early part of the 19th Century were prosperous times for Tranmere's ferry service, but this was to change with the completion of Thomas Brassey's New Chester Road in 1833 and the opening of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway in 1840. Further blows to trade came with the commencement of a horse-drawn tramway in 1877 between New Ferry and Woodside Ferry and the opening of the Mersey Railway between Liverpool and nearby Green Lane railway station in 1886. By 1904, the ferry service had ceased and Tranmere Pool was enclosed as Cammell Laird Dock as part of an extension of the shipyard. Air raid shelter Tranmere contains one of the largest and most expensive World War II air raid shelters in the country. The shelter consists of a series of tunnels stretching to a total length of , and was designed to house up to 6,000 people; many of them workers at the strategically important Cammell Laird shipyard. By the time the tunnels were completed, they were no longer needed as the threat of invasion had diminished. The tunnels were later used by the Ministry of Food for storage, and were considered as a nuclear fallout shelter during the Cold War era. The tunnels were sealed in 1989, amid growing health and safety concerns. The tunnels still exist and building work in 2008 uncovered a shaft, which allowed temporary exploration, before being sealed again. Geography Tranmere is situated on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, at the western side of the River Mersey. The area is approximately south-south-east of the Irish Sea at New Brighton and about east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at Thurstaston. Tranmere is at an elevation of between above sea level, with the highest point to the south of St Catherine's Hospital. Governance Tranmere is within the parliamentary constituency of Birkenhead. The current Member of Parliament is Mick Whitley, a Labour representative. At local government level, the area is mostly incorporated into the Birkenhead and Tranmere Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. (A small portion to the south of Green Lane station is now part of the Rock Ferry Ward.) Representation on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council is undertaken by three councillors. The most recent local elections took place on 6 May 2021. Community Tranmere is made up of industrial buildings and Victorian terraced houses, although it has seen a significant