These photographs were taken in the 1880s and were the last known document of the canal docks that the villa stood adjacent to for so many decades. The above image is looking eastbound before the demolition works took place. The below image is looking westbound after much of the docks had been removed soon after. The "Old Quay Canal" was the local name given to what was nationally known as the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, which connected the Mersey at Runcorn to the Mersey beyond Warrington where it had been canalised and was no longer tidal. Docks at the time were also in heavy use across the water in Widnes, but the Mersey and Irwell docks were not as successful as there were no major dock improvements after 1829 and the approach channels silted up.

Despite this, it was still a rival to the Bridgewater Canal. So much so that in 1844, the Mersey and Irwell Company was purchased by the Trustees of the Bridgewater Canal, which was the first phase towards allowing the waterway to be replaced in it's entirety. The area where the docks once stood can still be viewed from the end of the lane adjacent to the Decks apartment complex, however the docking area was modernised and very little remains of what came before it.

Initially the new owners invested little in the canal and its condition gradually grew worse. The only benefit being the continued trade along the Bridgewater, but eventually they in turn were bought out by the Manchester Ship Canal Company in the 1890s, who particularly wanted ownership of the Mersey & Irwell, as the ship canal would use the same course for part of its route. Much of the western end of the canal, including the docks at Runcorn, disappeared when the much larger ship canal ploughed through. The few sections that veered off-course would eventually lose their original water supply and become scars on the landscape, such as here in Moore nature reserve where the canal bed and man-made walls can still be found hidden amongst the trees.

It's fair to say that in the present day, the canal has all but faded from memory. The old quay cut, all 500 yards of it, is the only section to still permanently hold water, and has returned to health as part of Wigg Island nature reserve after becoming a little worse for wear during the Mersey Gateway bridge construction.

To show the extent to which the ship canal irreversibly changed the landscape here, I have managed to find two images taken roughly 140 years apart. The first image shows the old canal docks looking towards the Ethelfleda railway bridge in 1880. The second photograph below taken in 2021 shows the same vantage point looking toward the same bridge, but with the entire docks replaced by the much larger waterway. To the left of the Arklow vessel you can see a small docking complex - this was a small area that remained in use for docking at the east end of the boat yard which operated on the ship canal. Irwell lane leads directly to the water much as it once did to the Old Quay canal, but almost all of the buildings have been constructed long after the industry had died down.

Image courtesy of AndyAirSHots

So, on to the house and we visit in 2018 after the property has been on the market and failed to find any investment for future development or restoration.

By this time Irwell Villa has long since malformed into something that only vaguely hints at an industry that it owes it's existence to. Several layers of generations of repurposing and adaptations have by now taken their toll on the property, each telling their own story.

Records of it's original past are surprisingly thin. In 1871 The Timmins family, of Ebenezer Timmins & Sons ltd, which operated Bridgewater Foundry at the beginning of Irwell lane, moved to Irwell villa from Mill House, Heath road (now demolished) before returning to Mill House in 1888.

E. Timmins and Sons may not exactly be house hold names now but they were a seriously skilled business for their time. This paddle steamer engine was formerly on display at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and they were even heavily involved in the construction of the Runcorn Widnes bridge some 80 years later. The foundry still exists but shows very few signs to outsiders that hint at it's former glory. It is now used by Runcorn Glass & Glazing Ltd.