Widnes Dock

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Widnes Dock was the world’s first facility that could transfer cargo directly between trains and ships. It was built in 1833 in Widnes, between the end of the Sankey Canal and the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway. The remains are on Spike Island, an area that was once the heart of the chemical industry and became heavily polluted. The dock was kept full by a nearby reservoir. It closed in the 1930s, and the dock, its lock, and its reservoir were filled in.

From 1975 to 1982 the island was cleaned up, and part of the original dock was dug out to a depth of about 3 feet. Today the site is used for recreation and fishing. In 1864 the nearby West Bank Dock opened and drew traffic away from Widnes Dock. West Bank Dock closed in the 1970s, and its site was later redeveloped as the Mersey Multimodal Gateway.