Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818. Birkenhead Priory and the Mersey Ferry were established in the 12th century. In the 19th century, Birkenhead expanded greatly as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square were laid out as well as the first street tramway in Britain. The Mersey Railway connected Birkenhead and Liverpool with the world's first tunnel beneath a tidal estuary; the shipbuilding firm Cammell Laird and a seaport were established. In the second half of the 20th century, the town suffered a significant period of decline, with containerisation causing a reduction in port activity. The Wirral Waters development is planned to regenerate much of the dockland. Toponymy The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birkenhead (UK Parliament Constituency)
Birkenhead is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Mick Whitley of the Labour Party. Profile The constituency of Birkenhead covers the town of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, and the Birkenhead suburbs of Bidston, Claughton, Oxton, Prenton, Rock Ferry and Tranmere. It forms the relatively densely populated mid-east of four parliamentary constituencies within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, itself a major contributor to (and the ex-Cheshire part of) the Metropolitan County of Merseyside envisaged in 1958 and created in 1974, considered as any other county (albeit with very limited powers and no elected councillors) for the enacted purposes of the Boundary Commission in its periodic reports. The urban parts of the town unite with Liverpool on the opposite side of the narrows of the estuary in having an early socially reformist movement in local measures, and its choice of many elected representatives since the 1850 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. The park was designated a conservation area in 1977 and declared a Grade I listed landscape by English Heritage in 1995. The park influenced the design of Central Park in New York and Sefton Park in Liverpool. The park contains many listed buildings. The Grand Entrance was designed by Lewis Hornblower and is at the northeast corner; it consists of three arches flanked by lodges and is in Ionic style. The Swiss Bridge, a pedestrian span of stringer construction, is unique as being the only covered bridge of traditional wooden construction in the United Kingdom. There is also a Pavilion called the Roman Boathouse standing by the lake in the park, the upper storey of which was originally intended to be a bandstand. There are many historic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Great Float
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 inland from the River Mersey, dividing the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey. The Great Float consists of of water and more than of quays. History Unlike in Liverpool, where 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 the ''Liverpool Standard'' newspaper. Designed by James Meadows ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birkenhead Priory
Birkenhead Priory is in Priory Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the oldest standing building on Merseyside. The site comprises the medieval remains of the priory itself, the priory chapter house, and the remains of St Marys church. All three are recorded in the National Heritage List for England, though at different grades. History The Priory was founded about 1150 by Hamon de Masci, 3rd Baron of Dunham Massey for the Benedictine Order. It was visited twice by Edward I due to its strategic importance, being close to the Irish Sea as well as the Welsh border. In 1318 the monks from Birkenhead Priory were granted ferry rights by Edward II. This allowed them to build a house in what is now Water Street to store their corn. The house was also used by travellers for shelter if the weather was too bad for the ferry to cross the River Mersey. The medieval remains of the priory are designated Grade I listed building, and it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mersey Ferry
The Mersey Ferry is a ferry service operating on the River Mersey in north west England, between Liverpool to the east and Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula to the west. Ferries have been used on this route since at least the 12th century, and continue to be popular for both local people and visitors. The current fleet consists of two vessels. A third ferry, '' Royal Daffodil'' was in service until 2012. The current ferries originally came into service in the 1960s and were named ''Mountwood'' and ''Woodchurch''. Both ferries have been extensively refurbished and renamed '' Royal Iris of the Mersey'' and ''Snowdrop''. The ferries share the workload of cross-river ferrying, charter cruises and the Manchester Ship Canal cruise. The service is operated by Merseytravel, under the “Mersey Ferries” brand. History Medieval ferries In about 1150, the Benedictine Priory at Birkenhead was established. The monks used to charge a small fare to row passengers across the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mersey Ferry
The Mersey Ferry is a ferry service operating on the River Mersey in north west England, between Liverpool to the east and Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula to the west. Ferries have been used on this route since at least the 12th century, and continue to be popular for both local people and visitors. The current fleet consists of two vessels. A third ferry, '' Royal Daffodil'' was in service until 2012. The current ferries originally came into service in the 1960s and were named ''Mountwood'' and ''Woodchurch''. Both ferries have been extensively refurbished and renamed '' Royal Iris of the Mersey'' and ''Snowdrop''. The ferries share the workload of cross-river ferrying, charter cruises and the Manchester Ship Canal cruise. The service is operated by Merseytravel, under the “Mersey Ferries” brand. History Medieval ferries In about 1150, the Benedictine Priory at Birkenhead was established. The monks used to charge a small fare to row passengers across the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wirral Peninsula
Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to the east, and the Irish Sea to 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 to the south-west of the peninsula lies in the Welsh county of Flintshire. The most extensive urban development is on the eastern side of the peninsula. The Wirral contains both affluent and deprived areas, with affluent areas largely in the west, south and north of the peninsula, and deprived areas concentrated in the east, especially Bir ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birkenhead Town Hall
Birkenhead Town Hall is a civic building and former town hall in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England. The building was the former administrative headquarters of the County Borough of Birkenhead, and more recently, council offices for the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Birkenhead Town Hall remains the location of the town's register office. However, since the closure of the Wirral Museum in 2010, there is uncertainty over the future purpose of the Grade II* listed building. History When Hamilton Square was designed in the early 19th century, a plot of land was made available for the siting of a town hall between Hamilton Street and Chester Street. Designed by local architect Christopher Ellison, the building was constructed using Scottish granite and sandstone from the now filled-in local quarry at Storeton. It was officially opened in 1887. The building consisted of a council chamber, offices, with a concert hall and function rooms known as the Assembly R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hamilton Square
Hamilton Square is a town square in Birkenhead, Wirral, England. This Georgian square, which was designed by Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham, has the most Grade I listed buildings outside London (after Trafalgar Square). It is named after the family of the wife of Scottish shipbuilder William Laird. History In 1801 Birkenhead was still a small, undeveloped village on the banks of the River Mersey. With a recorded population of 110, it was overshadowed by the huge maritime port of Liverpool. In 1824 William Laird established a boiler works at Wallasey Pool just north of Woodside. This site developed into a shipbuilding yard. By 1831 the population of Birkenhead had risen to 2,790. As Birkenhead's economy grew, Laird had great plans for the area. In 1824, he had already bought land around Birkenhead on which he planned to build a new town. Laird commissioned Gillespie Graham, a leading Edinburgh architect, to lay out a square and surrounding streets like Edinburgh Ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Woodside, Merseyside
Woodside is a small riverside locality in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England, situated almost opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey. History The monks of Birkenhead Priory had been granted a charter establishing ferry rights to Liverpool, which was confirmed by Edward III in about 1330. These rights reverted to the Crown in 1536, upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. There followed a period of private ownership by local landowners of the numerous ferry services on the Wirral bank of the River Mersey, including at Woodside. By the 18th century, an increase in stage coach traffic from Chester spurred the growth of the transportation of passengers and goods across the river. With the rapid development of Birkenhead from the 1820s, facilities at Woodside would eventually need expanding. By 1842, the ferry service had been taken over by the Birkenhead Commissioners. A stone pier with two slipways and a small lighthouse at the pier head ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mersey Railway
The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. The railway opened in 1886 with four stations using steam locomotives hauling unheated wooden carriages; in the next six years the line was extended and three more stations opened. Using the first tunnel under the Mersey the line is the world's oldest underground railway outside London. Because the steam locomotives created a polluted atmosphere in the tunnel, many passengers reverted to using the river ferries and the railway was bankrupt by 1900. Recovery came after the railway adopted electric traction in 1903. The Mersey Railway remained independent after the railway grouping of 1923, although it became closely integrated with the electric train services operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway over the former Wirral ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wirral Waters
Wirral Waters is a large scale £4.5bn development currently being built by the Peel Group for Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is the sister programme of the Liverpool Waters project. Since 2012 the two projects have enjoyed enterprise zone status, together forming the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone. Design The original plans intended for the creation of of modern office space at the East Float and Vittoria Dock. A central part of the early designs were the creation of a series of towers that were to provide space for a waterfront hotel, bars, restaurants, other leisure facilities and 15,000 apartments. Three of the towers were intended to achieve fifty storeys. One of the landmark developments in the scheme was to be the creation of a £175m 'International Trade Cenre'. This facility was to allow companies from countries in Asia to exhibt and sell their goods and services into Europe. Further development was proposed at the site of the former Bidston Dock, cl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |