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| The footings for the railway bridge were on the site of the ancient Castle Rock |
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| The railway bridge was completed in 1868. It was named the Ethelfleda Viaduct |
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| Many men worked to dig out the 36 mile long Manchester Ship Canal, which opened on Jan 1st, 1894 |
Below: The Transporter Bridge carried passengers across the river
until 1961
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| The Transporter bridge was built next to the Ethelfleda Viaduct |
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| Approach to the Transporter from Mersey Road |
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| In 1961 all three river crossings stood side by side |
Below: Passengers could take the bus to the transporter, or walk
across The Railway bridge. In modern times, pedestrians can only walk over the new road bridge
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| A Corporation bus drops people off near the Transporter ticket booth |
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| It was possible to walk across the Ethelfleda rail viaduct for a number of years |
Some of these pictures are from the excellent West Bank Heritage website.
West Bank where Roy grew up has a long and interesting history. The Railway Bridge, Transporter Bridge, Suspension Bridge,
river and canals made it a busy thoroughfare for trade,industry and travel. People developed from Ingle, Saxon and Nordic
stock and in more modern times by Welsh,Irish and mid-Europeans immigrants, who flooded in for the jobs in the Chemical Industry
for which the town is famous.The unique settlement is a perfect setting for the novel.
The main street, Mersey Road, had a large array of shops and was where people and vehicles queued for the short transporter
crossing. The sense of community was strong and celebrated in the diversity of religious worship, there being Catholic, Anglican,
Methodist and Wesleyan churches in the vicinity.However, St.Michaels and All Angels is a fictitious church for the purposes
of the story! Neighbourliness and street celebrations were another way that West Bankers showed their closeness in this tight-knit
community. The River Mersey, with its promenade, provided a place for leisure and adventure while the river sands hosted annual
celebrations which brought in people from all over town.
For many years the community, which boasted a cinema and many public houses, prospered until in 1961 when things changed,
after the Transporter Bridge was replaced by The Suspension Road Bridge, as this sent travelers around West Bank instead of
down Mersey Road. The area went into a decline until by the 1970s, many original West Bank families had left the area which
was then undergoing a massive re-development plan involving the demolition of much of the crowded terraced houses.
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