Report - Northwestern Shiprepairers office (Birkenhead, Dec, 2017)

[urbanchemist]

Following the rule of always-stop-and-look, I stopped and looked at this place on a random drive round Birkenhead in the vague hope there might be some pictures or plans of boats.

History from wikipedia: The Company was founded by John Syvret, a former Cammell Laird manager, in 2001. In 2002 50% of the business was sold to Mersey Docks & Harbour Co. in exchange for the use of their dry docks. Then in 2005 the Company acquired the former Cammell Lairdyard at Birkenhead from A&P Group. In June 2008 the Company won an order to maintain 11 Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships. Having acquired the rights to the use of the Cammell Laird name, in November 2008 the Company changed its name to Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd.

The place turned out to be a trashed, rotting office block, composed mostly of empty rooms with the last sign of habitation in 2005.

This is not the way in.

The most interesting bit was two cabinets full of engineering drawings and blueprints. I picked up a handful of these at random and sorted through them - seemed to be all about a Mobil lubrication oil plant. In fact there are some reports on here about a similar place, demolished in 2014. I didn’t have time to examine any more plans, but most seemed to be fairly quotidian designs for flanges, pipes and other industrial gubbins.

 

[dweeb]

Excellent!

That is a fabulous drawing. We explored that Mobil place, but it was a little too much "pipes and tanks" for my taste.

 

[urbanchemist]

Excellent!

That is a fabulous drawing. We explored that Mobil place, but it was a little too much "pipes and tanks" for my taste.

Seems to be just a coincidence I picked those plans - had never heard of the Mobil oil place before.

Anyway, plenty more stuff there if anyone is sufficiently interested to have a rummage.

 

[UrbandonedTeam]

Ah that was the place we walked past but didnt know for sure it was abandoned! We found a little abandoned trainline very close to it, did you see that?

 

[urbanchemist]

Ah that was the place we walked past but didnt know for sure it was abandoned! We found a little abandoned trainline very close to it, did you see that?

Yes, you probably also noticed the little red brick building a bit further along next to those tracks.

I've no idea what this is - facing the wrong way to be a station - but might be worth checking out.

 

[The Amateur Wanderer]

Nice little find there, echoing Dweebs comment on the schematics, very nice...

 

[Calamity Jane]

Good find. Thats how its done. 365 days a year. If your out, take note of this report, You never know what you may find. Nice work again

 

[dave]

Nice work love the plans too.

 

[The Kwan]

Cheers for posting this up mate, I hopped in here a little while ago and was rousted by the security guard from Sasol the oil company that rents the site attached to it, mind you I did just plonk my van right in front of it when I saw the boarded up window had been booted in, proper stealthy like

The Original North western ship repair or Westerns as it used to be known was once situated next to Cammel Laird ship builders and the main gate used to be behind the Birkenhead Priory, I am talking in the 70's until the 90's and as I remember their site was taken over by a company called Mactay Marine who are still going today but have now moved to Bromborough pool.

I used to work at Cammell laird ship builders as a spark in the 90's and when the yard was bought by Vickers in Barrow it was clear that it was being ship robbed and closure was on the cards, however lairds is only still open today thanks to local MP Frank Field who campaigned successfully tooth and nail to keep the huge dockside cranes that run alongside the graving and dry docks, saying that ship building and repair would be gone from the Mersey for ever if we lost those cranes, he was right and the cranes stayed, thank God for Frank Field.
I recall that John Syvret took over after the yard was due to close after the Italian Costa Classica cruise ship welched on a £51million extension after the thing was actually built, year 2000 I think.

 

[urbanchemist]

Cheers for posting this up mate, I hopped in here a little while ago and was rousted by the security guard from Sasol the oil company that rents the site attached to it, mind you I did just plonk my van right in front of it when I saw the boarded up window had been booted in, proper stealthy like

The Original North western ship repair or Westerns as it used to be known was once situated next to Cammel Laird ship builders and the main gate used to be behind the Birkenhead Priory, I am talking in the 70's until the 90's and as I remember their site was taken over by a company called Mactay Marine who are still going today but have now moved to Bromborough pool.

I used to work at Cammell laird ship builders as a spark in the 90's and when the yard was bought by Vickers in Barrow it was clear that it was being ship robbed and closure was on the cards, however lairds is only still open today thanks to local MP Frank Field who campaigned successfully tooth and nail to keep the huge dockside cranes that run alongside the graving and dry docks, saying that ship building and repair would be gone from the Mersey for ever if we lost those cranes, he was right and the cranes stayed, thank God for Frank Field.
I recall that John Syvret took over after the yard was due to close after the Italian Costa Classica cruise ship welched on a £51million extension after the thing was actually built, year 2000 I think.

Thanks - that's really interesting to hear. I'm not a local - although I've lived in Liverpool for a while - so don't really know the backstory about Cammel Laird, shipbuilding etc.

It seems the cabinets with engineering drawings were about the only things the metal thieves hadn't taken. TBH I was surprised there wasn't more security, not for the offices, but for what looks (and smalls) like a large gas main behind the building.

 

[Сталкер]

the floor on the upper level feels like its going to collapse ..

 

[Dave W]

Originally the Canteen Block for Mobil Oil, Small detached building as you go in the gate would have been the medical centre.