FROM THE DART TO THE MERSEY
Earlier this year the ferry Royal Iris of the Mersey retired to an emotional farewell. She was described as “woven into the cultural fabric of the Liverpool City Region” and representing the region’s “proud maritime history”. She and her sister ferries achieved iconic status, through the 1960s TV sitcom Te Liver Birds and Gerry and the Pacemakers’ film and hit song “Ferry Cross the Mersey”. Gail Ham of the Dartmouth History Research Group looks at the Mersey ferries’ place in Dartmouth’s shipbuilding history.
I
n the late 1940s, Wallasey and Birken- head Corporations,
neighbouring Wirral authorities carrying 30m passengers across the Mer- sey to Liverpool, emerged from the war with ageing coal-fired steam-powered fleets and falling revenues. New ferries were urgently needed. First off were Wallasey.
Teir first new ferry order went to a Scottish firm. However, Dartmouth shipbuilding firm Philip & Son had just completed the first of three pilot boats for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. Sir Tomas Brocklebank was said in Dartmouth to be “the finest example of craſtsmanship produced in the yard since the firm began”. Te pilot boats’ design-
Mersey ferry Mountwood, later Royal Iris of the Mersey, soon after her launch in Dartmouth Credit: Dartmouth Museum
On 11 October
1950, amidst much ceremony at Philips’ Noss shipyard, Miss Pat Wensley, age 20, daughter of the Mayor and Mayoress of Wallasey, and Miss Penny Price, age 17, daughter of Wallasey Ferries’ general manager, laid the keels of both ferries. First down the
ers were leading Liverpool naval architects and marine engineers, Graham and Woolnough. Tey also designed the new Wallasey ferries. Philips put their hat in the ring. Submitting the lowest bid, against fierce competition, in April 1950 they won the order for the next two Wallasey ferries. Mersey ferries were designed
to cope with the strong tides and short steep seas of the estuary crossing. Te new vessels retained these essential characteristics, but with two “twin-stroke direct-acting diesel engines”, were faster and more economical to run. As newspapers pointed out, they
were also a lot more comfortable. Gone were open decks and wooden
Royal Iris of the Mersey, 2020. Credit: Dartmouth Museum Credit: Silver Novice of the Wirral at
https://flickr.com/photos/25965795@ N02/49584970097. licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.
seats – a sheltered promenade deck offered “ample space for perambulating”. A single “enclosed observation saloon”, occupied the full width of the main deck, with “upholstered bus-type swivel seats” and large plate glass windows. Te saloon could be converted
for dancing so vessels could be used on river cruises. Te smaller diesel engines enabled space for a bar and buffet below. Tere was better crew accommodation and the latest navigation, steering and communications systems.
slip at Noss was Leasowe, launched by Mrs Wensley, Pat’s mother, on 18 May 1951. Leasowe was a traditional Wallasey ferry name, aſter a nearby village. In Novem- ber she made the journey by sea from Dartmouth to the Mersey and was handed over. Ten days later, on
1 December, crowds lined both sides of the Dart to watch Mrs Young, the
new Mayoress of Wallasey, launch the second ferry. Egremont, also a traditional Wallasey ferry name, was identical to her twin sister apart from a “men only” smoking room, for cruising trips. Te ferries could carry around 1350 passengers on normal ferry duties and about 700 on cruising service. On 2 April 1952 Egremont arrived
in the Mersey, to a large welcome party. She had behaved “splendidly” on her voyage from Dartmouth, re- portedly achieving 14 knots in calm
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