Merseyside ( ) is a

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

and

metropolitan county Metropolitan counties are a Subdivisions of England, subdivision of England which were originally used for Local government in England, local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyn ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. It borders

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

to the north,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

to the east,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

to the south, the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

county of

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

across the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary () 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 wide forming t ...

to the southwest, and the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

to the west. The largest settlement is the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. The county is highly urbanised, with an area of and a population of 1.42 million in 2007. After Liverpool (552,267), the largest settlements are

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

(143,968), St Helens (102,629), and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

(94,421). For

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

purposes the county comprises five

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

s: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and Liverpool. The borough councils, together with that of Halton in Cheshire, collaborate through the

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

. What is now Merseyside was a largely rural area until the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, when Liverpool and Birkenhead's positions on the

Mersey Estuary The River Mersey () is a major river 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 h ...

enabled them to expand. Liverpool became a major port, heavily involved in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

and in supplying cotton to the mills of Lancashire, and Birkenhead developed into a centre for shipbuilding. Innovations during this period included the first inter-city railway, the first publicly-funded civic park, advances in dock technology, and a pioneering elevated electrical railway. The county was established in 1974, before which the entirety of the Wirral was in Cheshire and the remainder of the county was in Lancashire. Merseyside is notable for its sport, music, and cultural institutions. The

Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British and American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle, tradit ...

genre developed in what is now the county, which has also produced many artists and bands, including

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. The county contains several football clubs, with Everton and

playing in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. The Royal Liverpool and

Royal Birkdale Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Cham ...

golf clubs have hosted

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

22 times between them, and the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

is the most valuable jump race in Europe.

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool in Merseyside, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The mu ...

comprises nine museums and art galleries.

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 Parliament, 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 ...

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

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. It is pa ...

and

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

. Further areas, including

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

, 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 A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

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 a 1969 command paper report from the Royal Commission on Local Government in England, under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud. The commission was formed in 1966 to examine the structure of local go ...

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

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

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 P ...

, St Helens/

and Wirral/

. In 1970 the

Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive Merseytravel is a public transport body and the passenger transport executive of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority responsible for delivering Public transport and other transport functions in the Liverpool City Region. It was origin ...

(which operates today under the ''

Merseytravel Merseytravel is a public transport body and the passenger transport executive of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority responsible for delivering Public transport and other transport functions in the Liverpool City Region. It was origin ...

'' 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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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. Since the 199 ...

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, for the first time, including Southport, whose council had requested to be included. Further alterations took place in Parliament, with

Skelmersdale Skelmersdale is a town in the West Lancashire district of England. It sits on the River Tawd, west of Wigan, north-east of Liverpool and south-west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. In 2006, it had a population of 38,813. The town is known l ...

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, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

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 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

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

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 Gov ...

. In 1986 the government of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

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 type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Geography

Merseyside is divided into two parts by the

Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 ...

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

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), 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 Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, and the rest of the county lies on the east side. The eastern part of Merseyside borders onto

to the north and

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 19 ...

, the Wirral line of

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

, and the

Mersey Ferry The Mersey Ferry is a ferry service operating on the River Mersey in northwest 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 12 ...

Green belt

Merseyside contains

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

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.

Demography

Identity

Ipsos MORI 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.

Combined authority

The

, which includes the five boroughs of Merseyside and the

Borough of Halton The Borough of Halton () is a local authority district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, North West England. It is administered by Halton Borough Council, a unitary authority since 1998. The borough contains the towns ...

in Cheshire, oversees functions given to it under the area's

devolution deal The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows for the introduction of directly elected mayors to combined authorities in England and Wales and the devolution of housing, ...

with the UK government, such as transport, housing, innovation, employment, energy, tourism, and trade, and some responsibilities relating to crime and justice. The combined authority is led by the

Mayor of the Liverpool City Region The mayor of the Liverpool City Region (also styled as ''metro mayor)'' is the directly elected mayor of the Liverpool City Region, who is responsible for regional governance over a number of issues, the Mayor has powers devolved to them from t ...

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British politician serving as Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he was Member of Parliame ...

, who was elected in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and re-elected in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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 Police and Crime Commissioner The Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Merseyside Police in the English County of Merseyside. The post was created in November 201 ...

and

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 o ...

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 ...

* Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority *Merseyside Pension Scheme, administered by

Wirral Council Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan borough council, metropolitan district council with Bo ...

, with offices in Liverpool

Healthcare

The planning and commissioning of care within Merseyside is the responsibility of an

integrated care system In England, an integrated care system (ICS) is a statutory partnership of organisations who plan, buy, and provide health and care services in their geographical area. The organisations involved include the NHS England, NHS, local authorities, vol ...

, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, which covers

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

and other care services within the

and Merseyside areas. It also oversees Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. NHS Cheshire and Merseyside serves a combined population of 2.7 million .

Economy

Transport

Road

Merseyside is served by six

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

: the M58 to the north, M56 to the south, M6 & M62 to the east and M53 to the west. The M57 acts as an outer ring road and bypass for the city of Liverpool itself. The

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 h ...

is crossed by

Queensway Tunnel The Queensway Tunnel ( signposted as the Birkenhead Tunnel or B'head Tunnel) is a road tunnel under the River Mersey, in the north west of England, between Liverpool and Birkenhead. Locally, it is often referred to as the "old tunnel", to disti ...

and

Kingsway Tunnel The Kingsway Tunnel ( signposted as the Wallasey Tunnel or W'sey Tunnel) is a toll road tunnel under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Wallasey. It was built because the existing Queensway Tunnel was unable to cope with the rise in po ...

, which link Liverpool to Birkenhead and Wallasey respectively, and by the

Silver Jubilee Bridge The Silver Jubilee Bridge (originally the Runcorn–Widnes Bridge or informally the Runcorn Bridge) crosses the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at River Mersey#Runcorn Gap, Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Borough of Halton ...

and

Mersey Gateway Bridge The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is ...

, which link Runcorn and Widnes. The Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017 and is designed to improve transport links between Widnes and Runcorn and other key locations in the vicinity.

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, Lancashire, Preston and Southport but is otherwise open and signed. History Mu ...

pass through the region, the former along the Wirral and the latter from Southport to Runcorn. 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 Liverpool One bus station is located in Canning Place, Liverpool, England. Formerly known as the Paradise Street interchange, it was situated on Paradise Street, Liverpool, Paradise Street close to Lord Street with access from the nearby Liver ...

serves as a terminus for national coach travel.

Rail

Liverpool Lime Street Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station complex located on Lime Street, Liverpool, Lime Street in Liverpool city centre. Although publicly a single, unified station, it is operationally divided into two official railway stations: Liv ...

mainline station is Merseyside's primary intercity railway station, being used by 10.46 million passengers in 2021–22. Train services are provided by

Avanti West Coast First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading name, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership. In November 2016, the Department for Tra ...

London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within t ...

TransPennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...

and

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

, and serve destinations across the UK.

is the county's urban rail system and is operated by

, the combined

passenger transport executive In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 20 ...

for the Liverpool City Region. The network has 66 stations on two lines; the Northern Line covers the centre of the county, and the Wirral Line covers the eponymous peninsula. The two lines meet in

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the administrative, commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region, England. There are different definitions of the city centre for urban planning and local government; ...

, and

Liverpool Central Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...

is the county's most-used station, with 10.75 million passengers in 2021–22. The network extends to

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

in Lancashire, and Ellesmere Port and Chester in Cheshire. Merseytravel brands the network in the east of the county as the ' City Line', but the services on it are not operated by Merseyrail. The Borderlands line connects the west of the Wirral to

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

, and is operated by

Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Governme ...

Maritime

Liverpool Cruise Terminal The Liverpool Cruise Terminal is a floating structure situated on the River Mersey enabling large cruise ships to visit without entering the enclosed dock system or berthing mid-river and Ship's tender, tendering passengers ashore. The terminal ...

provides facilities for long-distance passenger cruises. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Cruise & Maritime Voyages use the terminal to depart to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, France, Spain and Norway. The Peel Group, Peel Ports have also planned a second cruise terminal as part of the Liverpool Waters project.

Ferries

Prince's Landing Stage on Liverpool's Pier Head serves Isle of Man Steam Packet Company summer service to the Isle of Man (and Mersey Ferries). The Twelve Quays ferry port in Birkenhead serves winter Isle of Man ferry service and Stena Line services to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Almost three quarters of a million people travel these

ferry services. The

has operated since the 1200s, currently between Wirral and

at Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head. In 2009–2010 it had 684,000passengers using the service.

Commercial

The Port of Liverpool handles most commercial shipping, but the Birkenhead Docks complex in Great Float on the Wirral peninsula still handles some freight. The Port of Liverpool is a container port that handles over 33milliontonnes of Cargo, freight cargo per year, making it the fourth busiest port in the United Kingdom . It serves more than 100 global destinations including Africa, Australia, China, India, the Middle East and South America. Imports include Cereal, grain and animal feed, Lumber, timber, steel, coal, cocoa, crude oil, edible oils and liquid chemicals; there are exports of Scrap, scrap metal for recycling. A second container terminal, Liverpool2 at Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, can handle Panamax, Post-Panamax vessels and doubled the port's capacity when it opened in 2016.

Air

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the county's international airport. It is in Speke, southeast of Liverpool city centre, with 5 million departures in 2020. Flights are primarily operated by easyJet and Ryanair, and over 70 destinations are served by the airport, including regular flights to the Near East and North Africa. The airport is planning substantial expansion, and is forecast to handle more than 12million passengers by 2030, as well as targeting permanent direct long haul flights and significantly larger terminal facilities.

Sport

Merseyside is host to several football league football clubs including Everton,

and Tranmere Rovers F.C., Tranmere Rovers and several non-league football clubs including Marine A.F.C. and Southport F.C. Golf courses include Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Hillside Golf Club and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club. Cricket clubs include the historic Aigburth Cricket Ground. Aintree Motor Racing Circuit hosted the British Grand Prix biennially between 1955 and 1961, and finally in 1962. Aintree Racecourse hosts the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

and there is also Haydock Park Racecourse. Totally Wicked Stadium hosts Rugby League and Hoylake hosts sailing (such as the 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 *Chinatown, Liverpool *Church of St Luke, Liverpool *Croxteth Hall *Everton Stadium *Gambier Terrace *Goodison Park (Everton F.C. Stadium) *HM Customs & Excise National Museum *International Slavery Museum *Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) *Liverpool Empire Theatre *Liverpool John Lennon Airport *Liverpool Town Hall *Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (Roman Catholic) *Merseyside Maritime Museum *

– Queensway Tunnel, Queensway and Kingsway Tunnel, Kingsway *Museum of Liverpool *Pier Head *Philharmonic Dining Rooms *Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool *Royal Liver Building *Sefton Park *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 *Western Approaches Museum *World Museum Liverpool

Knowsley

*Knowsley Hall *Knowsley Safari Park

St Helens

*Dream (sculpture), The Dream *Haydock Park Racecourse *Totally Wicked Stadium (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 – Home of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

*Atkinson Art Gallery and Library and Southport Arts Centre *Bootle Town Hall – Captain Frederic John Walker exhibits *British Lawnmower Museum,

*Crosby Beach – Another Place (sculpture) by Antony Gormley *Formby *Haig Avenue – Southport F.C. *Hesketh Park, Southport *Hugh Baird College *Lord Street, Southport *Maghull – Home of Frank Hornby *Marine A.F.C.,

*Marshside RSPB reserve *Meols Hall *Pleasureland Southport *RAF Woodvale *Rimrose Valley Country Park *Royal Birkdale Golf Club *Seaforth Dock *Sefton Coast – SSSI *Southport Botanic Gardens *Southport Flower Show *Southport Pier *St Helen's Church, Sefton – Grade I Listed Building

Wirral

*Bidston Hill and Bidston Windmill *Birkenhead Park *Birkenhead Priory *Fort Perch Rock *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

Notable people

:''See :People from Merseyside''

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
{{Authority control Merseyside, Metropolitan counties North West England NUTS 2 statistical regions of the United Kingdom Counties of England established in 1974

History

Geography

Green belt

Demography

Identity

Local government

Metropolitan boroughs

Combined authority

County-level functions

Healthcare

Economy

Transport

Road

Rail

Maritime

Ferries

Commercial

Air

Sport

Places of interest

Liverpool

Knowsley

St Helens

Sefton

Wirral

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links