Merseyside ( ) is a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the

Mersey Estuary The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

and comprises five

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

s: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral and the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Merseyside, which was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, takes its name from the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

and sits within the historic counties of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Merseyside spans of land. It borders the ceremonial counties of

(to the north-east),

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

(to the east),

(to the south and south-east) and the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

to the west.

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

is across the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles ...

. There is a mix of high density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Merseyside, but overwhelmingly the land use is urban. It has a focused central business district, formed by

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool, England. The inner city districts of Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall, Everton, Liverpool, Everton, Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill, Kensington, Liv ...

, but Merseyside is also a polycentric county with five metropolitan districts, each of which has at least one major town centre and outlying suburbs. The

Liverpool Urban Area The Liverpool Built-up Area (previously Liverpool Urban Area in 2001 and prior) is a term used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to denote the urban area around Liverpool in England, to the east of the River Mersey. The contiguous bu ...

is the fifth most populous conurbation in England and dominates the geographic centre of the county, while the Birkenhead Urban Area dominates the

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 t ...

in the south. In the 12 years following 1974, the county had a two-tier system of local government; district councils shared power with the

Merseyside County Council Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local ...

. The county council was abolished in 1986 and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authority areas. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, Retrieved on 6 March 2008.
• Retrieved on 6 March 2008.
• Retrieved on 7 July 2008. and several county-wide services are co-ordinated by authorities and joint-boards, such as

Merseytravel Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...

(for public transport),

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statute, statutory Fire service in the UK, fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire br ...

and the

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

(for law-enforcement); as a

, Merseyside has a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and a High Sheriff. As the Lancashire county palatine boundaries remain the same as the historic boundaries, the High Sheriff of Merseyside, along with those of Lancashire and Greater Manchester are appointed "within the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster". The boroughs of Merseyside are joined by the neighbouring borough of Halton in Cheshire to form the

Liverpool City Region The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority region of England, centred on Liverpool, incorporating the local authority district boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral. The region is in the historic counties of ...

, which is a

local enterprise partnership In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead econo ...

and

combined authority A combined authority is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group ...

area. Merseyside is an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

of 22 former local government districts from the former administrative counties of

and six autonomous

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

s centred on

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 Liver ...

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

, Liverpool,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, St Helens and

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

History

Merseyside was designated as a "Special Review" area in the

Local Government Act 1958 The Local Government Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz.2 c.55) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting local government in England and Wales outside London. Among its provisions it included the establishment of Local Government Commissio ...

, and the Local Government Commission for England started a review of this area in 1962, based around the core county boroughs of

and

. Further areas, including

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, were added to the Special Review Area by Order in 1965. Draft proposals were published in 1965, but the commission never completed its final proposals as it was abolished in 1966. Instead, a Royal Commission was set up to review English local government entirely, and its report (known as the

Redcliffe-Maud Report The Redcliffe-Maud Report (Cmnd. 4040) was published in 1969 by the '' Royal Commission on Local Government in England'', under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud. Although the commission's proposals were broadly accepted by the Labour gove ...

) proposed a much wider Merseyside metropolitan area covering southwest Lancashire and northwest Cheshire, extending as far south as

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and as far north as the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

. This would have included four districts:

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside **Crosby (UK ...

, St Helens/

and Wirral/

. In 1970 the

Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport ...

(which operates today under the ''

'' brand) was set up, covering Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral and Knowsley, but excluding Southport and St Helens. The Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the incoming

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area was retained. A

White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

was published in 1971. The Local Government Bill presented to Parliament involved a substantial trimming from the White Paper, excluding the northern and southern fringes of the area, excluding Chester, Ellesmere Port (and, unusually, including Southport, whose council had requested to be included). Further alterations took place in Parliament, with

Skelmersdale Skelmersdale is a town in Lancashire, England, on the River Tawd, west of Wigan, northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston. In 2006, it had a population of 38,813. The town is known locally as Skem . While the first record of the tow ...

being removed from the area, and a proposed district including St Helens and

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it f ...

being subdivided into what are now the metropolitan boroughs of St Helens and Knowsley. Merseyside was created on 1 April 1974 from areas previously part of the

administrative counties An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

and

, along with the county boroughs of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Liverpool, Bootle, and St Helens. Following the creation of Merseyside, Merseytravel expanded to take in St Helens and Southport. Between 1974 and 1986 the county had a two-tier system of local government with the five boroughs sharing power with the

. However, in 1986 the government of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

abolished the county council along with all other metropolitan county councils, and so its boroughs are now effectively

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Geography

Merseyside is divided into two parts by the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

Estuary; the Wirral is located on the west side of the estuary, upon the

and the rest of the county is located on the east side of the estuary. The eastern part of Merseyside borders onto

to the north,

to the east, with both parts of the county bordering

to the south. The territory comprising the county of Merseyside previously formed part of the

of Lancashire (east of the River Mersey) and Cheshire (west of the River Mersey). The two parts are linked by the two

Mersey Tunnels The Mersey Tunnels connect the city of Liverpool with Wirral, under the River Mersey. There are three tunnels: the Mersey Railway Tunnel (opened 1886), and two road tunnels, the Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and the Kingsway Tunnel (opened 1 ...

, the

Wirral Line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...

, and the

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 ...

Green belt

Merseyside contains

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

interspersed throughout the county, surrounding the Liverpool urban area, as well as across the Mersey in the Wirral area, with further pockets extending towards and surrounding Southport, as part of the western edge of the North West Green Belt. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt.

Identity

Ipsos MORI Ipsos MORI was the name of a market research company based in London, England which is now known as Ipsos and still continues as the UK arm of the global Ipsos group. It was formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI in October 2005. The company i ...

polls in the boroughs of Sefton and Wirral in the 2000s showed that in general, residents of these boroughs identified slightly more strongly to Merseyside than to Lancashire or Cheshire respectively, but their affinity to Merseyside was more likely to be "fairly strong" than "very strong".

Local government

Arms of the Merseyside Metropolitan County Council

Metropolitan boroughs

Merseyside comprises the

s of

, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

County-level functions

Following the abolition of the county council some local services are run by joint-boards of the five metropolitan boroughs; these include the: *

* Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service *

(who are also responsible for the

network) *

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) (formerly Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA)) is a statutory waste disposal authority that manages the municipal solid waste produced in Merseyside, England. MWDA was established in 19 ...

*Merseyside Pension Scheme, administered by Wirral Borough Council, with offices in Liverpool

Liverpool City Region

The

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is the combined authority of the Liverpool City Region. The Liverpool City Region includes the City of Liverpool local authority area plus the Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, St Helens, ...

, which includes the five boroughs and the

Borough of Halton ("Industry fills the ship") , image_skyline = Runcorn Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1701094.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The Silver Jubilee Bridge at dusk , image_flag ...

headed by a mayor,

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who is the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region. He previously served as the MP for Liverpool Walton from 2010 to 2017. Rotheram was born in Liverpool and ...

, elected in May 2017.

Economy

This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added of Merseyside at current basic price
published
(pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Transport

Transport in Merseyside consists of travel by roads, rail, air and water. Motorways serving Merseyside include

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at ...

in Wirral,

M57 motorway The M57 motorway, also known as the Liverpool Outer Ring Road, is a road in England. Designed as a Ring road for Liverpool, it is long between Tarbock Green and Switch lsland, and links various towns east of the city, as well as the M62 and ...

M58 motorway The M58 is a motorway passing through Merseyside and Lancashire, terminating in Greater Manchester. It is 12 miles (19.3 km) long and provides a link between the M6 motorway and the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton and hence on, via the A5 ...

and

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of ...

. Rail travel is provided by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and

Wirral Tramway Wirral Tramway is a heritage tramway opened in 1995 by the Wirral Borough Council and Hamilton Quarter partnership and was operated by Blackpool Transport Services until 2005 when the council took over the licence to run the tramway. The ...

(since 1995) with major stations at Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Central, Liverpool James Street and Birkenhead Hamilton Square. * Borderlands line connects Wirral to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. *

City Line (Merseyrail) The Merseytravel City Line is shown in red on the Merseytravel-produced Merseyrail map. The City Line is 'shared' commuter train services that terminate at Liverpool Lime Street. When a commuter train, not operated by Merseyrail, enters the Li ...

Liverpool–Wigan line The Liverpool–Wigan line is a railway line in the north-west of England, running between Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan North Western via St Helens Central station. The line is a part of the electrified Merseyrail Liverpool to Wigan City ...

(and onward to Preston via the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

) **

Liverpool–Manchester lines There once were four direct railway routes between Liverpool and Manchester in the North West of England; only two remain, the two centre routes of the four. The most northerly and the most southerly of the four routes are no longer direct li ...

(Middle and Southern Routes, including the branch to Warrington Bank Quay) **

Crewe–Liverpool line The Crewe–Liverpool line is a railway line in North West England that diverges from the West Coast Main Line at Weaver Junction north of and runs to via and Liverpool South Parkway. History The line was built in stages by the Liverpool an ...

(and onward to

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

via the

) ''Merseyrail commuter lines'' *

Northern line (Merseyrail) The Merseyrail Northern line is a cross-city railway running from in south Liverpool then (by way of an underground section through Liverpool's city centre) to termini in the north at (Merseyside), (Lancashire) and (Merseyside). It and t ...

Wirral line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...

Aviation and air travel is provided by

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...

, the oldest provincial airport in the United Kingdom. Major cycling routes on the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

(such as

National Cycle Route 56 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 56 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Chester to Liverpool. The route utilises country lanes, a former railway trackbed, a coastal path and a seaside promenade. Route Chester to Hooton The route begi ...

and

National Cycle Route 62 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 62 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Fleetwood to Selby. As of 2018 the route has a missing section between Preston and Southport but is otherwise open and signed. History Much of route 62 was cr ...

) pass through the region too such as New Brighton and the

Wirral Way The Wirral Country Park is a country park on the Wirral Peninsula, England, lying both in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in the county of Cheshire. It was the first ...

. Major bus companies are

Stagecoach Merseyside Stagecoach Merseyside is a major operator of bus services in the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside region. It is a sub-division of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. Stagecoach Merseyside was formed in July 2005 with ...

and

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

. Liverpool One bus station serves as a terminus for national coach travel.

Maritime

Liverpool Cruise Terminal provides long-distance passenger cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Cruise & Maritime Voyages using the terminal to depart to Iceland, France, Spain and Norway.

Ferries

Prince's Landing Stage, Pier Head, Liverpool serves Isle of Man Steam Packet Company summer service to the Isle of Man (and Mersey Ferries). Twelve Quays, Birkenhead ferry port serves winter Isle of Man ferry service and Stena Line to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Commercial

The Port of Liverpool handles most commercial shipping, but several other ports on the Wirral peninsula, such as Great Float and Queen Elizabeth II Dock, operate too.

River and Canal

The

has operated since the 1200s, currently between Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head. Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Manchester Ship Canal are the main canal systems.

Sport

Merseyside is host to several football league football clubs including Liverpool F.C., Everton F.C., Tranmere Rovers F.C. and Southport F.C. Golf courses include Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Royal Birkdale Golf Club and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club. Cricket clubs include the historic Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool. Aintree Motor Racing Circuit hosted the British Grand Prix. Aintree Racecourse hosts the Grand National and there is also Haydock Park Racecourse. Totally Wicked Stadium hosts Rugby League and Hoylake hosts sailing (such as Southport 24 Hour Race) and is Britain's premier location for sand yachting. A ski slope facility is found at The Oval (Wirral).

Places of interest

Liverpool

*Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Albert Dock *Anfield (Liverpool F.C. Stadium) *The Beatles Story Museum Liverpool at Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Albert Dock *The Cavern Club *Croxteth Hall *Gambier Terrace *Goodison Park (Everton F.C. Stadium) *HM Customs & Excise National Museum *International Slavery Museum *Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) *Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (Roman Catholic) *Merseyside Maritime Museum *

– Queensway Tunnel, Queensway and Kingsway Tunnel, Kingsway *Museum of Liverpool Life *Pier Head *Speke Hall – National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust *St George's Hall, Liverpool, St George's Hall *Tate Liverpool, a branch of the Tate Gallery *Walker Art Gallery *World Museum Liverpool

Knowsley

*Knowsley Hall *Knowsley Safari Park

St Helens

*Dream (sculpture), The Dream *Haydock Park Racecourse *Langtree Park (St Helens R.F.C., St Helens Stadium) *North West Museum of Road Transport *World of Glass (St Helens), World of Glass

Sefton

*Aintree Racecourse *Crosby Beach *Formby *Haig Avenue *Hugh Baird College *Lord Street, Southport *Meols Hall *Pleasureland Southport *Royal Birkdale Golf Club *Southport Pier

Wirral

*Bidston Hill and Bidston Windmill *Birkenhead Park *Birkenhead Priory *Hamilton Square *Hilbre Island *Lady Lever Art Gallery *Leasowe#Leasowe Castle, Leasowe Castle and Leasowe#Leasowe Lighthouse, Leasowe Lighthouse *North Wirral Coastal Park *Port Sunlight *Prenton Park (Tranmere Rovers F.C. Stadium) *Royal Liverpool Golf Club *Williamson Art Gallery and Museum *Wirral Country Park

Notes

References

External links

*
Merseytravel website

Merseyside.com local guide, A-Z, street index

Merseyside Today - regional guide

Mersey Reporter History - Merseyside History

Merseyside Businesses online

Mersey Life - Community
{{Coord, 53, 25, N, 3, 00, W, region:GB_type:adm1st_source:kolossus-zhwiki, display=title Merseyside, Metropolitan counties North West England NUTS 2 statistical regions of the United Kingdom Counties of England established in 1974