Manchester railway arrivals

[alexb123]

Hello, I wondered whether anyone could tell me where immigrants from Ireland might arrive in the city centre in or around 1910. I assume that they would travel into the port of Liverpool, and then by train to Manchester, but am not sure where they would arrive. I understand that Victoria rail station was much bigger than Piccadilly at the time in terms of passenger travel, and that the main retail area was nearby at the top of Deansgate, so wondered if it might be there?
I would be very grateful of any information.  :)Thank you

[Elwyn Soutter]

I have a 1922 Bradshaw’s Guide which shows trains from Liverpool Lime St to Manchester (London Rd) which is now Piccadilly. Also from Lime St to Manchester Exchange station. And a third service from Liverpool Exchange to Manchester Victoria.

A lot of passengers from Dublin to England travelled via Holyhead. There were regular Manchester boat trains and according to Bradshaw those mostly went to Manchester Exchange station.

Manchester Exchange station appears to have been just to the west of Victoria. It closed in 1969.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_exchange/

[alexb123]

Thank you Elwyn for the very helpful information.
My family came from Drogheda and Dublin, so I imagine they departed from Dublin, but could have arrived in either Holyhead or Dublin as you suggest. If more boats arrived in Holyhead than Liverpool, then Exchange station might well have been their arrival point. It is difficult to imagine which train/station they might have chosen if they were travelling from Liverpool, with three choices available.
I had heard mention of Exchange Station, but was not sure exactly where it was. I was surprised to see, from the postcard on the website, how close it was to Victoria Station and the Cathedral. It is nice to discover something new.
Thanks again

Alex

[Maiden Stone]

My family came from Drogheda and Dublin, so I imagine they departed from Dublin, but could have arrived in either Holyhead or Dublin as you suggest. If more boats arrived in Holyhead than Liverpool, then Exchange station might well have been their arrival point. It is difficult to imagine which train/station they might have chosen if they were travelling from Liverpool, with three choices available.

I think you mean they could have arrived in either Holyhead or Liverpool (not Dublin). 

Dun Laoghhaire (still named Kingstown in 1910) to Holyhead was and is a quicker sea-crossing. Dublin-Liverpool a much longer (and sometimes rougher) sea-crossing but a shorter rail journey than Holyhead-Manchester. Factors such as cost and how they coped with sea-sickness may have affected choice of route. My family's preferred route for holidays in the other direction was Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire although we could have been in Liverpool in only 1 hour from Bolton station compared to almost 3 hours Manchester-Holyhead.

[alexb123]

Thank you for your reply. I imagine if they were leaving Ireland they would want to save their money, due to uncertainty in a new country, so cost would surely be a factor. Do you think Holyhead would be a cheaper boat trip, being much shorter, and would that outweigh the longer train journey?

As it happens I was in Manchester city centre yesterday and I walked down to see where Exchange Station used to be. There are two new buildings on the station site now. However the road/bridge over the Irwell leading to Exchange Station, looks exactly like the old photographs.

[heywood]

Similar interesting query here where Elwyn has given information and a bit more 

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=620018.0

[Elwyn Soutter]

I don’t think that cost would have been a particularly important factor for a move from Ireland to Manchester. There was a lot of competition for the business and there probably wasn’t much difference in the fares. (Many of the ferries were owned by the rail companies so you got through fares which covered the ferry and trains at either end).  Probably timings might have been as important as anything.

Moving from Ireland to England wasn’t as expensive or as final as going to the US or Australia. Many Irish people went back and forth all the time.  That was one of the benefits of living in England. You could go home for weddings and funerals and even the odd holiday. Not everybody did but many did.

My Bradshaw doesn’t detail any fares between Dublin and Liverpool but there are fares for Dublin to the Isle of Man which, in 1922, were 13/6 return (about 67 pence today). Cork to Liverpool was 15/- (75p) single or 22/6 return (£1.12). I am not sure how much the average man earned then but the prices were not a months wages, that’s for sure. They were reasonably affordable.

[Maiden Stone]

My Bradshaw doesn’t detail any fares between Dublin and Liverpool but there are fares for Dublin to the Isle of Man which, in 1922, were 13/6 return (about 67 pence today). Cork to Liverpool was 15/- (75p) single or 22/6 return (£1.12). I am not sure how much the average man earned then but the prices were not a months wages, that’s for sure. They were reasonably affordable.

You put examples of male wages on the other thread.
There are wages tables online. Wages decreased sometimes.
The young adults in my family could afford an occasional holiday in Ireland, staying in a cheap boarding-house in 1930s. Both travel and accommodation were basic. Some spent their honeymoons there. 

[alexb123]

Thank you all for the extra information and insights. I can see now that cost was unlikely to affect their route to Manchester, and that there was not only one arrival station from Ireland in the city.