The popular Woodside Drive-In Cinema, a fixture on Birkenhead's waterfront for nine years, has been told it must leave its site next to Woodside Ferry Terminal by March 2027, its co-owner has said.
End of a nine-year run at the ferry terminal
Co-owners Karen Hall and Kevin Wood told customers they were “gutted” after being informed the long-running pop-up must vacate the Merseytravel-owned site. Merseytravel, the Liverpool City Region’s public transport body and the landowner, said it was unable to comment while the process was ongoing.
The drive-in, which began as a temporary summer attraction in 2018, was originally planned to run for only a few months. Hall said the pair had not expected the venture to grow into a near-permanent feature of the waterfront.
“We certainly weren't expecting to stay open more than a few months over the summer,” Karen Hall said. “It was just a lot more popular than we thought it was going to be.”
Plans and immediate future
The operators said they intend to remain at Woodside for their final Halloween and Christmas seasons while they search for a replacement site. At the time of the announcement, no new location had been secured.
Customers have watched films from their cars at the venue, tuning in to the soundtrack via their radios — a format that has become part of the cinema's appeal and personality. Over the years the site has hosted a broad mix of films and created social moments for local residents; Hall said the cinema had even played a part in some people's personal lives.
How it began
The very first night at Woodside was intended to nod to the classic drive-in era: the screening was Grease. That opening did not go entirely to plan — Hall recalled technical hitches with the sound and even the popcorn, plus problems with an intended QR code check-in because of lack of signal at the site. They reverted to pen-and-paper check-ins, which Hall said "proved simpler" and is still used.
- Start: Began as a temporary summer attraction in 2018.
- Run: Operated for nine years at the Woodside Ferry Terminal site.
- Deadline: Must leave by March 2027; will operate through upcoming Halloween and Christmas seasons while seeking a new site.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Woodside Drive-In opens as a temporary summer attraction |
| 2018–2026 | Continued operation at Woodside, growing in popularity |
| March 2027 | Required to vacate the Merseytravel-owned site |
Local implications
The announcement raises questions for Birkenhead's leisure offering and for how the waterfront site will be used in future. The drive-in has become a weekend draw for families, couples and groups of friends, and its loss would remove a low-cost, community-friendly event from the area’s calendar.
For now, organisers are clear they will stage their seasonal programmes and try to find another location. How easy that will be remains uncertain: drive-in cinemas require large, accessible open spaces with appropriate access and noise considerations — plus radio signal or other ways to deliver audio — and such sites are not plentiful in built-up areas.
Residents who value the venue should expect chances to see it during Halloween and Christmas at Woodside before the move, and those who want to follow developments will need to watch for announcements from the cinema's owners and from Merseytravel once the landowner is able to comment.
The next year will determine whether the drive-in can secure a new berth in the Liverpool City Region or beyond, or whether Birkenhead will lose a nine-year cultural fixture of the waterfront.
