A visit to Port Sunlight Saturday 12th September 2015 with a look at the Mersyrail railway station. 

Trains operating on the line to Liverpool calling at Port Sunlight. Passengers encounter a very unique station booking hall and station frontage. Port Sunlight is a model village, suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula.

In 1885, the brothers entered the soap business by buying a small soap and cleaning product works in Warrington. Lever Brothers is born. Needing larger business premises, William purchases 56 acres of land in Cheshire. He builds on marshes and creates Port Sunlight. The model village is developed between 1888 and 1914. Today the business is still going strong. You can spend some time looking around the village and also visit a the Visitor Information Centre that gives a very concise history of the venture. Allow time to see the video of the history of Port Sunlight including a fascinating insight to the workers.

                                        A bomb in a former railway station yard?

On a journey to Sutton-on-Sea we came across this what looks like a bomb in the goods yard of the former railway station at Horton-le-Clay. The railway line between Grimsby and Louth was closed 5th October 1970

Above the former Station House, a signal gantry and pedestrian gate still remain as a reminder of this once railway. Below is a a restored level crossing gate and the platform for the goods yard .   

If you would like further information about this former railway line please visit this website  which contains further information including the latter days of railway, photos etc.

                             Old tram lines are found again

Whilst travelling along the road between Sheffield and Rotherham road works have revealed the original tram tracks that carried the trams between them.   

A Sheffield tram heads the line up above seen at the Rotherham town centre. To the right one of the very unique Rotherham single ended trams that operated on this route between  1936 to 1949. A control at the rear end by the staircase did permit reverse shunting to take place. 

Certainly a challenge for the team of workers carrying out the road works.  Wonder if they realised that there were still the old tracks underneath the road surface. The last time I saw something similar along this road was back in 1970.   

The existing track bed that is planned for the new Sheffield Rotherham tramway connection which is only a short distance from the original tracks buried beneath the Sheffield Road. To the right an artists impression of one of four new tram/trains for the proposed new link between Rotherham Parkgate and Sheffield Meadowhall. The first of the new dual voltage trams is expected by the end of September 2015. Here we see the first new Tram -Train under construction .