Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE DOCKS OF LIVERPOOL. 353 graving or repairing Trust. Thus the Mersey Dock and Harbour The clocks of Liverpool lie along the Mersey, extend- ing for seven or eight miles, like a great system of fortifications. A sea wall, broken only where entrance is required to the clocks, en- closes the whole distance. In that imposing range are in- cluded nearly sixty docks and docks ; and counting the Birkenhead Docks, on the Cheshire side of the river, we have about a hundred clocks under the one management. In the early stages of their -history, the Liverpool Docks were under the control of the Corporation, As the estate increased in importance, the management was delegated to a committee. About the beginning of last century, the dock ratepayers agitated for a representation on this body, and achieved the end of their desires. The final stage in the administrative evolution, however, was reached in 1851, when an Act was passed consolidating the docks of Liverpool and Birkenhead into one estate and vesting the control into one Photo : Cassell & c <?., Ltd. WATERLOO GRAIN HOUSES, LIVERPOOL. Board—a Trust which for the extent of its business has scarce a parallel — came into being. On the Liverpool side of the Mersey the centre of the dock system is occupied by the Landing Stage, which is at all times and seasons the place towards which visitors to the city naturally gravitate; it is ever a scene of life and bustle, and from it one obtains an unrivalled view of the traffic of the river. This unique floating structure is supported on pontoons, and is connected with the shore by seven gangways, besides a, floating bridge 550 feet in length and 35 feet in width for the ferry goods traffic. The stage is 2,463 feet long and 80 feet wide. Here it is that the great lines and the Manx, Welsh, and Irish steamers land their passengers. Prior to the construction of this stage and the deepening of the Mersey Bar, Transatlantic pas- sengers were sub- jected to numerous delays. The big steamers were fre- quently detained outside the Bar, owing to want of water, and the ordinary pro- cedure was that the passen- gers and their luggage were brought to Liverpool on a 45