The 1st of October 2017 marked the 20th year of the Wirral Bus & Tram Show. It was the biggest free transport show in the North West of England. It was split between the Woodside Ferry Terminal (ferry cross the Mersey from Liverpool), Pacific Road (former 19th century sandstone warehouse) and the Wirral Transport Museum & Heritage Tramway depot at Taylor Street. All these places were connected by a working heritage tramway.
Vintage buses were running free services to various picturesque towns and villages around the Wirral peninsular. This included into and around the world-famous Birkenhead Park – the world’s first public park, which influenced the design of New York’s Central Park.
There was a huge number of buses, vintage cars, military vehicles, emergency vehicles, classic motor bikes and many other vehicles on display. There was also a huge number of men with cameras, which made it difficult for little old me to get a look in!
There were refreshments inside the museum but we preferred to have a sit down in the small cafe called Angelina’s nearby. It was clean and attractive serving excellent home-made cakes.
At the present time, the tram museum in Taylor Street is closed for major refurbishment after their last event of the year the Santa specials in December. When the work is complete there will be a new entrance, foyer, the original Mersey Ferry toll booths, cafe, gift shop, toilets, more exhibition space, workshops, disabled lifts, a mezzanine viewing area plus energy efficient lighting and heating. The trams will run again on Saturdays, but the museum itself will not be open until May 2018, but it promises to be a good day out.
