Woodside Tunnel - Birkenhead

The second tunnel of the day was Woodside, only a stone’s throw from the Monks Ferry portal.

This one seemed to be a local hangout for youths, and we happened to bump into a couple of lads who claimed to be responsible for removing the portal door, which was now lying on the floor. Quite lucky, as they said they’d only opened it a couple of days ago.

The floor has once again been raised significantly. We got a good sense of just how much when we came across signs of digging and noticed the upper arch of a refuge point protruding from the ground below, these are around two metres high, and only a small portion was visible above the surface.

About halfway through the tunnel, metal arching and supports can be seen in the roof, providing reinforcement for the road above. After a short walk to the end, the northern portal was found to be bricked up and backfilled.

History

The Woodside Tunnel in Birkenhead, Merseyside, was built in the late 1870s by the Birkenhead Joint Railway to link the main line with Birkenhead Woodside Station, which opened in 1878. The tunnel was around 880 yards long and constructed mainly by the cut-and-cover method beneath Chester Street, the double-track tunnel curved northward into the station and served as a key route for both local and long-distance trains, including Great Western Railway services to London Paddington. Following the Beaching cuts of the 1960s, the station and tunnel were closed on 5 November 1967.