33-679: Meols / ˈ m ɛ l z / (sometimes known as Great Meols ) is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , Merseyside , England. On the north coast of the Wirral Peninsula , it forms a contiguous built up area with the nearby town of Hoylake which lies to the west. Historically in Cheshire , since 1 April 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. The 2001 census recorded
66-439: 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. When the borough was set up in 1974, it inherited comprehensive systems from the former County Boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey . In
99-531: A community group set up in 2007 to help maintain and improve the recreation ground. The area is served by Meols railway station on the West Kirby branch of Merseyrail's Wirral line . A number of school services also serve Meols. Cyclist Chris Boardman , winner of a gold medal for Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics , lived in Meols before moving to nearby Hoylake. Miles Kane , former member of
132-569: A filming location. This was likely because the characters Malcolm and Mrs Stoneway lived in the village. Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside , in North West England . It has a population of 322,453 (2022), and encompasses 62 square miles (161 km ) of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula . Major settlements include Birkenhead , Wallasey , Bebington , Heswall , Hoylake and West Kirby . Wirral
165-410: A possible devolution deal to confer greater powers on the region. Discussions include whether to introduce an elected 'Metro Mayor' to oversee the entire metropolitan area. After the local elections in 2008 the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral was governed by a Labour Party/Liberal Democrat coalition, the second and third largest parties on the council respectively. Steve Foulkes of Labour was leader of
198-585: A reduced majority. Wirral Council maintains five designated Local Nature Reserves : Bidston Moss, Dibbinsdale, Heswall Dales , Hilbre Island and Thurstaston Common . It also operates the Merseyside part of Wirral Country Park , which was the first country park to be established in Britain. The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is twinned or has sister city relationships with: The following people, military units, organisations and groups have received
231-481: A result of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 , which effectively changed secondary modern schools into comprehensives as schools were no longer permitted to select by examination failure. In summary, Wirral now has a state secondary sector made up of 16 comprehensive schools (of which two are Roman Catholic) and 6 grammar schools (of which two are Roman Catholic). The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
264-410: A small yacht and fishing community on its Irish Sea shore line. The centre has a small row of shops adjacent to Meols railway station , the 'Railway Inn' public house and a primary school. The North Wirral Coastal Park stretches from Dove Point in Meols to New Brighton . There is also a local community park known as Meols Park and Recreation Ground and a bowling green . The Friends of Meols Park are
297-660: Is England 's westernmost metropolitan borough , faced by the city of Liverpool to the northeast over the River Mersey . Bordering is the River Mersey to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and the River Dee to the west; the borough of Cheshire West and Chester occupies the remainder of the Wirral Peninsula and borders the borough of Wirral to the south. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974, under
330-459: Is Margaret Greenwood , a Labour representative. At local government level, the area is incorporated into the Hoylake and Meols Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. It is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors. The most recent local elections took place on 6 May 2021. Meols is mainly residential with
363-570: Is one of the six constituent local government districts of the Liverpool City Region . Since 1 April 2014, some of the borough's responsibilities have been pooled with neighbouring authorities within the metropolitan area and subsumed into the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority . The combined authority has effectively become the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of
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#1732790365727396-732: The Little Flames , the Rascals , one half of the Last Shadow Puppets with the Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and now a successful solo artist, is from Meols. Andy McCluskey , the co-founder, singer and bass guitarist of the electronic music band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) is also from Meols. OMD had a track called " Red Frame/White Light " from their self-titled debut album which referred to
429-745: The Local Government Act 1972 , as a merger of the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, along with the municipal borough of Bebington and the urban districts of Hoylake and Wirral . This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Wirral at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. ^1 includes hunting and forestry ^2 includes energy and construction ^3 includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured ^4 Components may not sum to totals due to rounding Plans were announced in 2006 for
462-473: The Museum of Liverpool . In the 1890s the local authorities built the first sea wall. The rapidly eroding coastline was saved, but the sea wall changed the currents and archaeological sites at Meols were buried in the sand. The remains of a submerged forest off Dove Point have now also disappeared but they were visible until the spring of 1982. In 1938, what was believed to be a Viking ( Nordic clinker ) boat
495-936: The Neolithic period suggest that the site was an important centre in antiquity. Since about 1810, a large number of artefacts have been found relating to pre-Roman Carthage , the Iron Age , the Roman Empire , Armenia , the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. These include items as varied as coins which belonged to the Coriosolites in Brittany . Also, tokens, brooches, pins, knives, glass beads, keys, pottery, flint tools, mounts, pilgrim badges, pieces of leather, worked wood and iron tools. They came to be discovered after
528-673: The Labour administration in a motion of no confidence and the two parties governed again until the May election. Labour made gains in May 2012, gaining majority control of the council for the first time since local elections in 2002 saw Labour become a minority. Wirral is led by Phil Davies. In 2014 , the Green Party gained their first seat on the council, defeating Labour in their typically safe seat of Birkenhead and Tranmere . They retained it in 2018 with an increased vote share, albeit with
561-530: The age of the boat and where the wood it was constructed from was felled. Meols was formerly called Great Meols. It was a township in West Kirby parish of the Wirral Hundred before becoming a civil parish from 1866. On 31 December 1894 it was abolished to create the Hoylake and West Kirby civil parish. Great Meols had a population of 140 in 1801, 170 in 1851 and 821 in 1901. Between 1894 and 1974 it
594-489: The beginning of large-scale dredging (to accommodate the needs of the nearby growing seaport of Liverpool ) started to cause notable sand erosion along the coastline near Meols. These finds suggest that the site was used as a port as far back as the Iron Age some 2,400 years ago, and was once the most important seaport in the present-day North West England . Thus trading connections are believed to have reached far across Europe. Some of these artefacts are on display locally, at
627-452: The city region and the leader of Wirral Borough Council, along with the five other leaders from neighbouring local government districts, take strategic decisions over economic development, transport, employment and skills, tourism, culture, housing and physical infrastructure. As of July 2015, negotiations are currently taking place between the UK national government and the combined authority over
660-561: The council increased its number of seats by 2 to 27 and has now entered into coalition government with the Liberal Democrats as the leading coalition partner with the leader of the Conservatives, Jeff Green, becoming the new leader of the council. The Labour Party increased its representation on the council by 4 to 24 and remained the second largest party though they are now in opposition with their leader, Steve Foulkes, who
693-417: The council. The Conservative Party was the largest party represented, and was in opposition with its leader Jeff Green being leader of the opposition. After the local elections in 2010 the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral was governed by a Conservative Party/Liberal Democrat coalition, which reflected the coalition at national level. The Conservative Party, continuing to be the largest party represented on
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#1732790365727726-465: The destination indicators of buses from Chester . There also used to be a village called Little Meols , on Meols Drive between Hoylake and West Kirby The name Little Meols fell out of use in Victorian times, having been absorbed by Hoylake. From 123 inhabitants in 1801 and 170 in 1851, by 1901 at 2,850, its population had outstripped Great Meols. Meols was known to be spelt as Meolse up until when
759-456: The former parts of Cheshire known for education purposes as " Bebington " and " Deeside ". However this Act introduced "open enrolment", allowing parents from anywhere in the borough, and outside it, to apply for a place for their child at any secondary school. As a result, significant numbers of pupils from the former "comprehensive areas" attend schools in the former "selective areas" and vice versa. The distinction between different types of school
792-526: The part of Wirral formerly administered by Cheshire County Council , it inherited a selective system of grammar and secondary modern non- Roman Catholic schools and a comprehensive Roman Catholic school ( St John Plessington Catholic College ). Until the implementation of the Education Reform Act 1988 , education in Wirral continued to be organised in four areas; Birkenhead, Wallasey and
825-592: The population of Meols as 5,110. In the 2011 census specific population figures for Meols were not available. The total population of the Hoylake and Meols local government ward was 13,348. Meols was named as such by the Vikings ; its original name from the Old Norse for 'sand dunes' was melr , becoming melas by the time of the Domesday Survey . Impressive archaeological finds dating back to
858-650: The public telephone box between the church and the Railway Inn on Greenwood Road, Meols. Hidden within the lyrics was the telephone number of the telephone box (632-3003). It is claimed that fans would call that telephone number from all over the world. The telephone box was removed by BT in August 2017 but was returned by October after a campaign by fans of the duo, and now displays a plaque noting its significance. The television sitcom Watching , produced by Granada Television between 1987 and 1993, utilised Meols as
891-461: The railway station was placed. The error came about at the time of the station's construction, when rail managers took the spelling of Meols from the Southport suburb of Meols Cop and used it for new signage. Meols is at the north-western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, adjacent to the Irish Sea . Meols is within the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West . The current Member of Parliament
924-488: Was discovered beneath 2–3 m (6–10 feet) of clay when the 'Railway Inn' public house was being rebuilt. Workers at the time covered the ship over again so as not to delay the construction of the pub's new car park. The pub landlord mentioned its previous discovery to local police constable Tim Baldock, who contacted Professor Stephen Harding of the University of Nottingham . Ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment
957-421: Was governed by a minority Labour Party administration. Foulkes was leader of the council with Phil Davies as deputy leader. The Liberal Democrats lost a councillor who switched to Labour, Steve Niblock shortly after the elections. There are now no independents on Wirral Council. Labour have 36 seats, Conservatives have 23 and the Liberal Democrats 7. In February 2012 the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats defeated
990-421: Was leader of the council now leader of the opposition. The Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats decreasing their tally to 15 remaining the third largest party on the council but continuing to participate in the governing of the council as the junior coalition partner to the Conservatives. The one independent represented on the council lost their seat. After the local elections in 2011 the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
1023-502: Was to an extent masked, as all secondary modern and most comprehensive schools were named "High School". As a further result of this Act, St Anselm's College and Upton Hall School , both within the Birkenhead education area, became the only independent schools in the country to become state funded grant-maintained schools , retaining selective admissions policies to become Roman Catholic grammar schools . A further change came as
Meols - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-464: Was used to confirm existence of the boat and precise location on 10 September 2007. Further archaeological work was undertaken in February 2023, by a team from Wirral Archaeology CIC, supervised by a professional archaeologist and Professor Harding. Cores of soil were drilled and samples taken away for analysis. By using Carbon14 dating, dendrochronology and wood assessment, the group aim to discover
1089-632: Was within Hoylake Urban District . On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Meols, transfer from the county of Cheshire to the newly created county of Merseyside . The historic name of Great Meols survives in the name of the primary school and the Anglican church. It was still in more general use up to the 1960s, for instance in postal addresses and on
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