HAUNTED WIRRAL: The Cammell Laird Timeslip

In this latest tale, Tom explores the tale of the Cammell Laird Timeslip ...

ONE of the most bizarre stories to come my way concerned an eccentric mechanical maverick of an inventor named Frank Burnley Wood who lived in the Wallasey area in the 1960s.

Not much is known about him, but he is thought to have served in the RAF during WWII as an engineer and after the war he came into money from a legacy which allowed him to indulge in his favourite pastime – making things in the specially built 'garage' at the back of his house on Seabank Road.

He was fined in the early 1960s for building his own car from scrap and forging vehicle insurance forms, an MOT certificate and a tax disc.

The car resembled a modified Rover 110 but had a souped-up engine which enabled the vehicle to travel at 150mph.

The car was banned from the road and broken up.

In 1964, Frank was aged around 65 and was usually to be found in the Railway Hotel pub on the corner of Victoria Road and Grosvenor Road with a teenaged nephew named Tony who helped him build his inventions at the garage.

In December of that year, Frank had built his own autogyro – a type of miniature two-seater helicopter - from military surplus parts acquired from his friends in the Air Force and also from bits and pieces taken from a Seacombe scrapyard on Wheatland Lane.

Frank had no pilot's licence and so he made his 16-year-old nephew Tony swear he'd never tell a soul about the craft, but as Frank supped his pint of mild at the Railway pub on Christmas Eve 1964, his nephew came in with a young man named Eddie.

Tony said: "Uncle Frank, I know you said I can’t tell anyone about the little helicopter but this is Eddie – he has to get to Liverpool right now and the Mersey Tunnel's closed."

Frank almost spat out his drink and glared at his nephew. "I told you not to tell anyone!" he bawled, then looked Eddie up and down and said: "Get the ferry over or drive the long way round!’

"He can't, he's skint, uncle," Tony explained "and his mum's seriously ill over in Liverpool."

Frank looked around then hissed: "I am not flying him over the Mersey in this weather and I've been drinking. Wait till I see you later, Tony!"

Eddie started to cry, and then said to Tony: "Thanks for trying anyway."

He then looked at Frank and said: "Have a good Christmas Mr Wood,’ and headed for the door.

"Frank shouted after him: "Wait!" and then stood up and said to Tony "I can't believe you told him.

"They used to shoot loose-mouthed people like you in the war!"

"Can you lend him the ferry money then, uncle," Tony suggested.

"No, I was going to test the thing out next week. I'll do it today instead," grumbled Frank, then as an afterthought he asked, "What's his mum doing over in Liverpool, anyway?’

"She left Eddie last year," replied Tony, "and his dad's in the Merchant Navy and Eddie lives with his auntie in New Brighton..."

"Alright, alright," interposed an annoyed Frank, "tell him to come to the garage in half an hour - and Tony - listen carefully: tell him not to say a word about this to anyone – and tell him to wear a thick coat."

"I will Uncle Frank," said an excited Tony, heading for the door.

"Oh and Tony, keep that blabbermouth of yours shut as well or I'll call the whole thing off."

The surreal spectacle unfolded as December dusk was falling over Wallasey.

The autogyro was pushed out of the backyard by Tony and Eddie with Frank at the controls.

He wore a scuffed old helmet, a donkey jacket over a boiler suit, and his usual hobnail boots.

Eddie sat in the tiny spare seat and he was told to keep his head down (away from the rotor) as Tony strapped him in.

The engine was started and the machine was dragged by its tilted rotor blades along a misty and largely deserted Seabank Road – towards the dark and secluded Maddock Road, which sloped down to the river.

This was the 160-yards-long runway.

The machine was about to lift as it neared the halfway point when two policemen on their beat came running out of the shadows, shouting something. Frank swore at them and the autogyro climbed into the air.

He looked back and saw Tony running away and hoped the police wouldn't catch him.

Frank glanced over his shoulder and saw Eddie with his eyes shut tight.

He was clinging onto Frank, despite being strapped in, and seemed terrified.

Frank manipulated the levers and sticks and the autogyro curved to the south east at an altitude of eleven hundred feet.

The Mersey below looked black and above the stars shone like diamonds.

Jupiter and Saturn burned steady in the clear eastern sky and by them alone it was easy to navigate.

The destination was Sefton Park, four and a half miles in the south east.

A loud roar above sent Eddie trembling, but it looked like a Cambrian Airways jet headed for Speke.

Frank was flouting all of the aviation laws with his machine, and as soon as he landed the autogyro in Sefton Park, he watched Eddie stagger away, and then he took to the skies for the return journey.

While passing over Cammell Laird's, Frank experienced something very odd.

It was now daytime, and below, there were vast stretches of landing pads (apparently covering the river) with gigantic flying saucer-like craft on them.

One gargantuan craft was being built at Lairds, and Frank reasoned he was seeing the future, and minutes later the 'vision' faded away and darkness returned.

He made a perfect landing on a grassy space near Blenheim Road in a hailstorm and as he drove the machine onto Seabank Road, Tony appeared and helped him.

What was the meaning of the weird timeslip?

Lairds went from making iron ships to nuclear subs – and one day, they will probably build spacecraft.

Birkenhead has an amazing future ...

* All Tom Slemen's books are available from Amazon.