The Wirral Transport Museum and Heritage Tramway, 1 Taylor Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BG. 2025: CLOSED

Details

Accessibility

Brief description

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirral_Transport_Museum

"Wirral Transport Museum is a museum situated approximately 0.5 miles (800 m) from the Mersey Ferry service at Woodside, Birkenhead, England.

A vintage tram service links the museum and the ferry at certain times. Admission into the museum is free with a broad selection of vintage and classic vehicles, including trams, buses, cars, motorcycles, mopeds, bikes, and a fire engine. It also includes views of ongoing projects in the museum's workshops, a 26 feet long model railway layout, a reconstructed 1930s garage scene and various other transport-related static exhibits. 

Ownership of the museum was transferred in March 2023 from Wirral Council to Big Heritage, a non-profit company that also runs the Western Approaches Museum and two visitor attractions in Chester.[4] The council revealed that it cost £85,000 a year to run the museum, which attracts around 6,000 visitors per year. Big Heritage were granted a 25-year lease and hope to increase visitor numbers to 40,000 a year.

Numerous static or semi-static exhibits are on display at the museum. These include an example model of one of the cranes at the former Bidston Dock, model buses, model trams and a model of the former Mersey ferry SS Thurstaston.[20][21] A 26 feet (7.9 m) long OO gauge model railway layout, a reconstructed 1930s garage scene and a shop scene are also present.[22]

Several vintage cars,[23] including an Austin 1800 dating to 1970,[24] an Austin 7,[25] a Morris Minor Traveller,[26] a Triumph Dolomite 1300[27] and a 1946 Wolseley 14-series police car[28][29] are on display.

Also on display are various vintage motorcycles,[30] including a BSA Bantam,[31] a Douglas,[32] a 1956 BSA C10L,[33] a 1938 Norton 16H[34] and a 1964 Honda CB92.[35] Meanwhile, mopeds on display include a Yamaha QT50[36] and a 1967 Honda P50.[37]"

2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirral_Transport_Museum

"A tram line links the museum to the ferry terminal at Woodside. The museum closed in April 2023. Ownership of the museum was transferred in March 2023 from Wirral Council to Big Heritage, a non-profit company that also runs the Western Approaches Museum and two visitor attractions in Chester.[4] The council revealed that it cost £85,000 a year to run the museum, which attracts around 6,000 visitors per year. Big Heritage were granted a 25-year lease and hope to increase visitor numbers to 40,000 a year. The museum was closed in April 2023.[5] It is hoped that it will reopen in the summer of 2026."[6

https://www.mtps.co.uk/Transportmuseum.html

2025: "Wirral Borough Council created The Wirral Transport Museum as a visitor attraction at Pacific Road in 1995, mainly through European funding. Pacific Road also became home to the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society which was formed by a group of Liverpool University students in 1960 to preserve Liverpool Corporation Tramways car 869. Two Hong Kong tram cars were purchased and shipped to Birkenhead courtesy of P&O ferries. The Hong Kong cars together with some of the restored heritage fleet operated a service between Woodside and Pacific Road. The tramway was extended to Egerton Bridge. Following a decision to convert the rear of Pacific Road into a theatre, the line was further extended to Taylor Street, the line opening on 10th February 2001. The Museum and Tramway then completed the move into the Taylor Street building.

Between 2008 and 2011 the future of the Museum and Tramway hung by a thread. There was constant talk of closure due to budget constraints. The Museum and Tramway were put up for sale by Wirral Borough Council in 2009 / 2010 and were almost bought by Merseytravel. They withdrew their interest at the 11th hour. In 2013 Wirral Borough Council officers approached volunteer groups with a view to inviting us to manage and operate the facility on behalf of the Council under an asset Transfer. A business plan was presented to the officers and Councillors unanimously approved, sadly the three WBC staff who had operated the facility were made redundant or took retirement. We started operating and managing the Museum and Tramway in January 2014. No real progress has so far been made with regard to completing the Asset Transfer so we now approach the end of our third year of operation.

The museum closed on the 16th December 2017 to enable the museum to undergo major transformation. Many of the displays had to be dismantled and artefacts put into safe storage. The work was completed in early May which gave our volunteers very little time to rebuild displays and clean the museum of dust left after the buildimg work.

What's new? A new pedestrian entrance was created to the right of the big grey door where the trams entered and exited the museum thus making it infinitely safer for our visitors. As you enter the museum you are greeted by a pair of original Mersey Ferry ticket booths now fully restored and in use as our new gift shop. Further in we have our new tea rooms where you can relax with a hot or cold drink and a snack. We also have our new lift in place to enable wheelchair bound visitors and prams full access to the upper mezzanine floor and our new viewing area where you can watch restoration and maintenance being carried out and easily move through to the bus display area.  We have two new sets of visitor toilets with fully disabled person compliant toilets also with baby changing facilities right by the tea room and sales kiosk. The Museum was fully re-opened to the public on 21 July 2018.

2023 saw the closure of the tramway and museum due to council cuts. The management of the museum was transferred from the MTPS, who managed on behalf of the council, to a private company called Big Heritage."

The Wirral Transport Museum and Heritage Tramway, 1 Taylor Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BG

Email

Phone

Website

https://www.visitwirral.com/listing/wirral-tramway-%26-wirral-transport-museum/1834001/

https://www.mtps.co.uk/Transportmuseum.html

https://www.facebook.com/wirraltransportmuseum/?locale=en_GB

https://www.mtps.co.uk/

https://www.raildays.org/railways/wirral-transport-museum-heritage-tramway

Directions

"By road: Follow "All Docks" exit off the M53 and take the A5139 to next traffic island. Turn right following brown tourist signs for Mersey Ferries. Continue along Tower Road, turn left at next roundabout along Canning Street and take the first right."

Opening Times

Always check with the venue directly for up-to-date information including opening times and admission charges as they may be subject to change

2024: TEMPORARILY CLOSED until further notice; see https://www.birkenhead.news/why-wirral-transport-museum-has-been-closed-for-months/

Transport

"Nearest Railway Station: HamiltonSquare

Board the Tram at Woodside Ferry terminal

For further public transport information please contact Merseytravel on 0871 200 22 33

www.merseytravel.gov.uk "

Amenities