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.