77-819: The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula , England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool . It is split into two large docks , East Float and West Float , both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks run approximately 2 miles (3 km) inland from the River Mersey , dividing the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey . The Great Float consists of 110 acres (45 ha) of water and more than 4 miles (6 km) of quays . Unlike in Liverpool , where
154-434: A £4.5bn development around the docklands to be called Wirral Waters . 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. The Wirral can be defined both as a geographical peninsula and as a socio-cultural area. The current Metropolitan Borough of Wirral has
231-775: A benign environment. The opening of the Manchester 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, the Mersey 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
308-655: A charter from Edward III. 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 the Black Death in 1349. Another fair was established in 1299 at Burton . 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" . A Subsidy Roll of 1545 shows that
385-487: A mantle of glacial till , a legacy of the last 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
462-469: A national base for marine engineering research and development and survival training as well as providing business accelerator space for the maritime sector. The project will cost £23m. Peel Holdings announced on 6 September 2006 the Wirral Waters project. This would allow for a £4.5bn of investment in the regeneration of the dockland area. This equates with an investment of over £14,000 for each of
539-423: A new oil dock was built at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port, and in 1934 oil refining began there. A large chemical and oil refining complex still dominates the area. In 1929, the 3rd World Scout Jamboree was held at Arrowe Park and this celebrated the 21st Anniversary of the publication of Scouting for Boys . Thirty-five countries were represented by 30,000 Scouts , plus another 10,000 British Scouts who took
616-563: A parliament at Thingwall . The pseudo-historical Fragmentary Annals of Ireland appears to record the Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement of the Wirral peninsula in its account of the immigration of Ingimundr near Chester. This Irish source places this settlement in the aftermath of the Vikings' expulsion from Dublin in 902, and an unsuccessful attempt to settle on Anglesey soon afterwards. Following these setbacks, Ingimundr
693-472: A population of 312,293 (according to the 2001 census ), and covers an area of 60.35 sq mi (156.3 km ), bounded by the Cheshire Plain , the Dee and the Mersey. The Irish Sea lies to its north west side. The peninsula is formed almost wholly from sedimentary bedrock of Triassic age, being sandstone , mudstones and siltstones . Strata exposed at or near the modern surface include
770-598: A single island platform situated in a cutting . Passenger services ended on 4 January 1960 and all services on the line terminated on 16 June 1963. Poulton lies on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of the Irish Sea at New Brighton , 9 km (5.6 mi) east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at West Kirby and about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of
847-460: A small Iron Age fort at Burton , for which the town was named ( burh tūn being Old English for "fort town"). Around AD 70, the Romans founded Chester . Evidence of their occupation on the Wirral has been found, including the remains of a road near Mollington , Ledsham and Willaston . This road may have continued to the port at Meols, which may have been used as a base for attacking
SECTION 10
#1732780589542924-475: A southern bridge, known as the "C" bridge, which was replaced with a modern flat-deck fixed concrete slab in 2017. Renovation work in the same year also replaced the "A" bridge with a lifting bridge powered by hydraulic rams. Work was expected to be completed by November 2017 but, due to complications, the bridge was not reopened until 28 June 2018. Joining the southern end of the Poulton district of Wallasey with
1001-463: A trading port. Evidence of Celtic Christianity from the 5th or 6th centuries is shown in the originally circular shape of churchyards at Bromborough , Woodchurch and elsewhere, and also in the dedication of the parish church at Wallasey to a 4th-century bishop, Hilary of Poitiers . The Celtic names of Liscard and Landican (from Llandecwyn ) both suggest an ancient British origin. The name of Wallasey, meaning "Welsh (or foreigners') island",
1078-571: Is also seen as an east–west divide between the affluent and developing areas of the Wirral. Despite containing urban and industrial areas, the Wirral still has picturesque villages, sandy beaches, large areas of land owned by the National Trust , as well as views across the two estuaries and out into the Irish Sea. Wirral Council has identified over 130 public access points within its administrative area to beaches and to open water. Among
1155-440: Is estimated to create over 27,000 permanent new jobs, aside from the employment required for construction and other peripheral employment. The Wirral Waters Baseline Study of July 2008 has been endorsed by Wirral Borough Council . In February 2009 the first stage of the planning application for the first major mixed use development masterplan/quarter was submitted. The development would be expected to take up to 30 years. The scheme
1232-453: Is evidence of British settlement. The Welsh name, both ancient and modern, for the Wirral is Cilgwri . In Welsh mythology , the ouzel (or blackbird ) of Cilgwri was one of the most ancient creatures in the world. The Anglo-Saxons under Æthelfrith , king of Northumbria , laid waste to Chester around 616. Æthelfrith withdrew, leaving the area west and south of the Mersey to become part of Mercia , and Anglo-Saxon settlers took over
1309-751: Is evidence of occupation through to the Bronze Age , around 1,000 BC, and funerary urns of the period have been found at West Kirby and Hilbre . Before the time of the Romans , the Wirral was inhabited by a Celtic tribe, the Cornovii . Artefacts discovered in Meols suggest it was an important port from at least 500 BC. Traders came from Gaul and the Mediterranean localities to seek minerals from North Wales and Cheshire. There are remains of
1386-604: Is included in the Wirral Local Plan 2020–2035. Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula ( / ˈ w ɪr əl / ), known locally as the Wirral , is a peninsula in North West England . The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool Bay to
1463-666: Is stated to have settled near Chester with the consent of Æthelflæd , co-ruler of Mercia . The boundary of the Viking colony is believed to have passed south of Neston and Raby , and along Dibbinsdale . 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 as Tranmere , which comes from trani melr (" cranebird sandbank"). Viking Age sculpture corroborates this. Recent Y-DNA research has also revealed
1540-596: The Backford gap, and the town of Ellesmere 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 the estuary and took trade away from the Wirral coastline. Although plans were made to overcome its gradual silting up, including one in 1857 to cut a ship canal from a point between Thurstaston and Heswall to run along
1617-592: The Blitz , 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. During the Second World War, the Wirral held two RAF sites, RAF West Kirby (which was a camp, not an airfield) and RAF Hooton Park and a number of anti-aircraft sites to protect
SECTION 20
#17327805895421694-638: The Central Hydraulic Tower and Engine House (the tower is an accumulator tower ). Providing power for the movement of lock gates and bridges at Birkenhead Docks, it was completed in 1863. The design of the building was based on the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza Della Signoria, Florence , Italy. In March 2021, it was announced that the building would be brought back in to use as a Maritime Knowledge Hub and will be
1771-552: The Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight and the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead. The historical sites include Birkenhead Priory , Leasowe Lighthouse , Hadlow Road railway station and the buildings and ancient carvings on Bidston 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
1848-765: The Liverpool Standard newspaper. Designed by James Meadows Rendel , protégé of Thomas Telford , the scheme was managed by the Birkenhead Dock Company until a financial crisis in 1847. The docks were taken over by the Liverpool Corporation in 1855. By 1858, the rights to dock ownership and revenues were transferred to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board , based in Liverpool. Graving docks were built in 1864 and 1877, on
1925-599: The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral . The most recent local elections took place on 5 May 2022. Poulton Road is the main street that runs through this area, with Rostherne Avenue, Mill Lane and Gorsey Lane amongst others connecting to it. Some of the former trackbed of the Wirral Railway branch to Seacombe was used as the approach road to the Kingsway (Wallasey) Tunnel , providing a connection from
2002-665: The Norsemen and the Scots , 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 in Icelandic . After invading England in 1066 and subduing Northumbria in 1069–1070, William the Conqueror invaded and ravaged Chester and its surrounding area, laying waste to much of
2079-532: The River Mersey at Seacombe . The area is situated at an elevation of about 17 m (56 ft) above sea level. The West Float is to the south of Poulton, separating it from Birkenhead . Poulton is part of the Wallasey parliamentary constituency and represented since 1992 by Angela Eagle , a Labour Party MP. At local government level, the area is predominantly within the Seacombe Ward of
2156-528: The 18th century the Wirral side of the Mersey had five ferry houses, at Seacombe , Woodside , the Rock , New Ferry and Eastham. Other communications were also improving. Turnpike roads linking Chester with Eastham, Woodside, and Neston were built after 1787. In 1793, work began on the Ellesmere Canal , connecting the Mersey with Chester and Shropshire through the fluvioglacial landform known as
2233-476: The 320,000 population of Wirral. At the East Float and Vittoria Dock, the development would include several 50-storey skyscrapers, 5,000,000 square feet (465,000 m) of new office space and 11,000,000 square feet (1,000,000 m) for new residential apartments. A retail and leisure quarter at the former Bidston Dock site would encompass another 571,000 square feet (53,000 m) of space. The whole project
2310-579: 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. The 2013 film Fast & 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 movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit . In October 2017,
2387-568: The Dee Estuary nature reserve. Places of architectural interest include Hamilton Square , Rock Park and Port Sunlight . The view of the buildings on Liverpool's Pier Head when crossing on the Mersey Ferry is famous. Many villages of the Wirral such as Burton are also well preserved with their characteristic red sandstone buildings and walls. The old port of Parkgate also attracts many visitors. The arts are well represented by
Great Float - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-684: 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. The Shropshire 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, the River Fender , Arrowe Brook and Greasby Brook drain into The Birket , which itself flows into
2541-465: The Great Float and Alfred Dock, one between the Great Float and Wallasey Dock and one between the Great Float and Egerton Dock. When originally built, all four were hydraulic swing bridge types. In the 1930s, most were replaced by bascule bridges. Only two bridges remain, but they remain known collectively as "Four Bridges": a northern red girdered bascule bridge , known as the "A" bridge, and
2618-431: The Great Float in 1879. In the early 20th-century, Birkenhead Docks became an important flour milling centre, with numerous companies, including Joseph Rank Ltd and Spillers , located on the Great Float's quaysides. In the 1990s, long after the industry had gone into decline, most of these buildings were demolished. Two large warehouses remain, which have now been converted into residential apartments. The Great Float
2695-601: The Great Float: In addition, three graving docks existed in the Great Float for ship repairs. Bidston No.3 Dock remains in use as part of the facilities of Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd . The other graving docks were filled in during the 1980s. Historically, four movable bridges existed along the A554 Tower Road connecting the Seacombe district of Wallasey with Birkenhead: two between
2772-537: 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. A well developed glacial drainage channel , known as the Deva Spillway cuts across the base of the peninsula between
2849-594: The River Mersey via Wallasey Pool (Birkenhead Docks). Further south, the Clatter Brook and Dibbinsdale Brook drain into the Mersey at Bromborough Pool . 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 feet in height, then Thurstaston Hill (298 ft), Poll Hill in Heswall (350 ft, the highest point on
2926-418: The Wirral except the northern tip. Many of the Wirral's villages, such as Willaston, Eastham and Sutton , 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 as Kirby , Greasby and Meols. They introduced their own local government system with
3003-514: The Wirral's Mersey coast for industrialisation. The 1820s saw the birth of the area's renowned shipbuilding tradition when William Laird opened his shipyard in Birkenhead , later expanded by his son John Laird . The Lairds were largely responsible for the early growth of Birkenhead, commissioning the architect James Gillespie Graham to lay it out as a new town modelled on Edinburgh . In 1847, Birkenhead's first docks and its municipal park ,
3080-454: The Wirral) and Burton (222 ft). The less continuous eastern ridge consists of Bidston Hill (231 ft), Prenton (259 ft) and Storeton Hill (229 ft). The shallow Fender valley runs between these ridges. The Wirral features a temperate maritime climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) with mild summers, cool winters and rainfall spread evenly throughout the year. A weather station
3157-518: The Wirral. James Atherton and William Rowson developed the resort of New Brighton , and new estates for the gentry were also built at Egremont , Oxton , Claughton and Rock Ferry. Arrowe Hall was built for the Shaw family in 1835. 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
Great Float - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-685: The Wirral. The Domesday survey of 1086 shows that the Wirral then was more densely populated than most of England, and the manor of Eastham , which covered most of the east of the peninsula from Bidston to the River 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 as Robert of Rhuddlan , his cousin Hugh d'Avranches , and Hamo de Mascy . The survey shows 405 family heads living in
3311-719: The Wirral: notably, Ellesmere Port is often described as one of its "border towns". For regional economic planning, the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is considered part of the Liverpool City Region . There are many towns and villages on the Wirral. Those administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral are listed in List of towns and villages in Wirral (borough) . Those also on the Wirral but administered by Cheshire West and Chester include: The M53
3388-606: The areas of open land are Bidston Hill , Caldy Hill , Eastham Country Park , including the Victorian Pleasure Gardens, Hilbre Island , North Wirral Coastal Park , Thurstaston Common and Thor's Stone and the Wirral Way . Ness Botanical Gardens are part of the University of Liverpool and have won many awards. The visitor centre at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands provides birdwatching facilities in
3465-464: The banks of the Mersey. The New Chester Road was opened in 1833. The Wirral's first railway was built in 1840, planned by George Stephenson and connecting Birkenhead with Chester . In 1852 Price's Patent Candle Company built a factory and model village at Bromborough. This was followed in 1888 by William Lever 's establishment of the much larger Sunlight soap factory and Port Sunlight garden village, designed to house its employees and provide them with
3542-472: 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 large Vauxhall Motors car factory on the site of RAF Hooton Park. Plans were announced in 2006 for
3619-577: The docks were built along the coastline of the River Mersey , Birkenhead Docks were designed as an inland system by enclosing the tidal inlet of Wallasey Pool . The construction of a cofferdam enabled land reclamation and excavations to take place. After the establishment of the Great Low Water Basin, Morpeth Dock and Egerton Dock , the Great Float was formed between 1851 and 1860 from most of what remained of Wallasey Pool. The plans for its construction were originally shown in 1844 in
3696-527: The first in Britain and the inspiration for New York's Central 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 a borough in 1877, incorporating within it Oxton and Tranmere. The improved communications also allowed Liverpool merchants to buy up and develop large estates on
3773-518: The following (in stratigraphic order i.e. uppermost/youngest at top): A small outcrop of Carboniferous rocks occurs around Little Neston, being an extension of the Flintshire Coalfield across the Dee estuary. These Coal Measures rocks were formerly exploited by a small mining operation . The strata have a slight, generally easterly dip and are cut by numerous extensional faults most of which are aligned broadly north–south. For
3850-632: The forest laws was a chief forester who was appointed with a ceremonial horn , and the position soon became a hereditary responsibility of the Stanley 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 from amoebic dysentery . The proclamation
3927-467: The genetic trail left by Scandinavians on the Wirral, specifically relatively high rates of the haplogroup R1a , associated in Britain with Scandinavian ancestry. Bromborough on the Wirral is also one of the possible sites of an epic battle in 937, the Battle of Brunanburh , which confirmed England as an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. This is the first battle where England united to fight the combined forces of
SECTION 50
#17327805895424004-451: 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. The first steam ferry service across the Mersey started in 1817, and steam-powered ships soon opened up
4081-406: The most part the bedrock is poorly exposed being covered by superficial deposits of Quaternary age. Notable exposures of the Helsby Sandstone occur at Bidston Hill and at Red Rocks at the northwestern tip of the Wirral along with the tidal islands at Hilbre . Elsewhere Mercia Mudstone rocks outcrop prominently at Caldy Hill, Thurstaston Common and Heswall Dales. Much of the Wirral is covered by
4158-506: 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 at Greasby and at Bidston . By the end of the Roman period, pirates were a menace to traders in the Irish Sea , and soldiers may have been garrisoned at Meols to combat this threat. 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
4235-419: The north end of Birkenhead, Duke Street bridge is also a bascule bridge but with painted green girders. Originally, it was a swing bridge. Furthest upstream is the Penny Bridge, on Wallasey Bridge Road, which crosses the head of the pool to connect Poulton with Bidston in Birkenhead. Replacing an earlier wooden bridge of 1843, the name derives from the 1896 one penny toll to cross in one direction. The bridge
4312-480: The north, Egremont to the north east and Seacombe to the east. The West Float (part of the former Wallasey Pool which gave the area its name), is to the south. The name is Old English in origin and derives from pōl , meaning "pool" and tún , "a farm or settlement". Originally a small fishing and farming hamlet , Poulton developed in the 19th century through the expansion of the docks and associated industries, becoming part of Poulton cum Seacombe before
4389-421: The north. Historically, the Wirral was wholly in Cheshire ; in the Domesday Book , its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls". However, since the Local Government Act 1972 , only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with almost all the rest lying in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , Merseyside . An area of saltmarsh and reclaimed land adjoining
4466-534: The opportunity to camp in the vicinity. The rail tunnel under the Mersey was supplemented by a vehicle tunnel in 1934, the Queensway Tunnel . A third tunnel opened in 1971, the Kingsway Tunnel , connecting with the M53 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 as Moreton , Upton, Greasby, Pensby , and Bromborough. In 1940–1941, as part of
4543-537: The parish of Bebington) and Liscard, and were the same size as small rural villages. 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" or Hoylake . However, there
4620-502: The peninsula, suggesting a total population of 2,000–3,000. The Earls of Chester ruled the whole of the County 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 a hunting forest . This made the area subject to Forest Law which made the hunting of game, such as deer and boar , by unauthorised persons subject to harsh penalties. To enforce
4697-417: 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 and Stoke ). Most parishes were subdivided into smaller townships, of which the largest in terms of population were Neston, Burton, Wallasey, Tranmere (then within
SECTION 60
#17327805895424774-408: The south side of West Float. Established in 1853, Thomas Brassey 's Canada Works was built to the east of the Great Float. The entrance to the Great Float was originally through the Great Low Water Basin, which was enclosed in 1877 as Wallasey Dock . After this date, access from the river was provided via Alfred Dock and Morpeth Dock. The Resurgam , one of the first submarines , was tested in
4851-422: The south-west of the peninsula lies in the Welsh county of Flintshire . The name Wirral literally means " myrtle corner", from the Old English wir , a myrtle tree, and heal , 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 around Formby , to which the Wirral would once have had a similar habitat . The name
4928-423: The town also achieved borough status soon after the turn of the century. 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
5005-493: The tunnel branch was used for the filming of the drama, Bulletproof , starring Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters . Scenes for the 2016 film Florence Foster Jenkins , starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep , were filmed around New Brighton. In television, sitcom Watching , produced by Granada Television between 1987 and 1993, was partly set and filmed at various Wirral locations, particularly Meols . More recently, Mike Bassett: Manager , starring Ricky Tomlinson
5082-421: The two areas split. The settlement was part of the Wallasey parish of the Wirral Hundred , becoming a civil parish in 1866 and then part of the County Borough of Wallasey in 1912. The population of Poulton-cum-Seacombe was 178 in 1801, 3,044 in 1851, and 20,749 in 1901. The area was served from 1895 by Liscard and Poulton railway station on the Seacombe branch of the Wirral Railway . The station consisted of
5159-401: 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. 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", historian Stephen Roberts defines it as "the peninsula which is bounded by
5236-434: The west side. Neston once had a distinctive dialect derived from the migrant workers at the Denhall Colliery. 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 , the Woodside Ferry Terminal, and Bridge Cottage in Port Sunlight village, while the 1950 Ealing comedy The Magnet
5313-440: Was a follow-up to the film Mike Bassett: England Manager , and featured a fictional football club called Wirral County, a parody of Tranmere Rovers , who Bassett (Tomlinson) managed after being sacked from the England job. Poulton, Merseyside Poulton is an area of the town of Wallasey , in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , Merseyside , England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula and bordered by Liscard to
5390-421: 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 by Kevin Sampson , was filmed extensively on the Wirral. In 2012 the movie Blood , starring Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham was filmed on the Wirral. The Queensway Tunnel in Birkenhead is also featured in the Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and
5467-540: Was given to the Hundred of Wirral (or Wilaveston) around the 8th century. The earliest evidence of human occupation of the Wirral dates from the Mesolithic period, around 12,000 BC. Excavations at Greasby 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 at Irby , Hoylake and New Brighton . Later Neolithic stone axes and pottery have been found in Oxton , Neston , and Meols . At Meols and New Brighton there
5544-419: Was issued by his father Edward III on 20 July 1376. At the end of the 12th century, Birkenhead Priory stood on the west bank of the Mersey at a headland of birch trees, from which the town derives its name. The ruined priory is Merseyside's oldest surviving building and its Benedictine monks provided the first official Mersey ferry service around 1330, having been granted a passage to Liverpool by
5621-448: Was maintained on the peninsula, at Bidston , between 1845 and 2002. The major urban centres of the Wirral are to its east: these include Birkenhead and Wallasey . 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
5698-462: 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. At the same time, larger ships and economic growth in Lancashire stimulated the growth of Liverpool . The first wet dock in Britain
5775-400: 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 of lighthouses 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 of ferries across the River Mersey . By the end of
5852-460: Was replaced again in 1926 and provided access to Bidston Dock . The bridge was replaced by a new swing bridge in 1996 but since the dock itself has been filled in the mechanism has fallen into disrepair through lack of use and the bridge is now effectively a static structure. Jesse Hartley , who was responsible for many of Liverpool's maritime structures – including the Albert Dock , designed
5929-662: Was the site of the Warship Preservation Trust 's exhibits from 2002 until its closure in February 2006. LCT 7074 Landfall is the last remaining tank landing craft which had served during D-Day . The landing craft was one of the Warship Preservation Trust exhibits and had sunk in East Float following the liquidation of the trust in 2006. The craft was refloated on 16 October 2014. The following docks were originally accessible from
#541458