HMS Campbeltown

Yesterday my wife and I went on a tour around HMS Campbeltown which was docked at the Pier Head over in Liverpool. She was built by Cammell Laird shipyards in 1987. A type 22 frigate, she was kitted out with antisubmarine and antiaircraft weapons systems. She also carries a helicopter. As part of the Strategic … Continue reading “HMS Campbeltown”

Yesterday my wife and I went on a tour around HMS Campbeltown which was docked at the Pier Head over in Liverpool. She was built by Cammell Laird shipyards in 1987. A type 22 frigate, she was kitted out with antisubmarine and antiaircraft weapons systems. She also carries a helicopter.

As part of the Strategic Defence Review the Royal Navy is scrapping four type 22 frigates (including HMS Campbeltown) so this was her last trip to Liverpool. Type 23 frigates will be replaced with more modern war ships from 2020. Pictures from the trip are below.

After the tour we happened to pass Cllr. Moira McLaughlin (Deputy Mayor) in the Albert Dock area. She said she’d been round HMS Campbeltown the evening before. This was probably something similar to the meal that Wirral Met College students did for VIPs a few weeks ago on HMS Liverpool.

On the HMS Campbeltown the crew was friendly, polite and welcoming. Members of the public thought the tour of HMS Campbeltown was much better than the one of HMS Liverpool a few weeks ago. On the way to and from the ship, Leonora found a memorial (at Canada Boulevard) to Canadian servicemen and women.

Clearly the days of tens of thousands of people employed at Cammell Lairds building ships has left (similar to the mining communities when the pits shut) unemployment in Birkenhead which has been made worse by the recession. If Birkenhead is to improve, employment for its citizens is key to ensuring the future quality of life for us all. You can click on the thumbnails of photos below for larger versions.

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HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

HMS Campbeltown, Pier Head Liverpool 5/3/2011

Inspector McGregor swoops again – 5 drug related arrests above the North Star pub after a cannabis farm discovered

The Wirral Globe has good news for the local police (and local community) they’ve found a cannabis farm above the North Star pub on Laird Street.

Perhaps this is why Inspector McGregor didn’t make it to the Oxton/Prenton Area Forum if he was involved with this raid? Although someone else present did say he was on leave. Certainly those present at the Bidston & St. James/Claughton Area Forum last month were puzzled by the absence of any police (especially as it was held at the St. James Centre just across the road from the police station!)

The North Star pub is about 600m from the Laird Street Police Station and 200m from the Custody Suite, which makes you wonder how dozy (or brazen) the local cannabis dealers must be to try and deal in drugs this so close to the police (in fact so close to the custody suite the police could’ve walked them there and saved the petrol!)

Certainly residents in the area have been complaining to me about crime since November of last year, so I’m pleased that the police are taking action on alleged local drug dealers. The article mentions it was in response to community intelligence. Drug dealing is associated with an increase in burglaries, car crime and other forms of antisocial behaviour.

What was commented on at the last Area Forum was how pleased the residents in sheltered accommodation near the Community Mobile Police Station downtown were as they felt safer now to walk the streets after previous problems with antisocial behaviour.

Arriva and the tale of the new bus stop at which Arriva buses won’t stop (for 5 months!) – Hoylake Road/Compton Road, Bidston

As regular readers of the Bidston & St. James Focus know, Merseytravel recently responded to a campaign we ran (on behalf of local residents of Beechwood) for extra bus stops on Hoylake Road near the Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre.

The one on the North side of Hoylake Road (opposite Compton Road) is fine and buses are stopping at it. Both stops now have timetables in too.

At the end of June I met with a representative of Merseytravel and Wirral Council on site. There was some concern about the effect of parking and traffic from Compton Road. However since a road of houses off Compton Road was demolished to make a park for Bidston Rise there’s been much less traffic coming into and out of Compton Road (which is short and only has houses one side). Both Merseytravel and Wirral Council agreed there would be no road safety issues as long as the bus stop didn’t obscure a drive on Hoylake or affect sight lines. At this point (a few yards from a set of traffic lights the traffic would be moving slowly anyway).

The bus would be fine stopping on the double yellow lines here and the no loading sign wouldn’t apply to a bus.

However a local resident recently stopped me in the street and told me that Arriva buses were not stopping at the Hoylake Road/Compton Road stop on the South side of Hoylake Road.

Originally Merseytravel had planned to put this stop further along Hoylake Road, but the resident outside whose house it’d be objected on grounds of parking and privacy. So instead it was sited nearer to the double yellow lines/no loading at Compton Road/Hoylake Road.

The resident said she had tried to get off Arriva buses at this stop, but they wouldn’t let her on/off, with the driver insisting it wasn’t a stop. However other operators such as Avon that use this route were stopping here. This sounded odd to me, so I wrote to Arriva.

Back in July all operators on the route (including Arriva) were written to about the proposed pair of new bus stops. This is what the Managing Director of Arriva wrote on the 16th July 2010 (before the bus stop was put in):-

Should existing bus stops be moved, Mr. Finnie would be more than happy to continue using these to aid access to the Tesco store for our customers. However, this would have to be fully risk assessed to ensure that these stops could be used safely

Bear in mind the existing bus stops weren’t moved, but new ones were added! A risk assessment was done by Wirral Council.

Arriva wrote to me again in a letter dated 23rd February 2011. In this they quote “The manager of Birkenhead depot has investigated and advised the following. Our drivers have been instructed not to serve this stop until we have carried out a full safety assessment on it. We apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing, but it is essential for the safety of our passengers, our drivers and other road users that this is completed before it is used. The stop will then be served once we have registered this additional stop with the Local Authority as we are required to do so.”

So, to summarise Arriva won’t stop their buses at a new bus stop which has been in place for 5 months. It’s already been risk assessed by Wirral Council and Merseytravel and been found to be a suitable site for a bus stop. The timetable insert (provided by Merseytravel) gives people the impression the Arriva services stop here. Today I took some photos of the stop and recorded a video to try and explain to Arriva (and the public) why they aren’t stopping here!

Hopefully Arriva will have some common sense in the near future and/or carry out their “full safety assessment”. I’ll be writing to Simon Finnie, the General Manager at Birkenhead (and back to Steven Hill) and taking him up on the offer of a site visit and Merseytravel if they wish to come.

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

I did make a one minute video of myself at the bus stop explaining the above, but the traffic seems to have drowned me out! When out this morning, I did bump into the resident who seemed pleased that someone was taking an interest in the problem. However she was walking someone to school and couldn’t chat long.

When I clear up the audio (or dub over it) I’ll post it on this blog. On a point of local history, when I was a teenager the secondary school used to play hockey on the astroturf pitches at Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre in the Winter and Spring term. As the school day finished at the Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre we were expected to make our own way back home as the school minibus only took a few back to the school gates (the school minibus took twelve, but about a hundred boys in my year did sports here each week arriving in a coach). In 1994-1996 I could have done with these extra bus stops (especially in the cold Winter!) as it would’ve saved me a few minutes walk after the slog up the steep hill with sports gear from the sports centre.

However, the main reason behind these stops is to help Beechwood residents who visit Tesco by bus to shop. These extra stops save about 3 minutes walk along Hoylake Road (which with heavy bags of shopping can be tiring for the elderly or disabled).

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