMAN DUKE 16th July 1931 Aged 45 HENRY DENTITH 15th September 1931 Aged 24 PATRICK JOSEPH DURR 29th September 1931 Aged 33 THOMAS ARTHUR BECKINGHAM 16th May 1933 Aged 57 JOHN CARR 14th July 1933 Aged 23 JAMES GREEN 14th November 1933 Aged 22 DONALD LESTER 15th September 1934 Aged 24
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
There's also a booklet called 'The Mersey Tunnel - The Story of an Undertaking,' which was published for the Mersey Tunnel Joint Committee and tells the story of the construction. I think it was originally brought out soon after the tunnel opened.
I have two copies of this: 64 pages, foolscap quarto (slightly larger than A5). No publication information, but in one copy there is stuck a compliments slip from the Birkenhead Town Clerk. At the back of the same copy, but not the other, there's a fold-out plan of the tunnel. This copy has a blue cover, the other, a grey cover.
Have the books and a few videos but I am struggling to find any information on where the segements were constructed. All I can find is that they were somewhere near Mold in a disussed quarry. I have tried the obvious people and old mining links in Wales but to no avail.
Zipper, is there any evidence that the quarry was used for building the concrete segments for Kingsway? I can't find any reference to that in the Wikipedia article, only that it was "Opened in 1927 to provide materials for the construction of the Mersey Tunnel". From the date, that would have been Queensway.
Opps I never noticed the date. I was actually looking at Google maps at the time and found my youth. I used to go to Pantymwyn caravan site and found it was still going after 40 years. The Crown in pub where we used to serve ourselves as we would ask for about 10 pints of lager every 30 minutes or so.. my god.. I`m back to being 17 again. I`ll have to have another look for those segments. I sure I do remember seeing them being delivered on low-loaders. Cheers
The concrete precast segments were cast in the quary at Pantymawn.The company I worked for was overseeing the concret quality control.We had 2 members of staff at the quarry,1 of which,John Macready,had a very nasty accident when he fell through a board placed over a man hole, badly damaging his back. The segments were transported to Nutall-Atkinson's compound,on the site of the old swings.They were lowered to the portal area and transported to the liner erecting machine behind the "Mole" by single cab Foden dump tricks.These either drove in and reversed out,or vice versa.The tunnel invert was not the safest place to be I can assure you!
I did look at that link, but the connection seems to be a bit iffy ATM. From the name it looks as if the same firm, or at least one of the partners, was involved in the Queensway tunnel too; Sir Basil Mott was chief consulting engineer. Also, from the same source (the Queensway tunnel book) is an advert for the Gresford Sand and Gravel Co., probably the quarry in the pic. you posted.
Thanks, petethebike, for some hard information about the segments.
From Zipper's link, which is now working, this bit intrigued me: "In the 1960s we developed the flexible concrete linings for London Underground’s Victoria Line" What's flexible concrete?
From Zipper's link, which is now working, this bit intrigued me: "In the 1960s we developed the flexible concrete linings for London Underground’s Victoria Line" What's flexible concrete?
3 parts sand. 2 parts aggregate. 1 part cement. 6 parts old bed springs!
I used to go past the Pantymawn Quarry and knew it was not in use but when I Googled it all I got was bad news about it, being fined etc.. So, nice one Pete, Cheers.
I went to the quarry several times during the construction period of the tunnel.Only the first bore,when I worked there.1967-1969 if anyone's interested.The concrete test cubes cast at Pantymwyn were taken to our laboratory in Gorsey Lane,Wallasey for testing. We also did the materials testing for the Liverpool side,the Wallasey approach roads,through the old railway cuttings,and the Bidston Moss Interchange.Bloody deep piles there,way over 200 of your old "imperial" feet,if I recall correctly. Hope these old memories help. PS.It was Mott,Hay and Anderson who were the Consultant engineers for the project.
Pete... I went down the pilot heading (Seacombe Shaft to mid-river) a few times on visits. Do you remember Bob Baird? He was in charge of the land drive. Tragically killed whilst swimming by some idiot in a speedboat at Porthmadog. Being lowered down the shaft on Seacombe Prom. in a kibble with nowt to prevent you tipping out was er... exciting! H&S spoilt all that !!
Didnt one one the big cranes get sucked into the bog at Bidston and had to be rescued?. Omg, talk about health and safety, I used to walk on the tracks of the big cranes and talk to the driver as we went along.
I admit the name is ringing bells,it will be a 3am,that's it moment! I seem to get far too many of them theses days.You went down the vent shaft.Far deeper than just going in through the portal.I walked all the way through myself.Not a good idea if you suffer from clostrophobia,didn't like water dripping down your neck,or had watched too many episodes of Callan.It was the swinging,solitary light bulb that did it for me!!! I must admit,I did meet some incredibly interesting people. They ranged from men from Sligo,miners from Wales,engineers from South Africa,one of whom I met years later at Heysham Stage 2 power station.Small world init?
