The first Mersey road tunnel was a global wonder. Peter Elson reports on its opening and events to commemorate its 75th anniversary on Sunday

IT WAS built without any of the technical aids taken for granted today. Yet the Queensway, or Birkenhead Mersey Tunnel, which celebrates its 75th anniversary on Sunday, was superbly engineered.

So much so, that when the two tunnel bores from either side of the river met, they were only an inch out of alignment.

The tunnel was an engineering project unmatched by any other, and the biggest single financial municipal enterprise in the UK.

Queensway was opened with full Royal patronage by King George V and Queen Mary, on July 18, 1934, watched by 200,000 people in Haymarket, Liverpool.

In Easter of 1934, just before the official opening, 80,000 walked through the tunnel, paying 6d each to charity.

Exactly 75 years later, the tunnel will be closed to traffic, so the public again can enjoy an anniversary viewing, unlikely to be repeated for some years.

Some 20,000 people are expected to walk through it, again with money raised going to charity.

Rita Pink, 86, of Woolton, was aged 12 when she walked through the tunnel in 1934 and will be going again on Sunday.

“It was very exciting and a huge event for Liverpool. I remember there being so many people,” says Rita.

“Also, the road surface was slabs or sets, but is now Tarmac.”

Her neighbour, Marion Smith, 87, who will be joining her also on Sunday, says: “I was 13 and the crowds were immense.

“We set off from the Birkenhead side for the walk.

“This was because my Uncle Jack Crosby ran Threlfall’s Birkenhead Arms Hotel.

“The tunnel was an amazing achievement and still is today.”

Both Rita and Marion have their 1934 walk medals, as does Henry Ford, 83, from Pensby.

He lived in Rock Ferry when he walked the tunnel in 1934 with his parents and brother.

“We started at the Birkenhead end and got the ferry boat back to Rock Ferry Pier, which was still open then.

“There was a lot of people walking from either direction. The tunnel caused a big fuss as there had been nothing like it built before anywhere.

“The spoil from the Birkenhead end was tipped into Storeton Quarry.

“Seven years after opening, the tunnel was meant to be toll free – and we’re still waiting!”

Albert Ramsay, a retired chartered accountant, from Childwall, went through the tunnel in 1932.

“But I can’t remember a thing about it as I was only one year four months old,” he laughs.

“My parents always wanted things to be remembered in a special way and I got a medal.

“Apparently, when we reached the point where the Liverpool coat of arms face those of Birkenhead, I was made to walk between the two, so I could say I’d walked from Liverpool to Birkenhead.

“I also have a black polished paperweight made from the original mirrored sides of the tunnel, which were removed as reflecting headlights confused motorists. Also, the huge maroon ceremonial curtains covering the tunnel mouth were afterwards distributed to local charities, including Liverpool Orphanage.

“I was treasurer to its successor Salisbury House and they were still there as stage and window curtains when it was pulled down in the early 1980s to make way for Childwall Church of England Primary School.”