Merseyside

Merseyside
County
258px 127px 127px Left to right: Pier Head in Liverpool Another Place at Crosby Beach Roman pavillion at Birkenhead Park
Merseyside UK locator map 2010.svg Merseyside shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	North West England
Established	1 April 1974
Established by	Local Government Act 1972
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Mark Blundell
High Sheriff	Nigel Lanceley
Area	652 km2 (252 sq mi)
– Ranked	43 of 48
Population (mid-2014 est.)	1,391,113
– Ranked	9th of 48
Density	2,141/km2 (5,550/sq mi)
Metropolitan county
GSS code	E11000002
Districts of Merseyside
Districts	City of Liverpool Sefton Knowsley St Helens Wirral
Members of Parliament	14 Labour 1 Conservative List of MPs
Police	Merseyside Police
Time zone	GMT (UTC)
– Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)

Merseyside (/ˈmɜːrzisaɪd/ mur-ZEE-syde) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Liverpool.

The county is highly urbanised, with an area of 249 square miles (645 km²) and a population of 1.42 million. The majority of the population live in the Liverpool Built-up Area (864,122), which is the sixth most populous urban area in the UK, and the Birkenhead Built-up Area (325,264). After the city of Liverpool (552,267) the largest settlements are Birkenhead (143,968), St Helens (91,703), Southport (91,703), and Wallasey (60,284). The county contains five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and Liverpool. The boroughs collaborate through the Liverpool City Region combined authority, which also includes the borough of Halton from Cheshire.

What is now Merseyside was a largely rural area until the Industrial Revolution, when Liverpool and Birkenhead's positions on the Mersey Estuary enabled them to expand. Liverpool became a major port, heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade 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 contemporary county is notable for its sport, music, and cultural institutons. The Merseybeat genre developed in the county, which has also produced many artists and bands, including the Beatles. The county contains several football clubs, with Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C. playing in the Premier League. The Royal Liverpool and Royal Birkdale golf clubs have hosted The Open Championship 22 times between them, and the Grand National is the most valuable jump race in Europe. National Museums Liverpool comprises nine museums and art galleries.

History

Port of Liverpool docks, at Seaforth. Merseyside lies on the Mersey Estuary

Merseyside was designated as a "Special Review" area in the Local Government Act 1958, and the Local Government Commission for England started a review of this area in 1962, based around the core county boroughs of Liverpool, Bootle, Birkenhead and Wallasey. Further areas, including Widnes and Runcorn, 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) proposed a much wider Merseyside metropolitan area covering southwest Lancashire and northwest Cheshire, extending as far south as Chester and as far north as the River Ribble. This would have included four districts: Southport/Crosby, Liverpool/Bootle, St Helens/Widnes and Wirral/Chester. In 1970 the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (which operates today under the Merseytravel 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 government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area was retained. 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 being removed from the area, and a proposed district including St Helens and Huyton 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 of Lancashire and Cheshire, 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.

post-1974		pre-1974
Metropolitan county	Metropolitan borough	County boroughs	Non-county boroughs	Urban districts	Rural districts
Merseyside is an amalgamation of 22 former local government districts, including six county boroughs and two municipal boroughs.	Knowsley			Huyton with Roby • Kirkby • Prescot	West Lancashire • Whiston
	Liverpool	Liverpool
	Sefton	Bootle • Southport	Crosby	Formby • Litherland	West Lancashire
	St Helens	St Helens		Newton-in-Makerfield Urban District • Billinge and Winstanley • Haydock • Rainford	Whiston
	Wirral	Birkenhead • Wallasey	Bebington	Hoylake • Wirral

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. However, in 1986 the government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the county council along with all other metropolitan county councils, and so its boroughs are now effectively unitary authorities.

Geography

An aerial photograph of Merseyside

See also: List of places in Merseyside, List of settlements in Merseyside by population, and Liverpool Urban Area

Merseyside is divided into two parts by the Mersey Estuary; the Wirral is located on the west side of the estuary, upon the Wirral Peninsula and the rest of the county is located on the east side of the estuary. The eastern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, with both parts of the county bordering Cheshire to the south. The territory comprising the county of Merseyside previously formed part of the administrative counties 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 Wirral Line of Merseyrail, and the Mersey Ferry.

Green belt

Further information: North West Green Belt

Merseyside contains green belt 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 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

File:Arms of the Merseyside Metropolitan County Council.svg

Coat of arms of the former Merseyside County Council.

Metropolitan boroughs

Merseyside comprises the metropolitan boroughs of Liverpool, 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 Police
• Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
• Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority
• Merseyside Pension Scheme, administered by Wirral Borough Council, with offices in Liverpool

Liverpool City Region

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which includes the five boroughs and the Borough of Halton headed by a Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, elected in May 2017.

Economy

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

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	10,931	50	3,265	7,616
2000	13,850	29	3,489	10,330
2003	16,173	39	3,432	12,701

Transport

See also: Transport in Liverpool; St Helens, Merseyside § Transport and infrastructure; Wirral Peninsula § Transport; Merseytravel; and Category:Transport in Merseyside

Road

Motorway network around Merseyside

Merseyside is served by six motorways: 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 is crossed by Queensway Tunnel and Kingsway Tunnel, which link Liverpool to Birkenhead and Wallasey respectively, and by the Silver Jubilee Bridge and Mersey Gateway Bridge, 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 and National Cycle Route 62 pass through the region, the former along the Wirral and the latter from Southport to Runcorn. Major bus companies are Stagecoach Merseyside and Arriva North West. Liverpool One bus station serves as a terminus for national coach travel.

Rail

Typical Merseyrail train at Liverpool Central underground station

Liverpool Lime Street 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, London Northwestern Railway, TransPennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Transport for Wales, and Northern, and serve destinations across the UK.

Merseyrail is the county's urban rail system and is operated by Merseytravel, the combined passenger transport executive for the Liverpool City Region. The network contains 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, and Liverpool Central is the county's most-used station, with 10.75 million passengers in 2021-22. The network extends to Ormskirk 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, and is operated by Transport for Wales Rail.

Maritime

Further information: Category:Maritime Transport in Merseyside

Liverpool Cruise Terminal provides facilities for long-distance passenger cruises. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines MS Black Watch and Cruise & Maritime Voyages MS Magellan use the terminal to depart to Iceland, France, Spain and Norway. Peel Ports have also planned a second cruise terminal as part of the Liverpool Waters project.

Ferries

File:Seacombe Ferry Terminal Entrance (geograph 5384500).jpg

Seacombe Ferry Terminal

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 Irish Sea ferry services.

The Mersey Ferry has operated since the 1200s, currently between Wirral and Liverpool City Centre at Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head. From 2009–2010 it had 684,000 passengers 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 container ports that handles over 33 million tonnes of freight cargo per year and serves more than 100 global destinations including Africa, Australia, China, India, the Middle East and South America. Imports include grain and animal feed , timber, steel, coal, cocoa, crude oil, edible oils and liquid chemicals; and exports of scrap metal for recycling. A second container terminal, Liverpool2 at Seaforth, can handle 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 situated in Speke, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) south east 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 12 million passengers by 2030, as well as targeting permanent direct long haul flights and significantly larger terminal facilities.

Sport

Further information: Category:Sport in Merseyside

Merseyside is host to several football league football clubs including Everton F.C., Liverpool F.C., Tranmere Rovers 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, 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

File:Croxteth Hall.jpg

Croxteth Hall

File:Knowsley Hall, Merseyside-6116277943.jpg

Knowsley Hall

Liverpool

• Albert Dock
• Anfield (Liverpool F.C. Stadium)
• The Beatles Story Museum Liverpool at Albert Dock
• The Cavern Club
• Chinatown, Liverpool
• Church of St Luke, Liverpool
• Croxteth Hall
• 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
• Mersey Tunnels – Queensway and Kingsway
• Museum of Liverpool Life
• Pier Head
• Philharmonic Dining Rooms
• Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
• Royal Liver Building
• Sefton Park
• Speke Hall – National Trust
• 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

• The Dream
• Haydock Park Racecourse
• Langtree Park (St Helens Stadium)
• North West Museum of Road Transport
• World of Glass

Sefton

• Aintree Racecourse - Home of the Grand National
• Atkinson Art Gallery and Library and Southport Arts Centre
• Bootle Town Hall - Captain Frederic John Walker exhibits
• British Lawnmower Museum, Southport
• 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., Crosby
• 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 Castle and 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

See also

• 1911 Liverpool general transport strike
• List of commemorative plaques in Merseyside
• List of drill halls in Merseyside
• List of High Sheriffs of Merseyside
• List of Lord Lieutenants of Merseyside
• List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Merseyside
• Merseyside derby

External links

• Merseyside at Curlie
• Merseytravel website
• Merseyside.com local guide, A-Z, street index
• Merseyside Today - regional guide
• Mersey Reporter History - Merseyside History
• Merseyside Businesses online Archived 8 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Mersey Life - Community