Dingle Steps

[Waterways]

Fantastic Dave, cheers. They stick out like a sore thumb them when driving past. Somewhere I've always wondered about, why they were there, what they are used for now etc. Are they used now or not?

The steps were not for public use. The steps took men down to the Herculaneum Dock from Grafton St.


These public housing looking flats are built on the infilled Herculaneum Dock. Nothing in the design incorporated anything relating to the maritime history of the site - these flats could be in an inland town. This development is a complete waste of a once magnificent waterspace, where Liberty ships of the World War Two convoys would muster to leave via the Herculaneum river locks. The blocks in view at the bottom of the steps are built upon the graving docks.


The photo looking at the gas holder: The casemenst into the cliff can be seen. These held explosives and nuclear cargo. A quay ran along the foot of the cliff, where two large cranes which picked up whole railway wagons and tipped them into holds of ships bound for Northern Ireland. Where the flats are to the left was the docks and on the left side small tankers would pump petrol into the Dingle oil tanks which were to the left.


The Herc in 1907. The Dingle petrol tanks can be seen and also the steps (just). The terraced houses off Grafton St, where Bread and the Liver Birds where shot are not yet built. The Overhead can be seen entering Dingle Tunnel and one of the vent shafts on the waste ground.



WW2 convoy ships would be abreast of each other and in rows, facing the river lock. When high tide came they had to get out ASAP, before the tide changed. This method meant they were pulled out fast into the river and were not hanging around being prey for lone bombers. The Germans knew tide times as well.