In this next addition to my Branch Line series, I am travelling the line from Hamilton Square in Birkenhead to West Kirby on the west side of the Wirral Peninsula. I really like this line, with its Art Deco stations such as Leasowe, Meols, and Hoylake, while West Kirby features a more traditional Victorian building that was originally opened back in the 1840s.

We begin our journey at Hamilton Square station, one of the deepest underground stations outside of London and possibly the world. This station opened alongside James Street station in Liverpool city centre, with Liverpool Central originally serving as the terminus for the Wirral line until the 1970s when the Loop was constructed.

Leaving Hamilton Square, we loop underneath the original track from Green Lane on the Chester line. Initially, both the Chester and New Brighton lines would have branched out on the same line, leading to congestion at times. The construction of the Loop included this link to help alleviate any congestion.

Our next stop along the line is Conway Park, the newest on this section, opening in 1998. It was built to support the growing town of Birkenhead; however, it’s out of the way and doesn’t receive the same footfall as Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square, respectively.

Birkenhead Park was once a terminus station for the Wirral Railway for the lines coming from West Kirby, New Brighton & Hooton respectively, however in the 1950s the Hooton – West Kirby branch was closed but stayed open briefly for freight. However the lines from Seacombe, New Brighton & West Kirby continued until the branch to Seacombe closed in the 1960s under then British Rail.

Now it’s mere a junction station with both New Brighton & West Kirby lines joining here before heading underground into the City and Liverpool Central. I love the history of Birkenhead Park and the Park nearby the name sake was also influenced over in America specifically in New York influencing the Architect that designed Central Park.

We are now on the main section. If you would like to read about Birkenhead North, you can do so here. Heading further west towards our destination, our next stop is Leasowe, another station I am quite familiar with and has featured in many of my videos shared on YouTube and TikTok.

From Leasowe, we pass through stopping at stations such as Meols which became step free back in early 2020 just before the Pandemic took place. I remember filming a video at the station when they first opened. It was really cool to see the innovation there, I also hope that we will see lifts in stalled at the likes of Moreton & Manor Road stations too.

From Moreton, our next stop is Manor Road, an intriguing station that is quite secluded. Although it is connected by nearby roads, it lacks car park facilities, which is unfortunate. However, car parks are available at Leasowe, Bidston, Birkenhead stations, as well as Hoylake. The new Class 777 trains also offer step-free access with level boarding, which is fantastic.

With the sun setting it’s sadly getting to that time of year again where the darkness comes back and the shorter days with longer nights means that filming or photographing can be quite difficult with the way light is around this time of year. Hoylake Station is probably one of my favourite stations on this line!

It really reminds me of Arnos Grove on the Piccadilly line towards Cockfosters; it’s the only station that retains its Art Deco windows, unlike Leasowe and Meols! However, Hoylake still maintains that style. The penultimate station before reaching the terminus of West Kirby, it also used to be a junction with services heading to West Kirby (Junction) and then towards Hooton for Chester and Ellesmere Port.

We have now reached our final destination for this blog: West Kirby. It’s a lovely little station, as I mentioned before, with a rich history. The Swimming Baths and Fire Station next to the station were originally the site of West Kirby Junction, which served routes to Neston, Parkgate, Hadlow Road, and Hooton.

Please let me know below if you’d like to see a blog post on this topic, as I would be quite interested in writing about the disused railways around Merseyside and extending into areas like Runcorn. Which branch line should I cover next? I am planning to write about Wigan Wallgate – Headbolt Lane and then continue to Liverpool Central.