Tranmere, Merseyside
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Tranmere is an area of the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, and is often regarded as a suburb of Birkenhead. It has a population of 11,668 (2001). The area is made up of industrial buildings and Victorian terraced houses.
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[edit] History
Its name was given by Norwegian Vikings who settled and colonised Wirral in the 10th Century. Tranmere in Old Norse is Trani-melr "Cranebird sandbank" or "sandbank with the Cranebirds".
Until the early 19th Century, Tranmere was the second most populous settlement in Wirral, with a population of 350, centred mainly in the area of what is now Church Road and the nearby hamlet of Hinderton. [1]
Tranmere was absorbed into the Borough of Birkenhead in 1877.
[edit] Ferry Service
Queen Elizabeth granted John Poole the lease of ferry rights at Tranmere in 1586. The Etna, the first steam-powered ferry on the River Mersey operated from Tranmere Pool to Liverpool on 17 April 1817. [2] The early part of the 19th Century were prosperous times for Tranmere's ferry service, but this was to change with the completion of Thomas Brassey's New Chester Road in 1833 and the opening of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway in 1840. Further blows to trade came with the commencement of a horse-drawn tramway in 1877 between New Ferry and Woodside Ferry and the opening of the Mersey Railway between Liverpool and nearby Green Lane railway station in 1886. By 1904 the ferry service had ceased and Tranmere Pool was enclosed as Cammell Laird Dock as part of an extension of the shipyard. [1]
[edit] Community
The area is best known for its football club, Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Mersey Park Primary School in Tranmere has several famous former pupils including Jason McAteer (footballer) and Patricia Routledge (Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping up Appearances). Paul O'Grady, famous for his alter-ego creation Lily Savage, was born and raised here.
St. Catherine's Hospital occupies a large site in Higher Tranmere. It was originally built as the Birkenhead Union Workhouse between 1861 and 1863 and designed by Thomas Leyland. [3] [4]
Tranmere is host to one of only 35 government neighbourhood pathfinders.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Maund, TB. "Mersey Ferries - Volume 1", Transport Publishing Co. Ltd., 1991.
- ^ mersey-gateway.org Ferries Across The Mersey
- ^ Brocklebank, Ralph T. "Birkenhead - An Illustrated History", Breedon Books, 2003.
- ^ workhouses.org.uk
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