Zaunkönig

I knew when I took this photo back in 2014 that it might come in handy when I had few ideas for the last letter of the alphabet so it is now making its appearance - a  T11 Zaunkönig 2 Torpedo, one of only 38 built towards the end of World War 2.  It forms part of the 'U Boat Story' in Birkenhead.  Zaunkönig means wren in German (literately 'king of the fence') but our example is a acoustic torpedo with an electronic guidance system designed to track ships by the sound of their propellers.  The Allied code for the torpedo was another small creature, GNAT (German Navy Acoustic Torpedo) and they deployed a decoy (the Foxer) which contrasted to the sophistication of the torpedo by being two metal pipes which banged together when towed to create a noise.   The Zaunkönig was 23' 7" long (7.186m) with a speed of 24 knots and a range of 6230 yards (5700m) was designed to be able to differentiate between the Foxer and propeller noise. 

The torpedo was one carried by the U534, the damage on the side done by depth chargers dropped by RAF aircraft when it sunk in the Kattegat between Sweden and Denmark (most of the crew survived) at the end of World War 2.  There were rumours it was carrying gold but when it was raised in 1993 it was discovered to be just a myth. One only four surviving U Boats (two in Germany and one in Chicago) it was almost sold for scrap but the Warship Preservation Trust brought it to Birkenhead.  In 2008 it was cut into five pieces

and moved to the Woodside Ferry Terminal and became part of the U Boat Story museum

where one can peer back through time into its claustrophobic interior.  The rusted interior contrasts with the painted exterior

Here is the part of the U Boat the German Navy call the wintergarten (the winter garden) our word of the bridge or conning tower is quite boring by comparison 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet coming to its end here

      

The Queens

A liner floats in the sky above a building in Birkenhead which stands on the junction of two roads

and is named after the Queens who are the Cunard liners.  These are not their modern cruise ships whose design looks like a human container ship but the iconic lines of the Queens from the 1930s who vied with other vessels to make the fastest crossing of the Atlantic from Southampton to New York.

The building is a pub and hotel owned by Admiral Taverns (continuing the nautical theme).  I'm assuming the name is related to the fact that Cunard headquarters were originally in Liverpool and their beautiful old building forms one of the 'Three Graces' on the city's waterfront.  The Queens however is tucked away on the other side of the Mersey by Birkenhead Park. In the early afternoon on an April day the area seemed quite deserted, maybe the chill and grey skies had something to do with it.

To make up for the lack of activity on the photograph here is an interior shot of the Queen Mary (the first of the Queens), being fitted out on Clydeside in Art Deco style in about 1935.  (The photographer is Yevonde Middleton (Madam Yevonde) a pioneer of colour photographer)

The joiners are busy behind the bar.  The two 'customers' may have a long wait for any liquid refreshment.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at Q here

  

John Laird Centre

I took this photograph some time ago for two reason, I love Victorian buildings and the added bonus was it started with the letter J and I knew it would could in handy for ABC Wednesday, however I kept forgetting my intent and diverted into other Js as the rounds past by but eventually it now makes an appearance.

This was originally the Laird School of Arts, the first public art school outside London, and the first ever purpose built college of art and science in England which opened in September 1871.  John Laird not only financed its construction but the also running costs and it was given to the town of Birkenhead.  Laird is most famous as part of the shipbuilding company Cammell Laird but he was also a great philanthropist and endowed many of the fine buildings in Birkenhead, would become its first mayor of and then retire from shipbuilding to become Birkenhead's first Member of Parliament.     

The school closed in 1979 and the building was purchased by Stanton Marine to use as their headquarters when it was extensively renovated and renamed The John Laird Centre.  Stanton Marine later became part of the British East India Company who now use the building as their headquarters which is rather appropriate, and perhaps the building has come full circle, because Cammell Laird built most of their ships in the 19th Century.
 

 An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at J here

  

Birkenhead Boathouse and Bridge

It was daffodils time when I took this picture of the Boathouse in Birkenhead Park.  The park itself was designed by Joseph Paxton on reclaimed marshland and opened in 1847 for the then rapidly growing town of Birkenhead, the first publicity funded civic park in Britain,  The boathouse was originally designed by a young architect called Lewis Hornblower, its full name is the Roman Boathouse and with sponsorship by the Mobil Oil Company was renovated and  restored in 1990. In keeping with the theme a

new pebble mosaics inside by Maggy Howath featuring fish, birds and sun was created and installed

Paxton created serpentine lakes to give the impression of natural rivers and Lewis Hornblower designed their bridges (along with park railings and gates).

On this my first visit to the park, my own favourite was the Swiss Bridge which must be one of the few, if not only, covered bridge in Britain.

Meanwhile here are a couple of geese wondering if they or the fishermen are going to find anything interesting.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week sojourning at B here

Queen Victoria

Here is the Birkenhead's Queen Victoria Monument in Hamilton Square gardens. It is made of sandstone but for the steps something more resilient has been used, granite. Designed by Edmund Kirby in the form of an Eleanor Cross it was unveiled in 1905.   The origin of  the Eleanor Cross shape are from the 13th Century when King Edward I commemorated the sites the coffin of his Queen, Eleanor of Castile, had rested on its journey from where she died in Hertfordshire to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey.

The Queen Victoria monument has the coat of arms of Birkenhead, Cheshire, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England and the Royal Arms around the bottom. The clock tower in the background is that of the Birkenhead Town Hall.

The monument is 75 ft (23 metres) high and its light and airy construction contrasts to the robust War Memorial built after World War I nearby.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at Q here