Birkenhead priory, Merseysides oldest building, April 2012

[the kwan]

I watched the scaffold going up on this place and then partially taken down around the spire but now it seems to be going nowhere and I could only imagine how great it would be to get shots into cammell laird shipyard that has two dry docks right next to the priory with a manx ferrry and a naval ship in for repairs.

Anyway despite what I imagined the reality was pretty rubbish, the ships were there but they were just ships, god knows what I was thinking but regardless of this I was glad to get this done..thankyou to Ojay for the great advice and the very kind offer of safety kit because I am a shithouse when it comes to heights and you will probably be able to see my scaffold hook in some of the pictures...I cropped it out lol

The History
The history of Birkenhead priory goes back beyond Victorian years. The oldest standing building on Merseyside, Founded in 1150, the monks of this Benedictine monastery looked after travellers for nearly 400 years and supervised the first regulated 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'.

The tower of St Mary's, the first parish church of the town, shares the site which is now dedicated as a memorial to those lost in the 1939 disaster aboard the Laird's built submarine Thetis.



firstly a shot from google showing the dry docks that got me so enthused, you can see the Priory right next to the shipyard




The priory and St marys tower today all scaffed out


the clock of st marys tower minus its hands


The Manx Ferry in the dry dock next door is having stuff done to its sonar dome by the looks of it and the naval vessel in the background has all of its masts scaffed out.


The smaller dry dock is now empty and in the background you can see Liverpool and the Anglican Cathedral


One of the monster cranes in the shipyard


Close up of the Bridge


The navy vessel in the background


Birkenhead tunnel entrance from the priory and the end of the large dry dock



the forward end of the navy vessel that I couldnt quite make out if it was a frigate or a minesweeper.


As you will probably see it was all about the ships for me and the conquest of moderate height...again thanks to Ojay good advice is always welcome.
Thanks for looking and all in all a bit of an anti climax but given the places history it was still a win.

[the kwan]

Bit of an add on here, I visited again with Deviant seeing that the spire was now topped off with scaff he made the trip to wirral all the way from the lake district anyway it was blowing such a hooley that we never made it to the top, I am a self confessed shithouse at height and dint make the last four lifts but deviant was only two from the top...it was windy windy WINDY, anyhoose I only took a few shots and was thrilled to see that the ships had been moved around in the dry docks, we had two navy vessels and a tall ship and what looked like a tug....some pics

scaffed out, it dont look high from the ground but feckin bejeezus its decieving



The small dry dock was empty on my last visit so I was pleased to see these two beauts chocked up



and a crop



The wave knight all chocked up it is huge and even with my 10mm on I couldnt get her all in



her forward end and sonar dome



Grupo shot.