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Merseyside
History, Seaforth Dock |
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IN the
1960's building began n the massive Royal Seaforth Dock,
now known locally as Bootle Docks or the Freeport. The
land had been drained and planning permission had been obtained almost 60 years
before. The port was the first to have port assisted
radar operations in the UK to improve the safety of
shipping entering the new port and the port was hailed
as one of the most important developments of the 70's in
the UK
Then in 1972 the Royal Seaforth Dock opens. It was a very irregular octagonal basin in a
500 acre site, ten specialized berths containing, grain and timber
terminals that are sill used today. These can receive ships of up to 70,000 tons; today this is still the newest Liverpool
dock and aerial shots of the docks are shown
above. Below is a copy of a section from the original
promotional booklet that was issued on the opening of
the port. The port boasted in its brochure
that the main dock could hold the Seven Wonders of the
World and still have room for more.
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Later in 1984, Seaforth
became Britain's first fully active Freeport. It attracts businesses because it has
11 acres of secure space were imported goods can be stored and processed free of Customs duty, VAT and EU taxes, and there is direct access to Europe by road, rail and sea.
To this day the port is at the forefront of
international development of new technology and ideas
for safety and business practices. Now the
port is looking at the environment as well and in 1999 a wind farm with six turbines is opened at
Seaforth, making yet more changes to the skyline of the
river Mersey. Just like in the 1970's when
the huge container cranes were installed and the radar
tower that still operate today.
Today Seaforth deals with a large amount of the port's total work. Each year the dock deals with around 500,000 containers, 1,236,000 tonnes of oil, over 2.5 million tonnes of grain and animal feed, 452,000 tonnes of wood per
year and with 25% of all container traffic between UK and
USA making the port one of the most successful in the
world. The dock is still growing and developing, with new container services, animal feed stores,
warehouses and a large growth in scrap metal shipment. It is also part of the Atlantic Gateway
initiative which aims to improve communications, business and quality of life for residents and businesses in the north of Liverpool.
To see
the radar operation click here...
Photographs
taken
by Patrick Trollope BA(Hons) LBPPA.
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The
map opposite was copied from the opening pr brochure
shows cargo destinations and routs that still apply
today. Above is an aerial shot of the docks in
2003, and shows its location on the mouth of the
Mersey, well away from the original beginnings of the
port by the Liverbuildings.
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Mersey
Reporter and Liverpool Reporter are Trade Marks of Patrick Trollope. Copyright © Patrick
Trollope 2004
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