Tag: Eastham Village

Eastham Ferry

I had a quick visit down to Eastham Ferry the other day to do a little flying. The original plan was to do some more shots over the River Mersay but again the wind was a little high for me to be comfortable also the area has a 60m high restriction in place so could get some of the shots I was looking for. 100% a place that I will visit and do some more flying.

Due to the limited footage to had to focus a little more on edit and using the music track to guild me.

History of Eastham Ferry

Since the Middle Ages, a ferry service operated across the River Mersey between Eastham and Liverpool, the early ferries being run by monks from the Abbey of St. Werburgh. By the late 1700s, up to 40 coaches each day arrived at a newly built pier, carrying passengers and goods for the ferry. Paddle steamers were introduced in 1816 to replace the sailing boats, but the demand for a service declined in the 1840s with the opening of a railway link between Chester and Birkenhead Woodside Ferry.

In 1846, the owner of the ferry, Thomas Stanley, built the Eastham Ferry Hotel and shortly after, the Pleasure Gardens were added to attract more visitors. The gardens were landscaped with rhododendrons, azaleas, ornamental trees and fountains. Attractions included a zoo, with bears, lions, monkeys and antelope, an open-air stage, tea rooms, bandstand, ballroom, boating lake, water chute. Entertainers performed in the gardens during summer, and included Blondin, the famous tight-rope walker who once wheeled a local boy across a high wire in a wheelbarrow. In 1894, the Manchester Ship Canal was opened by Queen Victoria, bringing added prosperity to the area and a Jubilee Arch was built at the entrance to the Pleasure Gardens in 1897 to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee. The ‘Bear Pit’ at Eastham Woodland & Country Park as it stood in 2006. In 1854 the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, whilst in the position of United States consul in Liverpool, visited Eastham and declared it to be: “the finest old English village I have seen, with many antique houses, and with altogether a rural and picturesque aspect, unlike anything in America, and yet possessing a familiar look, as if it were something I had dreamed about.”

In its heyday Eastham Ferry was known as the ‘Richmond of the Mersey’, but its popularity declined during the 1920s and the last paddle steamer crossing took place in 1929. The Pleasure Gardens fell into disrepair during the 1930s and the iron pier and Jubilee Arch were later dismantled. In 1970, to commemorate European Conservation Year, the area was designated a Woodland & Country Park and today, it is once more a popular place of recreation.

Music in video:

Lockdown by Baribal & Pold https://soundcloud.com/pold-music https://soundcloud.com/thatdudebrb Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_lockdown Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/dmQIxX3L_3c

St Mary’s Church, Eastham, Wirral. Mavic Mini Showreel.

My showreel of St Mary’s Church, Eastham, Wirral.

It may have looked like a beautiful day but the wind was deceptive today and the bird was not100% stable in the air. This was my first flight using my new ND filers but no color correction has been used.

St Mary Church, Eastham

A place of worship has been here since before the time of the Domesday Book, which mentions a priest at Eastham. The present church contains architecture from many periods, although a major restoration by David Walker took place between 1876 and 1880.

Some of the masonry in the north wall dates from the 12th century. The nave dates mainly from the 13th century, the tower originated in the 14th century, and the aisles in the 15th century. The south porch dates from the 16th century. The tower was rebuilt in 1752, and the chancel was restored in 1863–64 by the Chester architect John Douglas.

The church is built in stone with tiled roofs. Its plan consists of a tower at the west end with a small vestry to its south, a four-bay nave, north and south wide aisles, a south porch, and a chancel with the Stanley chapel to its north and a vestry to its south. The Stanley chapel is Perpendicular in style, as is the south porch. The tower has a broach spire with unusual gable pinnacles and three tiers of lucarnes.

MUSIC IN VIDEO: “Sappheiros – Embrace” is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0) Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/DzYp5uqixz0