ST HELENS

First stop today is the railway station called St Helens Junction, the scene of a mishap in 1906.

 

Moving into St Helens itself, we cross over a re-watered section of the long closed St Helens Canal.

As we approach the town centre, we arrive at St Helens Central station, once controlled by a fine LNWR signal box.

A contrast in trains calling here in 1994.

St Helens town hall, before the fire.

The Town Hall loses its steeple a second time, permanently, in 1913.

The top of Bridge Street, when trams were running.

Here's Church Street.

St Helens tram no. 3 at the depot, circa 1935.

St Helens Corporation Transport was absorbed into Merseyside PTE. On early PTE days, AEC Regent V no. 4 is seen at the depot, in the town centre.

More PTE buses at the depot.

The depot is now a museum and houses some nice vintage vehicles. This one is from Oldham.

More Merseyside PTE buses on the streets of central St Helens.

Halton Buses, from Widnes, run into St Helens.

Lancashire United and North Western both served the town.

Ribble Motor Services had a presence here too.

Arriva is one of today's main operators.

In 2004, Selwyn Motors of Runcorn were operating a minibus powered by batteries.

Various independents have been seen on the streets of St Helens. These have included Aintree Coachline, HTL Buses, Nip On, South Lancashire Transport, Town Flyers and Victoria Shuttle.

Ogden's was a short lived company, with its depot in the town.

Beechams was a famous building in St Helens. 

The Beechams building was later to become a brewery and bar. Sadly, no longer.

Another St Helens pub, a classic, was the Phoenix Inn, surrounded by industrial waste ground. It has since seen its last customer.

We do eventually find a pub that is still trading, the Abbey at Dentons Green (see the map here if you're lost). It's a Holt's house.

That's where I'll end this post. Next time, we'll head northwards.

AVOIDING SKEM

Our next stop is the new town of Skelmersdale, but we're avoiding most of it, just calling in to see Blaguegate Colliery (long gone) and a former Leicester Leyland bus found at the NWRCC depot.

We now head west, to the town of Ormskirk, with its impressive parish church, seen in 2004.

A horse bus is seen outside the church.

More modern road transport is provided by Arriva.

It's market day in Ormskirk.

Here's the railway station in L&YR times.

In 1979, one of the LMS designed EMUs is seen in Ormskirk station.

Now, it's 1982. An EMU for Liverpool shares the station with a DMU on the Preston shuttle.

A BRCW DMU awaits departure, northbound, 1984.

Merseyrail 507 027 is seen at Ormskirk in 2011.

Yet another EMU departs for Liverpool, wearing two different liveries.

A famous pub in the town is the Buck I'th Vine, seen here as a Walker's house in 2004. It's still worth a visit.

Don't miss the nearby Greyhound.... they serve a decent pint.

No cask beers in the Queen's Head these days.

 Apparently, the Yew Tree is "long term closed".

Just outside the town is the Hayfield, which has Holt's beers.

Close to the border between Lancashire and Merseyside is Aughton. See the map here. There's a former Burtonwood house, the Dog & Gun.

Way to the south and we're back in Merseyside, at Kirkby, where M28386M was photographed in 1987.

The Liverpool suburb of West Derby comes next, served by the city's trams.

Sadly, a former Higson's pub in West Derby, the Halton Castle, no longer serves real ale.

Leaving the city behind, we find Huyton station and its ex LMS signal box.

 St Helens and District Tramways No 34 at the Blue Bell pub in Huyton. THe pub shown has long vanished.

To the east is Rainhill, on the old Liverpool & Manchester Railway. 1980 saw the commemoration of 150 years of that railway with a parade of locomotives and rolling stock. Pride of place went to Stephenson's Rocket, followed by a grand selection of others.

Rainhill station is still open to passengers. 142 054 calls in 1994.

Outside the station is the Commercial, a former Higson's house.

And that's where we'll end this post. Next time, a look at St Helens.