David and Steve McElroy talk about the phrase “getting off at Edge Hill”

Resource Type: Audio | Posted on 29th July 2011 by Liam Physick

David and Steve McElroy discuss the phrase “getting off at Edge Hill”, which, owing to the fact that Edge Hill is the last station before Lime Street, became a euphemism for coitus interruptus (an [ineffective] method of birth control in which the man withdraws his penis before ejaculation)! They also talk about walking through the tunnels, and mention The Mystery, the nickname for Wavertree Playground, acquired because it was built after an anonymous donor, whose identity remains, well, a mystery, offered the land to the council to be used as a children’s play area

Interviewee: David and Steve McElroy

Interviewee Gender: Male

Date of Interview: 25th March 2011

Interview Transcript

Jenny: If you could talk about the last time that you came here?

David: The last time I came here was, when do we think, 18 years ago, about?

Steve: 18 years ago, yes.

Jenny: Yeah.

David: When Jack was still working on the railways and Steve’d obviously set up with him to go walkabout through the, the tunnels on Saturday when it was comparatively quiet, so we trekked, I mean, I, well, I, I wouldn’t have been certain how far we walked, but I, I could believe we got most of the way to the city centre.

Steve: We, on the, the, the Wapping Tunnel, we’d have been down as far as approaching the Anglican Cathedral.

David: Well, that, I, I go on that one, I only went to Waterloo . . .

Steve: Waterloo

David: . . . cos I remember you saying about the, that one got rather wet and you had to abandon it cos it was just a bit, no good for the shoes and trousers, but no, I, I only went down the, the Waterloo one.

Steve: Yeah, we’ve been a bit past the University, cos you can see the, the, the sky and all the cuttings there.

David: But, so, and, prior to that, I don’t . . . I don’t think I’ve ever got on or off a train at this station.

Jenny: Oh, really!

David: No, in all that time. (Jenny laughs)

Steve: (indecipherable due to laughing)

David: (indecipherable due to laughing)

Jenny: Yeah! (laughs all round)

Steve: Do you know that one?

David: Are you familiar with that one?

Steve: Getting off at Edge Hill!

David: So, as a station, I don’t think I’ve ever, I can’t recall ever using it as a, a station as a . . .

Jenny: Oh, right.

David: . . . as a passenger, but, you know, sort of, been through it, you know, hundreds of times on the, on the train to London and other places.

Steve: Now, funnily enough, I have used it both, in both, in both senses, actually, you know, getting on here as a passenger and also getting off as a passenger, so to speak! (Jenny laughs) And, I was thinking on, on Monday, I, I’ll probably do that as well because I’ve got to put me car in for service, and Anne’s just got one of those Groupon vouchers for, like, a cheapo car out in St. Helens but, you know . . . (David bursts out laughing)

David: Spend, spend the difference, driving the car to St. Helens!

Steve: St. Helens Shaw Street . . .

Jenny: Yeah.

Steve: . . . down, down to here, jump off, walk up to school and then . . . get from here.

David: Is it on this, is it this line, not the Broadgreen Line?

Steve: Well this, this is, this is, this is the Broadgreen line.

Jenny: This, next station along is Broad Green.

David: Of course, that’s where, that’s where, it’s, it’s there actually, thinking about it earlier.

Jenny: Yeah.

Steve: Yeah.

Jenny: Yeah.

Steve: Yeah.

Jenny: (indecipherable)

Steve: Don’t you know your geography!

David: No! (laughs all round) What’s that? Yeah, cos, where, where does the, where does it let, just before, just by The Mystery?

Steve: No, it’s before that, it, it, it’s were, it’s literally about, as you get under, go under the bridge, under Picton Road . . .

David: Oh, that, yeah, yeah.

Steve: . . . to your left-hand side, that’s the Manchester line, Manchester and Wigan, and then the London line curves round like that and over, cos you, you, you go under it first of all, and then you (indecipherable) a few hundred metres and then it goes over . . .

David: Yeah.

Steve: . . . and by the (indecipherable) place on Picton Road and then goes past the . . .

David: Yeah, yeah.

Steve: . . . past The Mystery.

David: Yeah, yeah, it all comes back to me now.

Steve: (inaudible) (Jenny laughs)

Jenny: So, like, the, the phrase, “get off at Edge Hill”, do you remember when you first heard that?

Steve: We heard that as a kid, yeah.

Jenny: You knew, you both knew it a kid?

David: Yeah.

Jenny: It must have been, like, I always wonder where it originated from?

David: From, probably around here.

Jenny: It’s just one of those things.

David: What, it must have done? But, the, the, the true context of it was i.e. not going into Lime Street . . .

Jenny: Yeah.

David: . . . you know, probably to, to save time, if, particularly if you lived locally, but how it got the other connotation I’m not quite sure! (Jenny laughs)

Steve: Grow up, how old are you! (laughter all round)

David: No, I meant, how it, how somebody . . .

Jenny: Yeah, made that association!

David: It’s not an obvious one!

Steve: Well, I’ve never heard any who, well, people, some people don’t know, when you explain it to them, they go, “Oh, aye, yeah.” (laughter all round)

David: (in a censorious voice) Yes, yes!

Tagged under: edge hill station, wapping tunnel, picton road, university of liverpool, broad green station, getting off at edge hill, the mystery, anglican cathedral

Categorised under: The Station & Railway Pioneers

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