Editing Mersey Ferry (section)

===Corporation years===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Birkenhead Improvement (Woodside Ferry) Act 1842}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to authorize the Purchase of a certain Ferry called "Woodside Ferry" by the Commissioners for the Improvement of the Township or Chapelry of Birkenhead in the County Palatine of Chester; and for amending the Improvement Acts for the said Township.
| year                  = 1842
| citation              = [[5 & 6 Vict.]] c. v
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 22 April 1842
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Birkenhead Corporation Act 1881]]}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/5-6/5/pdfs/ukla_18420005_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Until the establishment of the [[Mersey Railway]] in 1886, the ferries were the only means of crossing the river, and so all of the routes were heavily used. All of the ferry routes were owned by private interests before coming under [[municipal]] ownership in the mid 19th century. The Woodside ferry was taken over by the Birkenhead Commissioners in 1858 and, in 1861, the Wallasey Local Board took over the ferry services at Seacombe, Egremont and New Brighton. At Woodside, land between the Woodside Hotel and the end of the old pier was reclaimed, and in 1861 the floating landing stage was opened. The pontoons were towed into position, moored by chains originally made for the [[SS Great Eastern|SS ''Great Eastern'']], and linked to the mainland by two double bridges.<ref name="Hardman"/>

The ''Cheshire'', the first passenger ferry steamer to have a saloon, operated from Woodside in 1864. The iron pier at Eastham was built in 1874. On 26 November 1878, the ferry ''Gem'', a paddle steamer operated from Seacombe by the Wallasey Local Board, collided with the ''Bowfell'', a wooden sailing ship at anchor on the River Mersey; five people died as a result.

In 1886 the [[Mersey Railway Tunnel]] was opened, providing competition for the ferry services. The Woodside ferry service began using twin-screw passenger steamers in 1890, which replaced [[paddle steamers]]. In 1894 trains were carrying 25,000 passengers per day and the ferries 44,000 per day.<ref name="museums"/> The ferry service at Tranmere, which had operated since mediaeval times, closed in 1897. The pier and landing stage at Rock Ferry was built in 1899, and Birkenhead Corporation also operated the ferry service at New Ferry.<ref name="Hardman"/>

[[File:The Mersey ferries HMS DAFFODIL and HMS IRIS II at Dover soon after the vessels returned from the Zeebrugge Raid (22-23 April 1918). Q18888.jpg|thumb|Mersey ferries ''[[SS Royal Daffodil|Daffodil]]'' and ''[[SS Royal Iris|Iris]]'' at [[Dover]] in 1918. The vessels had been requisitioned for war service and had recently returned from participating in the [[Zeebrugge Raid]].]]
In 1914 [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] travelled on the ferry ''[[SS Royal Daffodil|Daffodil]]'' from Wallasey to Liverpool. During the [[First World War]] the steamers ''[[SS Royal Iris|Iris]]'' and ''Daffodil'' were taken out of service from Wallasey to be used as troop ships in the [[Zeebrugge Raid|naval raid on Zeebrugge]] in Belgium. The ferries had a shallow draft, allowing them to skim over the [[Naval mine|mines]] floating beneath the surface, and were robust enough to approach the heavily defended [[Mole (architecture)|mole]] curling into the [[North Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/03/15/how-the-mersey-ferries-helped-win-the-first-world-war-64375-20627075/ |title=How the Mersey Ferries helped win the First World War|publisher=Liverpool Daily Post|date=15 March 2008|access-date=17 April 2008}}</ref> They both saw action, which was described on 24 April 1918 by [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Vice–Admiral Sir Roger Keyes]] of the [[Royal Navy]] in a message to the ferries' manager:
<blockquote>
''"I am sure it will interest you to know that your two stout vessels carried Bluejackets and Marines to Zeebrugge, and remained alongside the Mole for an hour, greatly contributing to the success of the operation... The damage caused by enemy gun fire has been repaired"''.
</blockquote>
Because of their work King George V allowed the vessels to use the word ''"Royal"'' in their name. They needed extensive refitting before they could resume peacetime activities.<ref name="Hardman"/>

In the boats themselves, there was quick development. The early incarnations of today's modern vessels can be seen in some of the early propeller driven ships, mainly the 1906 pair, ''Royal Iris'' and ''Royal Daffodil''. The Wallasey [[twin screw steamer|twin screw]] vessels all had [[flying bridge]]s with port and starboard docking cabs. As built, the two ferries still had the wheel at promenade deck level, however this was subsequently moved up onto the bridge, so navigation was all on one level. They were all fitted with ahead and astern reciprocating engines and most vessels could achieve a speed of around 12 [[Knot (unit)|knots]], which is about the same as today's trio of ferries. On early paddlers, the wheelhouse and side cabs were open largely due to the transition from sail to steam, and most ships at the time had open navigation bridges with the ferries being no different. Birkenhead did not use flying bridges, instead having a central wheelhouse and two outer navigation boxes which were raised up higher above deck level. Wallasey ferries employed a funnel [[livery]] of white and black and Birkenhead red and black. Birkenhead changed to orange and black after the second world war.

When the railway tunnels were constructed and opened, the ferry service did suffer somewhat but it always remained popular. It was really the advent of the road tunnels that caused trouble. When the [[Queensway road tunnel]] opened in 1934, the ferry service from Seacombe lost two million passengers because people started to use the tunnel rather than the ferry. The opening of the road tunnel also had an effect on the luggage boats which were introduced in 1879. Both ferry companies earned a substantial amount from luggage boats, which carried vehicles and goods across the river. When the road tunnel opened, traffic dropped by 80%. By the 1940s, luggage boat services from both Woodside and Seacombe to Liverpool had ceased. From Woodside in 1941 and from Seacombe 1947.{{cn|date=September 2020}}

Due to financial losses incurred from a gradual reduction in patronage, Birkenhead Corporation gradually closed its southern terminals; New Ferry (officially) on 22 September 1927, Eastham in 1929 and Rock Ferry on 30 June 1939. The closure of Eastham marked the last use of ferry paddle steamers on the river.<ref name="Mersey Ferries - Volume 1">{{citation|title=Mersey Ferries - Volume 1|first=TB|last=Maund|publisher=Transport Publishing Co. Ltd|year=1991|isbn=0-86317-166-4}}</ref> Wallasey were always trying to close Egremont, but faced stiff opposition from locals who got petitions to keep the ferry open. The chance came to close Egremont during the [[Second World War]] for economic reasons, after the pier was damaged in a collision. This was in similar circumstances to the demise of New Ferry twenty years earlier. As a result, the Egremont service never reopened.

In 1941, mines which had drifted into the River Mersey stopped ferry crossings. The ''Oxton'' and ''Bebington'' vessels were fitted with cranes to enable them to unload United States aircraft from mid-river and deliver them to the Liverpool landing stage. The ''Upton'' vessel was taken by the army and used as a ferry and supply vessel for the anti-aircraft forts in [[Liverpool Bay]].

In 1950, the ferries carried almost 30 million passengers a year, including 11 million on the Woodside ferries and 15 million on Seacombe ferries, but by 1970 the total number fell to 7 million. Night boats across the river were withdrawn and replaced by buses through the tunnel in 1956.