_cropped.jpg) | |
 Satellite image of the Wirral | |
  Wirral | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Northwest England |
| Coordinates | 53°22′N3°05′W / 53.367°N 3.083°W /53.367; -3.083 |
| OS grid reference | SJ285850 |
| Adjacent to | Irish Sea (Liverpool Bay) •Dee Estuary •Mersey Estuary |
| Administration | |
United Kingdom | |
| Country | England |
| Region | North West England |
| Ceremonial county | Merseyside •Cheshire |
| Boroughs | Wirral •Cheshire West and Chester (part) |
TheWirral Peninsula (/ˈwɪrəl/), known locally asthe Wirral, is apeninsula inNorth West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, and is bounded by theDee Estuary to the west, theMersey Estuary to the east andLiverpool Bay to the north.
Historically, the Wirral was wholly inCheshire; in theDomesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls fromChester city walls". However, since theLocal Government Act 1972, only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with almost all the rest lying in theMetropolitan Borough of Wirral,Merseyside. An area ofsaltmarsh andreclaimed land adjoining the south-west of the peninsula lies in theWelsh county ofFlintshire.
The name Wirral literally means "myrtle corner", from theOld Englishwir, a myrtle tree, andheal, an angle, corner or slope. It is supposed that the land was once overgrown with bog myrtle, a plant no longer found in the area, but plentiful aroundFormby, to which the Wirral would once have had a similarhabitat.[1] The name was given to theHundred of Wirral (or Wilaveston) around the 8th century.[2]
The earliest evidence of human occupation of the Wirral dates from theMesolithic period, around 12,000 BC. Excavations atGreasby have uncovered flint tools, signs of stake holes and a hearth used by a hunter-gatherer community. Other evidence from about the same period has been found atIrby,Hoylake andNew Brighton. LaterNeolithic stone axes and pottery have been found inOxton,Neston, andMeols. At Meols and New Brighton there is evidence of occupation through to theBronze Age, around 1000 BC, and funerary urns of the period have been found atWest Kirby andHilbre.[3]
Before the time of theRomans, the Wirral was inhabited by aCeltic tribe, theCornovii. Artefacts discovered in Meols suggest it was an important port from at least 500 BC. Traders came fromGaul and theMediterranean localities to seek minerals from North Wales and Cheshire.[4] There are remains of a smallIron Age fort atBurton, for which the town was named (burh tūn beingOld English for "fort town").[3]
Around AD 70, the Romans foundedChester. Evidence of their occupation on the Wirral has been found, including the remains of a road near Prenton (suitably named Roman Road),Mollington,Ledsham andWillaston. This road may have continued to the port at Meols, which may have been used as a base for attacking the north Wales coast.Storeton Quarry may also have been used by Romans for materials for sculpture. Remains of possible Roman roads have also been found atGreasby and atBidston. By the end of the Roman period, pirates were a menace to traders in theIrish Sea, and soldiers may have been garrisoned at Meols to combat this threat.[4]
Although Roman rule ended with the departure of the last Roman troops in 410, later coins and other material found at Meols show that it continued to operate as a trading port. Evidence ofCeltic Christianity from the 5th or 6th centuries is shown in the originally circular shape of churchyards atBromborough,Woodchurch and elsewhere, and also in the dedication of theparish church atWallasey to a 4th-century bishop,Hilary of Poitiers. The Celtic names ofLiscard andLandican (fromLlandecwyn) both suggest anancient British origin. The name of Wallasey, meaning "Welsh (or foreigners') island", is evidence of British settlement.[3] The Welsh name, both ancient and modern, for the Wirral isCilgwri.[5] InWelsh mythology, theouzel (orblackbird) of Cilgwri was one of the most ancient creatures in the world.[6]
TheAnglo-Saxons underÆthelfrith, king ofNorthumbria,laid waste to Chester around 616. Æthelfrith withdrew, leaving the area west and south of the Mersey to become part ofMercia, and Anglo-Saxon settlers took over the Wirral except the northern tip. Many of the Wirral's villages, such as Willaston,Eastham andSutton, were established and named at this time.
Towards the end of the 9th century,Vikings began raiding the area. They settled along the Dee side of the peninsula, and along the sea coast, giving their villages names such asKirby,Greasby and Meols. They introduced their own local government system with a parliament atThingwall. The pseudo-historicalFragmentary Annals of Ireland appears to record the Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement of the Wirral peninsula in its account of the immigration ofIngimundr near Chester. This Irish source places this settlement in the aftermath of the Vikings' expulsion fromDublin in 902, and an unsuccessful attempt to settle onAnglesey soon afterwards. Following these setbacks, Ingimundr is stated to have settled near Chester with the consent ofÆthelflæd,co-ruler of Mercia.[7] The boundary of the Viking colony is believed to have passed south of Neston andRaby, and alongDibbinsdale.[3] Evidence of Norse speech on the Wirral can still be seen from place name evidence – such as the common-by (meaning "village" in Scandinavian languages) –suffixes and names such asTranmere, which comes fromtrani melr ("cranebird sandbank"). Viking Age sculpture corroborates this.[8] RecentY-DNA research has also revealed the genetic trail left by Scandinavians on the Wirral, specifically relatively high rates of thehaplogroup R1a, associated in Britain with Scandinavian ancestry.[9]
Bromborough on the Wirral is also one of the possible sites of an epic battle in 937, the Battle ofBrunanburh, which confirmed England as anAnglo-Saxon kingdom. This is the first battle where England united to fight the combined forces of theNorsemen and theScots, and thus historians consider it the birthplace of England. The battle site covered a large area of the Wirral.Egil's Saga, a story which tells of the battle, may have referred to the Wirral as Wen Heath,Vínheíþr inIcelandic.[8][10]
After invading England in 1066 andsubduing Northumbria in 1069–1070,William the Conqueror invaded and ravaged Chester and its surrounding area, laying waste to much of the Wirral. The Domesday survey of 1086 shows that the Wirral then was more densely populated than most of England, and the manor ofEastham, which covered most of the east of the peninsula fromBidston to theRiver Gowy, was the second largest in Cheshire. Of the 28 former lords of the Wirral manors listed, 12 bore Norse names. By 1086, most of the area was in the hands of Norman lords such asRobert of Rhuddlan, his cousinHugh d'Avranches, andHamo de Mascy. The survey shows 405 family heads living in the peninsula, suggesting a total population of 2,000–3,000.[3][11]
TheEarls of Chester ruled the whole of theCounty Palatine, including the Wirral, almost as "a kingdom within a kingdom" for about 250 years. Between 1120 and 1123,Earl Ranulph le Meschin made several edicts that converted the Wirral into ahunting forest. This made the area subject toForest Law which made the hunting of game, such asdeer andboar, by unauthorised persons subject to harsh penalties.[12] To enforce the forest laws was a chief forester who was appointed with aceremonial horn, and the position soon became a hereditary responsibility of theStanley family. However, after complaints from minor Wirral landowners about the wildness of the area and oppression by the Stanleys,Edward the Black Prince as Earl of Chester agreed to a charter confirming the disafforestation of the Wirral, shortly before his death fromamoebic dysentery.[13] The proclamation was issued by his fatherEdward III on 20 July 1376.[3][14]
At the end of the 12th century,Birkenhead Priory stood on the west bank of the Mersey at a headland ofbirch trees, from whichthe town derives its name. The ruined priory is Merseyside's oldest surviving building and itsBenedictine monks provided the first officialMersey ferry service around 1330, having been granted a passage toLiverpool by a charter from Edward III.[15] At this time, large areas of Wirral were owned by Chester Abbey. In 1278 the Abbey was granted the right to hold an annual three-day fair at Bromborough, but the fair declined after theBlack Death in 1349. Another fair was established in 1299 atBurton. Meanwhile, Meols continued as an important port, and the eroded coastline there has provided what is described as"the largest collection of medieval domestic items to have come from any single site outside London".[3][16]
ASubsidy Roll of 1545 shows that the population of the Wirral was no more than 4,000. The peninsula was divided into 15 parishes (Wallasey, Bidston,Upton, Woodchurch, West Kirby,Thurstaston,Heswall,Bebington, Bromborough, Eastham,Neston, Burton,Shotwick,Backford andStoke). Most parishes were subdivided into smaller townships, of which the largest in terms of population were Neston, Burton, Wallasey,Tranmere (then within the parish of Bebington) and Liscard, and were the same size as small rural villages.[3]
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The Wirral's proximity to the port of Chester influenced the history of the Dee side of the peninsula. From about the 14th century, Chester provided facilities for trade with Ireland, Spain, and Germany, and seagoing vessels would "lay to" in the Dee awaiting favourable winds and tides. As the Dee started to silt up, harbouring facilities developed at Shotwick, Burton, Neston,Parkgate,Dawpool, and "Hoyle Lake" orHoylake. However, there was not a gradual progression of development, and downstream anchorages such as that at Hoyle Lake (which replaced Meols) were in occasional use from medieval times, depending on the weather and state of the tide. The main port facilities were at Neston and Parkgate.[3]
At the same time, larger ships and economic growth inLancashire stimulated the growth ofLiverpool. The first wet dock in Britain was opened in Liverpool in 1715, and the town's population grew from some 6,000 to 80,000 during the 18th century. The need to develop and protect the port led to a chain oflighthouses being built along the north Wirral coast. The commercial expansion of Liverpool, and the increase in stage coach traffic from Chester, also spurred the growth offerries across theRiver Mersey. By the end of the 18th century the Wirral side of the Mersey had five ferry houses, atSeacombe,Woodside,the Rock,New Ferry and Eastham.[17]
Other communications were also improving.Turnpike roads linking Chester with Eastham, Woodside, and Neston were built after 1787. In 1793, work began on theEllesmere Canal, connecting the Mersey with Chester andShropshire through thefluvioglacial landform known as theBackford gap, and the town ofEllesmere Port began to develop.
The excavation of the New Cut of the Dee, opened in 1737, to improve access to Chester, diverted the river's course to the Welsh side of theestuary and took trade away from the Wirral coastline.[18] Although plans were made to overcome its gradual silting up, including one in 1857 to cut a ship canal from a point between Thurstaston andHeswall to run along the length of the Wirral to Chester, this and other schemes came to nothing, and the focus of general trade moved irrevocably to the much deeper Mersey. However, from the late 18th century there was coal mining near Neston, in tunnels stretching up to two miles (three kilometres) under the Dee, and a quay at Denhall was used for coal exports.[3]
The first steam ferry service across the Mersey started in 1817, and steam-powered ships soon opened up the Wirral's Mersey coast for industrialisation. The 1820s saw the birth of the area's renowned shipbuilding tradition whenWilliam Laird opened hisshipyard inBirkenhead, later expanded by his sonJohn Laird. The Lairds were largely responsible for the early growth of Birkenhead, commissioning the architectJames Gillespie Graham to lay it out as a new town modelled onEdinburgh. In 1847, Birkenhead's first docks and itsmunicipal park, the first in Britain and the inspiration for New York'sCentral Park, were opened, and the town expanded rapidly. Bolstered by migration from Ireland, Wales and rural Cheshire, Birkenhead's population of less than one thousand in 1801 rose to over 33,000 by 1851, and to 157,000 by 1901. The town became aborough in 1877, incorporating within it Oxton and Tranmere.
The improved communications also allowed Liverpool merchants to buy up and develop large estates on the Wirral. James Atherton and William Rowson developed the resort ofNew Brighton, and new estates for the gentry were also built atEgremont,Oxton,Claughton and Rock Ferry.Arrowe Hall was built for the Shaw family in 1835.[3]
In the mid-19th century docks were established at Birkenhead and in the Wallasey Pool, and continuing development for a wide range of industry both there and along the banks of the Mersey. The New Chester Road was opened in 1833. The Wirral's first railway was built in 1840, planned byGeorge Stephenson and connecting Birkenhead withChester. In 1852 Price's Patent Candle Company built a factory and model village at Bromborough. This was followed in 1888 byWilliam Lever's establishment of the much larger Sunlight soap factory andPort Sunlight garden village, designed to house its employees and provide them with a benign environment. The opening of theManchester Ship Canal in 1894, with its outfall at Eastham, led to further port-side and industrial development beside the Mersey at Ellesmere Port.
In 1886, theMersey Railway tunnel was opened, linking the Wirral and Liverpool. This led to the further rapid growth of suburbs in the Wirral, particularly in Wallasey, Hoylake and West Kirby, and later Bebington and Heswall. Wallasey's population grew to over 53,000 by 1901, and the town also achieved borough status soon after the turn of the century.[3]
The dockland areas of Wallasey and Birkenhead continued to develop and prosper in the first half of the century, specialising in trade with Africa and the Far East. A host of other port-related industries then came into existence, such as flour milling, tanning, edible oil refining and the manufacture of paint and rubber-based products. In 1922 a new oil dock was built atStanlow near Ellesmere Port, and in 1934oil refining began there. A large chemical andoil refining complex still dominates the area.
In 1929, the3rd World Scout Jamboree was held atArrowe Park and this celebrated the 21st Anniversary of the publication ofScouting for Boys. Thirty-five countries were represented by 30,000Scouts, plus another 10,000 British Scouts who took the opportunity to camp in the vicinity.
The rail tunnel under the Mersey was supplemented by a vehicle tunnel in 1934, theQueensway Tunnel. A third tunnel opened in 1971, theKingsway Tunnel, connecting with theM53 motorway which now runs up the centre of the peninsula. These new roads contributed to the massive growth of commuting by car between Liverpool and the Wirral, and the development of new suburban estates around such villages asMoreton, Upton, Greasby,Pensby, and Bromborough.
In 1940–1941, as part of theBlitz, parts of the Wirral, especially around the docks, suffered extensive bomb damage. There were 464 people killed in Birkenhead and 355 in Wallasey, and 80% of all houses in Birkenhead were either destroyed or badly damaged.[3] During theSecond World War, the Wirral held two RAF sites,RAF West Kirby (which was a camp, not an airfield) and RAFHooton Park and a number of anti-aircraft sites to protect the docks of Birkenhead and Liverpool.
After the Second World War, economic decline began in the older industries in the area which had started to become known as Merseyside. However, there continued to be industrial development along the Mersey between Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port, including the largeVauxhall Motors car factory on the site of RAF Hooton Park.[3]
Plans were announced in 2006 for a £4.5b billion development around the docklands to be calledWirral Waters.[19] The development is a mixture of industrial, office, residential and leisure facilities. Planning permission was granted in 2010 and work began on the site in 2011, with development work potentially lasting for 30 years.[20]
The Wirral can be defined both as a geographical peninsula and as a socio-cultural area. The currentMetropolitan Borough of Wirral has a population of 312,293 (according to the2001 census),[21] and covers an area of 60.35 sq mi (156.3 km2), bounded by theCheshire Plain, the Dee and the Mersey. The Irish Sea lies to its north west side.[15]
The peninsula is formed almost wholly fromsedimentary bedrock ofTriassic age, beingsandstone,mudstones andsiltstones. Strata exposed at or near the modern surface include the following (instratigraphic order i.e. uppermost/youngest at top):
A small outcrop ofCarboniferous rocks occurs around Little Neston, being an extension of theFlintshire Coalfield across the Dee estuary. TheseCoal Measures rocks were formerly exploited by asmall mining operation.
The strata have a slight, generally easterly dip and are cut by numerous extensionalfaults most of which are aligned broadly north–south. For the most part the bedrock is poorly exposed being covered by superficial deposits ofQuaternary age. Notable exposures of the Helsby Sandstone occur atBidston Hill and at Red Rocks at the northwestern tip of the Wirral along with the tidal islands atHilbre. Elsewhere Mercia Mudstone rocks outcrop prominently at Caldy Hill, Thurstaston Common and Heswall Dales.[22]
Much of the Wirral is covered by a mantle of glacialtill, a legacy of thelast ice age.Wind-blown sands cover the northern coastal margin. Low ground behind these sand are reclaimed tidal flat deposits which also extend into the heavily modified Birket which occupies a buried bedrock channel. This channel and others beneath the Dee and Mersey estuaries were formed in part by the southeasterly movement of Irish Sea Ice during successive ice ages. Low cliffs of the Kinnerton Sandstone at Burton Point are part of a relict shoreline, the Dee estuary having silted up during the post-glacial period. The former coast can be traced from Blacon northwest to Burton Point and thence to Parkgate where spring tides still reach the historic coastline.[23][24] A well developedglacial drainage channel, known as the Deva Spillway cuts across the base of the peninsula between the two estuaries on either side of the Wirral and is interpreted as having played a major part in the deglaciation of the region in late-glacial/post-glacial times.[25]
Although it has been stated that "it is difficult to find any work in which there is a written description of the exact area defining the Wirral Peninsula",[26] historian Stephen Roberts defines it as "the peninsula which is bounded by the Dee and Mersey estuaries, Irish Sea and ... the route of the Shropshire Union Canal between Ellesmere Port and Chester". This definition extends the original hundred slightly further east, to the River Gowy.[3]
TheShropshire Union Canal joins the Mersey at Ellesmere Port and the Dee at Chester. This canal technically makes the peninsula an island. In the north of the peninsula, theRiver Fender,Arrowe Brook andGreasby Brook drain intoThe Birket, which itself flows into the River Mersey viaWallasey Pool (Birkenhead Docks). Further south, the Clatter Brook and Dibbinsdale Brook drain into the Mersey atBromborough Pool.[11]
Two approximately parallel sandstone ridges run down the length of the peninsula. The western ridge is made up of Grange and Caldy Hills at 256 ft (78 m) in height, thenThurstaston Hill (298 ft, 91 m), Poll Hill inHeswall (350 ft, 110 m), the highest point on the Wirral) andBurton (222 ft, 68 m). The less continuous eastern ridge consists ofBidston Hill (231 ft, 70 m),Prenton (259 ft, 79 m) andStoreton Hill (229 ft, 70 m).[11] The shallow Fender valley runs between these ridges.
The Wirral features atemperatemaritime climate (Köppen:Cfb) with mild summers, cool winters and rainfall spread evenly throughout the year.
A weather station was maintained on the peninsula, atBidston, between 1845 and 2002.[27]
The major urban centres of the Wirral are to its east: these includeBirkenhead andWallasey. To the west and south, the Wirral is more rural. Two-thirds of the population of the Wirral live on one third of the land in Birkenhead and Wallasey, according to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Other towns to the south and west of this area are usually considered part of the Wirral: notably,Ellesmere Port is often described as one of its "border towns".[26] For regional economic planning, the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is considered part of theLiverpool City Region.[28]
There are many towns and villages on the Wirral. Those administered by theMetropolitan Borough of Wirral are listed inList of towns and villages in Wirral (borough). Those also on the Wirral but administered byCheshire West and Chester include:
The M53 is also seen as an east–west divide between the affluent and developing areas of the Wirral.[29][30]
Despite containing urban and industrial areas, the Wirral still has picturesque villages, sandy beaches, large areas of land owned by theNational Trust, as well as views across the two estuaries and out into the Irish Sea.[31] Wirral Council has identified over 130 public access points within its administrative area to beaches and to open water.[32] Among the areas of open land areBidston Hill,Caldy Hill,Eastham Country Park, including the Victorian Pleasure Gardens,Hilbre Island,North Wirral Coastal Park,Thurstaston Common and Thor's Stone and theWirral Way.Ness Botanical Gardens are part of theUniversity of Liverpool and have won many awards.[33] The visitor centre atRSPBBurton Mere Wetlands provides birdwatching facilities in the Dee Estuary nature reserve.[34]
Places of architectural interest includeHamilton Square,Rock Park andPort Sunlight. The view of the buildings on Liverpool'sPier Head when crossing on theMersey Ferry is famous. Many villages of the Wirral such asBurton are also well preserved with their characteristic redsandstone buildings and walls. The old port ofParkgate also attracts many visitors. The arts are well represented by theLady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight and theWilliamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead. The historical sites includeBirkenhead Priory,Leasowe Lighthouse,Hadlow Road railway station and the buildings and ancient carvings onBidston Hill.
For reasons that are both social and geographical, accents on the east side of the Wirral tend to show a stronger Merseyside influence than those on the west side.[35]Neston once had a distinctivedialect derived from the migrant workers at the Denhall Colliery.[36]
The Wirral has hosted a variety of different films and television programmes.Chariots of Fire was filmed at various locations on the Wirral including the Oval Sports Centre,Bebington, theWoodside Ferry Terminal,[39] and Bridge Cottage inPort Sunlight village, while the 1950Ealing comedyThe Magnet was filmed in Wallasey and New Brighton.
The 51st State was partly filmed around the docks in Birkenhead.Awaydays, based on a novel of the same name byKevin Sampson, was filmed extensively on the Wirral.[40] In 2012 the movieBlood, starringPaul Bettany andStephen Graham was filmed on the Wirral.[41]
TheQueensway Tunnel in Birkenhead is also featured in the Harry Potter film,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 during the scene where Harry and Hagrid escape on a flying motorcycle and pass through the tunnel. The scene was filmed while the tunnel was closed for repairs.[42] The 2013 filmFast & Furious 6 tunnel chase scene was filmed in the Queensway Tunnel. The unused Birkenhead Dock branch of the Queensway Tunnel was filmed as a New York underpass in the 2014 movieJack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. In October 2017, the tunnel branch was used for the filming of the drama,Bulletproof, starringNoel Clarke andAshley Walters.[43]
Scenes for the 2016 filmFlorence Foster Jenkins, starringHugh Grant andMeryl Streep, were filmed around Hoylake and New Brighton.[44]
In television, sitcomWatching, produced byGranada Television between 1987 and 1993, was partly set and filmed at various Wirral locations, particularlyMeols.[45][46] In 2005Mike Bassett: Manager, starringRicky Tomlinson was a follow-up to the filmMike Bassett: England Manager, and featured a fictional football club called Wirral County, a parody ofTranmere Rovers, who Bassett (Tomlinson) managed after being sacked from the England job.[citation needed]
The BBC comedy dramaCandy Cabs filmed external scenes in West Kirby and Hoylake in 2011.[47] Wallasey School featured inGrease: The School Musical onSky One in 2009.[48]
The BBC Two dramaPeaky Blinders was filmed at various locations on the Wirral, includingPort Sunlight village.[49] The second seriesPeter Kay's Car Share also filmed at various Wirral locations including Meols and West Kirby. Sky One's 2016 thriller,The Five, starringLee Ingleby shot scenes around the Wirral including in Port Sunlight.[50]
The 2017 ITV dramaSafe House starringJason Watkins andSunetra Sarker filmed several scenes on the peninsula.[citation needed]
In the autumn of 2017 filming began in Port Sunlight and Thornton Hough for a biopic about the authorTolkien starringNicholas Hoult.[51]
A row of cottages in the historic village of Port Sunlight also featured on the 2014 series of BBC Two'sThe Great Interior Design Challenge. The village also played host to two episodes of BBC One'sThe Antiques Roadshow hosted byFiona Bruce.[citation needed]
In 2018, the feature filmOfficial Secrets had two beach scenes filmed at Thurstaston beach on the Dee Estuary.[citation needed]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Granada, the local television stationTalkLiverpool also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter.[52] With its close proximity withNorth Wales,BBC Wales andITV Cymru Wales can also be received from theMoel-y-Parc TV transmitter.[53]
Wirral is served by the local radio stations:BBC Radio Merseyside,Heart North West,Capital North West & Wales,Radio City,Smooth North West,Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West,Radio Wirral, and Wirral Wave Radio, a community based station.[54]
The area is served by the local newspapers:Wirral Globe[55] andLiverpool Echo.
TheM53 motorway runs along the length of the Wirral, from near Chester. At the north eastern end, the Wirral is joined to Liverpool bythree tunnels under the Mersey: two road tunnels, one from Wallasey (Kingsway) and one from Birkenhead (Queensway), and theMersey Railway tunnel.
The Wirral peninsula is served by a network of bus routes. These are provided by larger companies whose networks of bus services in the North West of England are extensive, such asArriva North West andStagecoach Wirral. Furthermore, the peninsula is also served by many independent bus operators. Independent bus companies which operate on the peninsula include A2B Travel,Cumfybus, Helms Coaches and Eazibus.
Most bus services operate from the three bus stations:Birkenhead bus station,Heswall bus station andWoodside bus station, although many services start from other interchanges, such as New Brighton, Seacombe Ferry and Liscard Village.
TheWirral Line of the electrifiedMerseyrail network links West Kirby, New Brighton, Chester and Ellesmere Port via many other towns and villages to all four of Liverpool's city centre stations (James Street,Moorfields,Lime Street andLiverpool Central) through the underground Loop tunnel. Another railway line, theBorderlands Line, offers hourly diesel services fromBidston (on the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line) toWrexham in North Wales.
RegularMersey Ferry crossings operate to Liverpool from both Woodside and Seacombe, providing a commuter shuttle and pleasure cruises.
The nearest passenger airports areLiverpool John Lennon Airport andManchester Airport. There were plans to introduce commercial flights to nearbyHawarden Airport in North Wales,[56] but these plans were dropped in 2014.[57][58]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728)."Bloody hand".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 110.
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