The iconic Shore Road Pumping station in Birkenhead saw 100 lucky members of the public treated to a tour of the Victorian site. Rare access to the pumping station was organised by Network Rail and saw 6 extremely popular tours carried out with a railway team and heritage-focused organisation Big Heritage.

The tours came as part of the national Heritage Open Days weekend and took place on Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th of September and marked the first time in 15 years that people have been able to visit the impressive architectural and engineering spectacle.

Shore Road Pumping Station was built during the 1880s in a bid to keep the railway tunnel beneath the river Mersey flood-free. At the time of opening, two steam-powered beam engine pumps saw none stop operation in order to keep passengers on the move safe from millions of gallons of water above.

Today, just one of the incredible 19th-century pumps remains in the building and has been nicknamed ‘The Grasshopper’. Despite ‘The Grasshopper’ no longer being operational, the building is still hard at work, serving the same purpose, however, using three modern pumps to keep Merseyrail on the move today.

The stunning structure was built to the highest standards with plenty of detail, including Italianate-style brick and slate, which was protected with listed status back in 1992. During this time, the site was used as a council-run museum which sadly closed in 2008 due to lack of funding, and until last weekend meant that members of the public were not able to access this local Victorian wonder.

Network Rail is collaborating further with Big Heritage in order to support more evening ticketed tour dates later this year, thanks to the amazing level of interest sparked by the tours held last weekend.

Allan Gibbs-Monaghan, of Network Rail, said:

“We were blown away by the number of people who applied for tickets to get a rare glimpse of Shore Road pumping station, to learn about its history and also the vital role it still plays keeping thousands of passengers safely moving every day on the Merseyrail network.”

“Looking after our railway heritage is a huge part of the work we do, alongside running a modern and efficient railway– and what better building shows both things at play at the same time? It’s been great working with Big Heritage to get the doors open to Shore Road again and given the demand we’re working together on more chances for people to get inside this iconic piece of Victorian architecture.”Dean Paton, CEO of Big Heritage, said:

“We are thrilled to partner with Network Rail to bring this Birkenhead gem back to the public’s attention. It’s a fantastic opportunity for people to learn about the engineering genius of the rail tunnels and the work that still goes on today by Network Rail to keep the tunnels clear of water. We are using these Heritage Open Days to gauge public interest in the site, with a view to opening the site permanently in 2024 to add yet another attraction to the already exciting new redevelopments happening around Woodside.”

To find out how Network Rail protects mainline railway heritage and its impressive conservation work, please click here.