Lament for Darley Dene

Author's Foreword

Author's ForewordThe story of Darley Dene and what happened there became part of the folklore of my birthplace half a century ago. My mother first told me the story when I was young and I remember thinking then how 'spooky' it was. I doubt, however, if there is anyone left now in my hometown who recalls the tale in any great detail. I know people have memories of the area and amateur historians have tried to gather together bits of evidence, but hardly anyone speaks of the army camp that once stood next to the sprawl of the Birkenhead Docks. If there is anyone who remembers, and you get the chance to speak to them, never forget that it is a factual story, although what you read here is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, elements are true; all you have to do, as reader, is decide which elements are real. However, one important thing is. Men died there in the dreadful early Blitz of the Second World War. Now, some sixty years or so after the event, Darley Dene no longer exists, bulldozed over to make way for the Mersey tunnel approach road. How many drivers, I wonder, know the history of the area across which they are travelling as they make their way to and from the Liverpool Kingsway Tunnel? And if they did, would they pull over, get out of their cars and bow their heads in a moment of quiet respect? Perhaps you, dear reader, will do so if you ever visit Darley Dene.