Cheshire 21- Wallasey /Fort Perch Rock, a light house and how Covid changed the world

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Did Covid change the world ? Yes I think it did . Volunteers have dropped off volunteering since the pandemic. Many historical properties can no longer open their doors each and every week through the season. Some have closed for good as visitors stopped calling. Numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels . Perhaps we never should have shut down and just carried on. Things might have been very different . Today was one of those examples of places that were thriving pre- Covid but now is a pale shadow of its former self.

We left Port Sunlight village after looking quickly at the museum . £16 entrance fee for both of us seemed a touch steep. We got into the car with no name and headed further up the Wirral. To our left the hills of North Wales . We had many times driven down the A55 and looked over the muddy Dee estuary to the Wirral peninsular and Liverpool beyond. At this point in time we were in the middle of the peninsular and although we could clearly see North Wales the Mersey on the other side was out of sight .

It was only a short drive to Wallasey. Golf links suddenly opened out and we could see the grey Irish Sea . To our left now was probably the Isle of Man and Ireland. The beach looked clean and well looked after. The promenade on a December day was almost deserted . Plenty of parking for cars along the road and even motorhomes were parked up. It would have been a good space to park and visit when we had the van we both commented . Vans seemed to also park on off road parking . I did read some while ago that the residents were not happy about overnighting so not sure where the van owners spent the night .

We kept going past some of the empty shops. Others were dedicated to the "seaside " trade and being out of season meant little demand for New Brighton Rock, slot arcades and Kiss Me Quick hats . No doubt in the summer they would make some money. We ended up right at the end on a massive almost empty car park right against the sea and Fort Perch Rock .

The wind was blowing quite hard but at least there was no fog nor any frost . My parents came here in the 40's . I wondered what they would make of the place now . The seaside holiday of the 40's had long gone along with the deckchairs on the beach and the donkeys. They must have caught a train from Wrexham in the past and the place was a magnet for their generation . Having parked up . Pick any spot but wait when you get back you will be hemmed in in what will still be an empty car park .

Finally we can see the docks across the Mersey full of containers . But no ships. Liverpool across the water with its iconic buildings on the waterfront . In the distance Liverpools Anglican cathedral and the top of the Catholic cathedral . Those earmarked for another day .

It felt too choppy for a trip across the Mersey today . My calendar came up with a good one that summed up today standing here " Where you stand , where you are , that's your life right there. However painful or how enjoyable it is . That is what it is " So rather than bemoan not being able to cross the river ,not going into Fort Perch we thought let's be grateful for good weather , the smell of sea air and a day out.

We walked up to Fort Perch Rock which was described as defending Merseysides heritage since 1823. It was certainly an imposing fort by any standards . We had seen a number along our coastlines from the Martello towers of Kent to the towers in Pembroke Dock . This was a sizeable edifice commanding an exceptional position guarding the port of Liverpool. It was in 1803 that the merchants of Liverpool were concerned about an invasion by the French during the Napoleonic wars. The United Kingdom had been worried about Napoleon for years and it was possible that an invasion could happen. It did happen in Wales but was unsuccesful . The idea was mooted here at New Brighton to build a fort. However as always there were disputes on how to finance it . The who would pay seemed more important than thwarting an invasion and keeping the port of Liverpool open. Construction did not commence until around 3 years later in 1826. Construction took three years . The impressive fort was built in red brick on a sandstone base known locally as the Black Rocks . blocks on a base of sandstone rocks, confusingly known as the Black Rocks. No sign of any rocks here now.

The fort was designed by a Captain John Sikes Kitson of the Royal Engineers,. He built it to house 100 men plus officers with space for provisions and armaments. The fort boasted 18 guns of which sixteen were 32-pounders. They faced the Rock Channel which at the time was the main entrance for shipping to the Mersey. The building certainly looked strong and able to defend the channel easily. The ships passed 900 yards from the guns and the fort soon became known as the "Little Gibraltar of the Mersey". Having been to Gibraltar I was not quite sure on that description .

The cost of the construction was £27,000 which was a large amount of money at the time . Not everyone were entirely happy with the arrival of the new fort. Prior to its construction the area around the fort was described as a sandy waste and used by wreckers to lure ships aground. The chances now of wrecking had gone out of the window with militia based in the fort.

The guns at Fort Perch Rock were fired only twice in anger. Most of the guns had since gone . Just some small ones placed on the flat roof of the fort . They pointed today inland rather than out to sea. It seems that the guns of the fort were never used to quell any Napoleonic invasion . The first time they were pressed into service occurred during the First World War. A Norwegian sailing ship came up the Rock Channel that had been declared closed at the start of the war. It seems that luckily the gunners who probably had never used the guns found that theyhad the wrong elevation on their gun. The shell flew over the ship and landed in Hightown on the other side of the Mersey. Apparently an irate householder collected the shell, put it in a bucket and took it to the Merseyside Defence HQ and demanded some kind of explanation! The captain of the Norwegian vessel when eventually challenged about his ship's use of the closed channel replied that he did not know that a war had started! I wonder if the shell had been preserved and lay in some dusty cellar of a museum. Fort Perch once had a museum open to the public but Covid had put paid to that some years ago . The story goes that the finder of the shell presented it to the resident Battery Commander and it was exhibited in the bar as "a present from New Brighton". A touch of irony there as the rock sold at the seaside resort would have had the words a present from New Brighton running through its centre.

The fort was decommissioned by the War Office 1956 and passed through various hands until it was sold to the Darroch family who are the current custodians.Fort Perch Rock is home to a number of permanent maritime and aviation based museum displays and frequent guest exhibitions and cultural events. That should actually say that it was once the home of the maritime artifacts which included a full scale version of the bridge of the Titanic. Over the years various bands have performed at the Fort . Classic and fast cars have been displayed on the car parks and rallies held . Sadly thought now it had fallen into a shell of its former self with just the mess open for snacks .

Perhaps one day it will reopen . Who knows ? Or will it remain another casualty of Covid ?

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