'Eastham' Ferry Cross The Mersey

If you have been reading the blog for a while, you will know that one of the things I want to try and do from time to time is review and (hopefully) enthuse about different areas of the Wirral.  If not enthuse, then at least provide some historical background and perspective. 

So, as there is so much to do on this, the west side, that I rarely go over to the other (but not dark!) side of Wirral, on Saturday together with Kathy, a good pal of mine, we meandered over to Eastham Country Park.  It was a good choice, no doubt helped by glorious weather and we were both very impressed!  

Eastham is cited as one of the oldest villages on the Wirral Peninsula and has been inhabited since Anglo Saxon times.  Since the Middle Ages, a ferry service operated across the River Mersey between Eastham and Liverpool, run by monks from the Abbey of St. Werburgh. In 1846, the owner of the ferry, Thomas Stanley, built the Eastham Ferry Hotel and shortly after the Pleasure Gardens (now gone), were added to attract more visitors. The gardens were landscaped with plants, ornamental trees and fountains. Attractions included a zoo with bears, lions, monkeys and antelope, an open air stage, tea rooms, bandstand, ballroom, boating lake, water chute and a loop-the loop roller coaster too! In its heyday Eastham Ferry was known as the 'Richmond of the Mersey', but its popularity declined during the 1920s.  There is still a part of the woods known as ‘the bear pit’ so now I know why!

The Eastham Ferry Hotel looks pretty ordinary now and I was trying to explain to Kath how, as a little girl, I remembered a 'conservatory' on the front (again, long gone).  At the time, I lived in Rock Ferry and was taken there with a friend (Marita) and her dad.  Marita shone at Irish dancing and I used to watch her, mesmerised!  Anyway, I had ginger beer and remember picking bluebells in the woods – ah, bless!  I have just found this old photo (not in my album, I'm not quite that old but on the web) so I know I wasn’t dreaming but I don’t remember the other building at all. How splendid it all looks!

                                                         

The other pub, The Tap, was clearly a biker’s weekend rendezvous with masses of bikes of all makes and sizes on show.  Of course, as a biker at heart I had to have a good ‘ol nose and may even go back……………………

We walked along the river bank for a while and came across quite a few fishermen who were just as happy to have hooked a few hours sunshine

                             

as a fish – ha!  I doubt the scenery along the banks was much different years ago and I could just picture the sailing ships and pirates (okay, so as a child I watched too much Long John Silver, maties!).                  

We then stumbled across the most idiosyncratic café I have probably ever seen, all differing levels of garden with plastic animals, artefacts and a great profusion of plants everywhere
you looked!  The Mimosa cafe calls itself ‘A haven in a hectic world'

                              

and that is just about right. They did a great cappuchino though, even better!

After this pleasant interlude and a bit of a gossip (of course!) we walked up into Eastham Village which is just beautiful.  The church, the pub, the cottages and shops are all so atmospheric and take you back in time in a jiffy.  We talked about time travel, intuition, premonitions and lots of really interesting stuff!

To be continued……………………………………………