Eastham ferry Hotel

The site was originally used as a ferry for travel between Eastham and Liverpool. There are two jetties the first "Eastham Ferry Jetty" is a landmark offering views of the River Mersey. The second "Job's Ferry" was used for commercial traffic and is currently inaccessible for safety reasons. The ferry service is permanently closed. The development of the area before it became a country park is linked to the Eastham Ferry giving access from Liverpool, and the associated Eastham Ferry hotel with its pleasure gardens.

In June 1844 the new Eastham Hotel was opened, "near the site of the old hotel". "The beautiful and capacious gardens attached to the hotel, are still open to the public, and a band has been engaged to play on the lawn from Three until Eight in the evening."[2] In July 1844 the first Eastham regatta was held.[3] The event was very well attended, though marred by a fatality in the rowing races when a boat was swamped. In 1846, the area was further landscaped with gardens, and visitors were encouraged by reduced fares of fourpence (each way) for the four ferries a day from George's Pier, Liverpool.[4] The driving force for the development was Mr Henry Nicholl who held the lease of the hotel and ferry, and had purchased the paddle steamer River Tar for the ferry service. In the 1847 season the fare was reduced to threepence and an extra paddle steamer, the Clyde-built Clarence, was added so that hourly trips were possible.[5] In 1861 the Eastham Ferry service was provided by two new paddle steamers, Eastham Fairy and Swiftsure,[6] which were joined in 1863 by the 142 foot paddle steamer the Richmond, down from Scotland.[7] A zoological collection was added for the 1874 season[8] as a visitor attraction, which included a bear pit, monkey enclosures, aviary with an eagle and black swan, a camel, and a lions' den.[9] For Whit Week 1883 a special attraction was daily displays by Blondin on the high wire.[10] Unfortunately the building of the Manchester Ship Canal turned the area into somewhere more industrial and less idyllic, and by 1893 it was said that "some of the glories of the place have departed", "though the glorious woods still remain"[11] and this was followed in May 1895 by the death of Thomas William Thompson, the owner and driving force behind the gardens