The Mersey Tunnels 60 Years – 1934 to 1994

Mersey Tunnels - 60 years. The story from the 1920s and 1930s through to the 1990s. A moving picture record to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the opening of Queensway linking Birkenhead and Liverpool, described at the time as a 'Modern Miracle'.

What was it like on opening day on 18^th July 1934? Where you there? Perhaps you walked through earlier in the year or where pushed through in a pram. Maybe you where at the opening of Kingsway linking Wallasey and Liverpool in 1971. Whatever you're interest in the Mersey Tunnels this video programme tells you the story.

We start by looking at how the Mersey Tunnels operate today, then we go back in time and look at early crossings of the Mersey including the luggage ferries, the Widnes - Runcorn Transporter Bridge, the coming of the Mersey Railway and the need for a tunnel in the 1920s. We see some of Queensway 's construction, the breakthrough in 1928 and the opening by King George V in 1934. We trace the history through the '30s and wartime to the '60s when a further tunnel is needed. There are major changes in Birkenhead as new flyovers are constructed while work proceeds on the new Wallasey Tunnel and new link roads in Wallasey. On completion of Kingsway in 1971 the public walk through and later in the year H.M. The Queen officially opens the new tunnel.

Narrator: Monty Lister of Radio Merseyside