In the early 1970s the shipping industry around the world was facing a crisis following competition from new forms of transport, package holidays and the introduction of the giant Boeing 737. People were able to fly across the Atlantic and to Australia in hours and the large ocean liners were soon running at a loss and were laid up. Ian Collard recounts the story of two friends who seized the opportunity to form and develop a cruise line which is now the largest and most successful of its ...

In 1873 a company was formed to construct the first railway across Canada. It soon branched out into shipping, chartering ships from the Cunard Line for service between Vancouver, Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 1889 Canadian Pacific would be awarded the mail contract for the service across the Pacific and, by 1903, they would purchase Elder Dempster & Company and begin sailing from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal.They obtained control of the Atlantic, rail a...

The Mersey Docks & Harbour Board was created in 1858, becoming a limited company in 1972. There followed a programme of investment in the facilities to be completed and the building of a new dock and terminals at Seaforth, Liverpool and Birkenhead. The carriage of goods in containers changed the way cargo was carried and the type and design of ships using ports around the world. By 2000 new facilities were being developed for the grain and timber trades. The scrap-metal trade took over man...

In the late 1960s, P&O established ferry services in the North Sea and English Channel. Roll-on/roll-off operations and containerisation were introduced and new ships, facilities and investment was needed to take advantage of developments. What followed was several decades of growth, buyouts and divisions. The twenty-first century saw the closure of several routes as the ferries saw increased competition from low-cost airline and the Channel Tunnel. Throughout this period, P&O attracted a ...

Situated on the Wirral Peninsula, across the River Mersey from Liverpool, is the town of Birkenhead. It can trace its origins back to the twelfth century when a Benedictine priory and Mersey ferry were established here. Later, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, it expanded and prospered with the shipbuilders Cammell Laird, the docks and the Mersey Railway connecting Birkenhead and Liverpool. The town was the location for Britain’s first street tramway and the world’s first publicly ...

Wallasey History Tour offers a fascinating glimpse into the past of this town on the Wirral Peninsula. Local author Ian Collard guides readers around its streets and buildings, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they have changed across the centuries, as well as exploring some of its lesser-known sights and hidden corners. This pocket-sized guide reveals how the town has altered and highlights the way of life for past generations. With the help of a handy location map, r...

The County Borough of Wallasey, on the Wirral Penninsula, is famous as a seaside town. From the mid-nineteenth century, James Atherton's 'New Brighton' became a popular leisure resort, with visitors arriving on every ferry. It was adorned by magnificent structures such as the tower and ballroom, pier and promenades. The tower itself, tallest in the country and 100 feet higher than that at Blackpool, once visible all over Merseyside, has now vanished, along with the ballroom and the hoards ...

Wallasey Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Wallasey, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th and into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos, readers can see the historical context in which they are set, and through the author's factual captions for every picture,...

Overshadowing the port of Chester, Liverpool grew in size from the 1800s on sugar and slavery. Expanding over the following two centuries, the port has grown to take over part of the other side of the Mersey, with docks at Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and Wallasey, as well as along the coast from Liverpool. Ian Collard brings together a superb selection of images of shipping on the river from the 1860s to the present day, looking at how the ports on either side of the river have developed an...

The Port of Holyhead has a long history and is now operated by Stena Line Ports Ltd. The company took over ownership of the port from Sea Containers in 1990, which only six years previously assumed control of the harbour as part of the Sealink privatisation. Ranked as the United Kingdom's third-busiest ferry port, after Dover and Portsmouth, Holyhead handled a remarkable 1.9 million passengers in 2009. The operation is an impressive one, with world class tonnage operating for both Stena Li...

Birkenhead From Old Photographs offers a captivating glimpse into the history of Birkenhead, providing the reader with a visual representation of the town's intriguing and chequered history. Drawing upon an eclectic collection of over 200 photographs, Ian Collard presents the reader with an insight into Birkenhead's past and present life. Although views of thriving High Streets, vanished buildings and well-known houses are included, the emphasis throughout is on the people who were born, o...

Although Liverpool has existed as a port since the thirteenth century, it wasn't until the seventeenth century that it truly began to grow on the profits of trade with America, importing sugar from the West Indies and Virginia tobacco and exporting textiles from Lancashire. In the eighteenth century the slave trade too began to bring money into Liverpool, but once it was banned in Britain, Liverpool continued to grow, trading with the West Indies, Canada and the US. The results of all this...