I was recently messaged by a trainspotting type who had read a post about the little rooms and tunnels at the old Edge Hill Station at Liverpool, https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threa...d-wapping-tunnels-liverpool-sept-2020.125197/.
She, and unusually for a trainspotter it was a she, suggested I should look at some holes in the wall at Parkside, another former station on the Liverpool to Manchester Line.
All I knew about this station was that it has a monument to William Huskisson - if you’ve heard of him at all it’s probably because he was the first person to be run over and killed by a train, in 1830.
But really he was an influential politician and administrator, particularly in matters of trade.
For an entertaining account of the monument and accident see https://thisispop.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/unloved-north-west-the-huskisson-memorial/ or just Google.
I didn’t think there would be much to find - Liverpool is built on a sandstone ridge and the rail cuttings and tunnels are full of little refuges and rooms which don’t go anywhere.
Nevertheless, the monument looked interesting because it’s all fenced off, clearly something you are not supposed to see and hence a legitimate target.
First a bit about the station where the monument is located, http://disused-stations.org.uk/p/parkside/index.shtml.
Below is what it originally looked like according to one of Bury’s prints of the Liverpool to Manchester line, although his depictions need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Parkside was where the locos took on fuel and water, being about half way between the two cities, and indeed there are several structures shown on old maps that could be connected with this, including a pump house.
The chimney in the print was probably for a boiler since in those days the loco boilers were thought to be a bit feeble so were filled with hot water.
A photo, said to be of the unveiling of the monument in 1913 - maybe it was just being revamped since the original one was apparently erected in 1831.
The current view of the monument and what’s left of the station from the road bridge.
At this point I was still in Trainspotting mode:
Sick Boy: Do you shee the beast? Have you got it in your shights?
Urbanchemist: Clear enough, Mish Moneypenny. Thish should present no shignificant problems.
And indeed it’s an easy one with only fences or walls to get over so no need to get near the tracks or electrics, or no nearer than standing on a regular platform.
Two views from halfway down some stairs next to the bridge.
The stairs as seen from the other side, and the remains of some structure in the wall nearby.
The monument.
Replica tablet - the original is in a museum.
The hole in the wall is a shallow one, with traces of render in one corner.
Another hole in the wall a bit further along - this is just a little L-shaped room, a nice place to watch the trains zip by.
So not a lot to see really, as expected.
To complete the story a few of pictures of Huskisson’s other local memorials, his tomb in St James’ Cemetery next to the Anglican Cathedral, and a statue.
The tomb monument was put up in 1836 and he was planted here against his wife’s wishes.
You can’t get inside because it’s locked so a couple of phone pictures through the bars of the iron gates.
The plinth on which a marble statue used to stand - the statue is now being restored.
And a night photo from a while ago.
Another plinth at the end of Princes Avenue, where a bronze replica of the original statue used to stand before it was toppled during the Toxteth riots. Spot the derp in the background.
The bronze statue finally ended up down the road from the cathedral in a gated courtyard where we find the man himself dressed as a Roman and looking a bit chilly.
Despite what it says on the plaque above, Huskisson was actually quite liberal and progressive for his time.
Although not from Liverpool he was evidently well thought of by the people that mattered and his name lives on in Huskisson Street and Huskisson Dock.
She, and unusually for a trainspotter it was a she, suggested I should look at some holes in the wall at Parkside, another former station on the Liverpool to Manchester Line.
All I knew about this station was that it has a monument to William Huskisson - if you’ve heard of him at all it’s probably because he was the first person to be run over and killed by a train, in 1830.
But really he was an influential politician and administrator, particularly in matters of trade.
For an entertaining account of the monument and accident see https://thisispop.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/unloved-north-west-the-huskisson-memorial/ or just Google.
I didn’t think there would be much to find - Liverpool is built on a sandstone ridge and the rail cuttings and tunnels are full of little refuges and rooms which don’t go anywhere.
Nevertheless, the monument looked interesting because it’s all fenced off, clearly something you are not supposed to see and hence a legitimate target.
First a bit about the station where the monument is located, http://disused-stations.org.uk/p/parkside/index.shtml.
Below is what it originally looked like according to one of Bury’s prints of the Liverpool to Manchester line, although his depictions need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Parkside was where the locos took on fuel and water, being about half way between the two cities, and indeed there are several structures shown on old maps that could be connected with this, including a pump house.
The chimney in the print was probably for a boiler since in those days the loco boilers were thought to be a bit feeble so were filled with hot water.
A photo, said to be of the unveiling of the monument in 1913 - maybe it was just being revamped since the original one was apparently erected in 1831.
The current view of the monument and what’s left of the station from the road bridge.
At this point I was still in Trainspotting mode:
Sick Boy: Do you shee the beast? Have you got it in your shights?
Urbanchemist: Clear enough, Mish Moneypenny. Thish should present no shignificant problems.
And indeed it’s an easy one with only fences or walls to get over so no need to get near the tracks or electrics, or no nearer than standing on a regular platform.
Two views from halfway down some stairs next to the bridge.
The stairs as seen from the other side, and the remains of some structure in the wall nearby.
The monument.
Replica tablet - the original is in a museum.
The hole in the wall is a shallow one, with traces of render in one corner.
Another hole in the wall a bit further along - this is just a little L-shaped room, a nice place to watch the trains zip by.
So not a lot to see really, as expected.
To complete the story a few of pictures of Huskisson’s other local memorials, his tomb in St James’ Cemetery next to the Anglican Cathedral, and a statue.
The tomb monument was put up in 1836 and he was planted here against his wife’s wishes.
You can’t get inside because it’s locked so a couple of phone pictures through the bars of the iron gates.
The plinth on which a marble statue used to stand - the statue is now being restored.
And a night photo from a while ago.
Another plinth at the end of Princes Avenue, where a bronze replica of the original statue used to stand before it was toppled during the Toxteth riots. Spot the derp in the background.
The bronze statue finally ended up down the road from the cathedral in a gated courtyard where we find the man himself dressed as a Roman and looking a bit chilly.
Despite what it says on the plaque above, Huskisson was actually quite liberal and progressive for his time.
Although not from Liverpool he was evidently well thought of by the people that mattered and his name lives on in Huskisson Street and Huskisson Dock.
