Merseyrail's Wirral Line railway



Merseyrail's Wirral line is a commuter railway line that serves the Wirral Peninsula, which is owned by Network Rail and operated by Merseyrail.
One hundred thousand passengers a day use Liverpool's Merseyrail trains by way of 800 daily departures. The Merseyrail system is 75 miles long - 6.5 miles of which is underground and via the Mersey Tunnel - and has 66 stations, four of which are located in and around Liverpool City centre, they are -  

Liverpool Lime Street - For national rail services.
Liverpool Central - For main shopping areas.
Moorfields - For central business district. This station is the deepest of the Merseyrail stations as it is located below the Queensway Tunnel.
James Street - For Liverpool One, Liverpool Waterfront and tourist attractions.


The Wirral Line was developed by way of the amalgamation of three former historic, national railways - the Mersey Rail - Britain's second underground rail system built in 1886 and the first line in the world to be wholly electrified - the Wirral Railway built in 1863 and the Chester + Birkenhead Railway built in 1838.
Today, the Wirral Line is 33 miles long ( 54km) and has four routes - Liverpool to West Kirby, Liverpool to Chester, Liverpool to New Brighton and Liverpool to Ellesmere Port - which are served by 34 stations between them.
The Wirral Line has been known by this name since it was officially opened by H.M Queen Elisabeth II on the 25th of October 1978.
The line's 1,435mm standard gauge track is electrified by way of a 750 v DC third line which became a fully electrified system in May 1994.
The Wirral Line links the Wirral Peninsula with Liverpool City centre by way of the Liverpool Loop, a clockwise circular rail route built in the early 1970's.
The Wirral Line is connected to the country's mainline National Rail system by way of connections at Liverpool Lime Street and Chester.
The system uses Class 507 and Class 508 rolling stock which can attain speeds of up to sixty miles an hour.

The Wirral Line system is operational seven days a week from approximately 06.00 - 24.000 hrs. The line runs trains every 15 minutes during daytime, every five minutes during rush hour and every half an hour in the evenings and on Sundays.
For timetables, rail information and various ticket types please refer to Merseyrail's informative website - www.merseyrail.org. 

The Wirral Line is highlighted in green. 

Origins of Wirral placenames.

The Harvest Mouse, Heswall.

Bebbington. 
Bebbington was named after an Anglo Saxon tribal chief called Bebba and the name means Bebba's town. 

Birkenhead.
There are two given forms as to where the name Birkenhead comes from. 
One is that it comes from the name of Wirral's longest river, the River Birket, on which the town was built. 
It  could also come from the Saxon word birchen, which meant birch forest, of which the area was completely surrounded during medieval times.


Bromborough
Comes from the word Brunanburh.  Brunnr was the Viking word for spring or well and burh was the Saxon word for settlement or town.

By.
Several place names on the Wirral end in the suffix by, which is Norse or Viking for settlement or town. 
The Vikings called each of their settlements -
Frankby - French town.
Greasby - From the Old English Gravesberie, meaning settlement near a wooded area. 
Irby - Irish town.
Pensby - Town on a hill.
Raby - Town on a boundary.
West Kirby - Town with a church situated to the west.
Whitby - White town. 

Caldy.
Caldy comes from the Anglo Saxon word calders, which was the name given to a nearby hill which meant  cold arse.


Clatterbridge.
This unusual placename comes from an area which was once the home of a bridge that spanned the Clatter Brooke.


Eastham.
East Ham means home in the east in Anglo Saxon. The village of Eastham is situated at the southern most tip of the Wirral Peninsula and local historians believe that it is the oldest, permanently inhabited settlement on the peninsula.


Egremont.
In 1835 a large house was built in what is now Egremont by the harbour master of Liverpool Docks, Captain Askew, who named his house and then the village that grew up around it, Egremont, after his birthplace of Egremont in Cumberland.


Ellesmere Port.
This River Mersey, port town, originally known as Netherpool, was built at the end of the Ellesmere Canal, an arm of the Manchester Ship Canal, and was built as the canal's main port and docklands area. 
The word Ellesmere comes from the British peerage title Earl of Ellesmere,of which there were five men who held the title between 1800 - 1963. The title was superceded by that of the Duke of Sutherland.
The instigation of the building of the canal was an industrious project originally planned to link the Rivers Dee, Mersey and Severn by way of the Shropshire Union, Manchester Ship, Llangollen and Chester canals by industrialist Francis Egerton, first Duke of Bridgewater, known in engineering circles as the father of inland navigation. 
Francis Egerton was unmarried and died in 1803 without issue, thereby entrusting the canal to his second cousin, another Francis Egerton, first Earl of Ellesmere. 
The name Egerton is synonomous with canal building and the family name is remembered by way of Egerton Wharf, Egerton Bridge and Egerton Dock in Birkenhead and ten street / road names found in various parts of the peninsula.

Ferry.
There was once eleven ferry crossing sites along the Wirral side of the River Mersey and some of their names still live on in the placenames of Monks Ferry - the very first Mersey Ferry crossing - New Ferry and Rock Ferry.

Heswall.
The estuary town of Heswall received it's name from one Patrick de Haselwall former Sheriff of Cheshire, who bought the land the town now stands on in 1277. 

Hilbre.
Several places on the peninsula have been named after the tiny island of Hilbre, situated off the peninsula's coast between Hoylake and West Kirby.
Hilbre is a corruption of the name Hildeberg, a 17th century Anglo Saxon holy woman.


Hoylake.
Situated about a mile out to sea off the seaside town of Hoylake, was once a large sand bank known as Hoyle Bank that protected a pool of sea water known as Hoyle Lake.This lake was used by the Port of Liverpool as a holding bay for waiting ships coming into port and as an anchorage for larger ships to be loaded and unloaded, which were too large to sail into Chester along the River Dee. The town was subsequently named after this lake.


Landican.
Landican comes from the Celtic word Landechene.  


Leasowe.
Leasowe is an Anglo Saxon word which means meadow pastures.


Liscard.
The word Liscard comes from the Old Irish - lios na carraige - which meant hall on the rock.


Meols.
Meols - pronounced mells -  is of Viking origin and means sand dunes.


Mockbeggar.
There are several references to the name mockbeggar between the coastal towns of Moreton through to New Brighton.
The word mockbeggar is an Old English word for derelict building, and the derelict building in this case pertained to Leasowe Castle. 

Moreton. 
Moreton is an Anglo Saxon name that meant town by the lake.


Ness / Neston.
Ness is a Viking word for promontory and neston is Old English for town on the promontory.


New Brighton.
This once thriving, Regency holiday resort was named after the other thriving, Regency holiday resort on the south coast of England, Brighton.


Noctorum.
This most unusual name comes from the Old Irish - Cnocc Tirim - which meant dry hill. 

Prenton. 
Prenton is an Old English name which meant town in the woods.


Saughall Massie.
Sau Hall is Old English for hall built near willow trees. The suffix Massie probably pertains to Hamon de Mascey, a rich, medieval, land owner whose family originated from Auranches in Normany, and whose name is synonomous with the medieval history of the peninsula.


Spital.
The word spital is the end of the word hospital, suggesting that there was once a hospital or leper colony in the area.


Storeton.
Storeton comes from the Viking word for large farm.


Thingwall.
This unusual name has Viking roots and comes from the term bing volir, which meant meeting place, suggesting this area was once a very important administration area.


Thornton Hough.
The land that now contains the village of Thornton Hough was given to the daughter of Rojer de Thornton upon her marriage to the son of Richard de Hoghe.The couple named their new settlement by combining each of their family names.


Tranmere.
Comes from the Viking words trani meir, which meant sandbank of the cranes.


Thurstaston.
Upon the Vikings expulsion from Ireland in 902, the Norsemen first made their way to the Isle of Anglesey, but were driven out by the King of Gwynedd, Anarwd ap Rhodri.
The Norwegian refugees pleaded with the Anglo Saxon Queen, Aethelflead, daughter of Alfred the Great and widow of King Aethelred, for permission to come to England.
The queen duly granted them the right to stay on the Wirral Peninsula under the proviso that they did not venture into the City of Chester.
 The Vikings  landed on the Wirral peninsula sometime between 912 - 913 under the leadership of one Ingimund Thorsteinsson, where they made their very first Wirral settlement at present day Thurstaston, then called Turstanetone, Thorstein's settlement. 
Within months the Norseman had made the Wirral Peninsula a self governing Viking state, which saw hundreds of former Viking refugees from Ireland, who had previously fled to the Isle of Man and the Scottish Western Isles, come and make their permanent home on the Wirral Peninsula.  

Wallasey.
Walha meant stranger or foreigner in the ancient Saxon language and ey meant island. The land that is now the town of Wallasey was once seperated from the rest of the peninsula by the Wallasey Pool, which was made into the Birkenhead Docks in 1820. Today there are four bridges that link the island with the rest of the peninsula across this vast pool.

Willaston.
Comes from the Old English word Wilavaston, which suggests the town - ton - is named after someone called Wilav. Local historians believe that Willaston was once the largest Anglo Saxon settlement in the ancient area known as the Wirral Hundred and was an important, administration area.

Famous people born on the Wirral Peninsula

Wirral's most famous daughter, actress Glenda Jackson.

                                                              
ARTS. 
Shirley Ballas - ballroom dancer and Strictly Come Dancing adjudicator, was born in Wallasey in 1960. 
Shirley Hughes OBE - children's author and illustrator, was born in West Kirby in 1927.
Mark Lechey -  Turner Prize winner in 2008, was born in Birkenhead in 1964.
Ralph Steadman -  cartoonist and caricturist, was born in Wallasey in 1936.
Philip Wilson Steer OM -  impressionist and landscape artist, was born in Birkenhead in 1860. 
William Bill Tidy MBE - cartoonist, was born in Tranmere in 1933.  


BANDS FORMED ON THE WIRRAL.
The Boo Radleys, a 1990's alternative rock band was formed in Wallasey.
Engine, a 1970's boogie rock band was formed in Birkenhead.
Half Man, Half Biscuit, was a 1980's rock band formed in Birkenhead.
Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark was a famous synthpop band of the 1970's and 80's and was formed in Heswall.
The Coral, was a 1990's folk rock band formed in Hoylake.
The Rascals, is an Indie rock band formed in Hoylake in 2008.


FILM, T.V. & RADIO.
Mathew Ashton - BAFTA award winning movie designer, (Lego movie), was born in Upton. 
Alan Clarke -  T.V and film director, was born in Wallasey in 1935.
Lewis Collins -  T.V actor, was born in Bidston in 1946.  
Taron Egerton - actor, born in Birkenhead in 1989.
Richard Dickie Davis - T.V and sports presenter, was born in Wallesey in 1933. 
Anthony Tony Hall (Baron of Birkenhead) - present director general of the BBC, was born in Birkenhead in 1951.
Paul Hollywood - celebrity chef, was born in Wallesey in 1966.
Geoffrey Hughes -  actor, was born in Wallasey in 1944.
Glenda Jackson - , academy award winning actress, CBE and MP was born in Birkenhead in 1936.
Megs Jenkins -  actress, was born in Birkenhead in 1917.
Phil Liggit -  T.V sports commentator, was born in Bebington in 1943.
Nigel Lythgoe -  choreographer, T.V & film director, was born in Birkenhead in 1949.
Paul O'Grady -  comedian, was born in Birkenhead in 1955.
John Peel OBE - radio presenter, was born in Heswall in 1939. 
Jan Ravens - actress and impressionist, was born in Bebington in 1958. 
Simon Rimmer - celebrity chef & restauranteur, was born in Wallasey in 1963.
Patricia Routeledge -  comedy actress, was born in Tranmere in 1929.


MILITARY.
Emma Hamilton -  mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, was born in Ness in 1765.
Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey CBE, DSO, TD, JP, LLD -  senior allied officer in the Thai P.O.W camp Tha Maa Kham. Toosey was portrayed by actor Alec Guiness in the film Bridge over the River Kwai.
Toosey was born in Oxton in 1904.


MUSIC.
Pete Burns -  singer / songwriter, was born in Port Sunlight in 1959.
Paul Heaton -  singer / songwriter and former member of the Housemartins and Beautiful South, was born in Bromborough in 1962.
Malcolm Holmes -  drummer in pop group Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark (OMD) was born in Birkenhead in 1960.
Stephen Hough -  concert pianist, was born in Heswall in 1961.
Miles Kane -  singer and former member of pop groups The Rascals and Last Shadow Puppet, was born in Hoylake in 1986.
George McCluskey -  songwriter and member of OMD, was born in Heswall in 1959.
Cyril Meir Scott -  classical composer, was born in Oxton in 1879.


POLITICS. 
Selwyn Lloyd - Conservative politician, Foreign Secretary 1955 - 1960, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1960 - 1962, Speaker of the House 1971 - 1976, was born in West Kirby in 1904. 
Fredrick Edwin Smith GCSI, PC, KC (First Earl & Baron of Birkenhead) - Lord Chancellor 1919 - 1922 and personal, best friend of war time prime minister Winston Churchill, was born in Birkenhead in 1872.
Edith Smith - First female police officer given full power of arrest, was born in Oxton in 1880.


SPORT.
Nigel Adkins - football player and present manager of Reading Football Club, was born in Birkenhead in 1965. 
Chris Boardman -  1992 Olympic gold medal winning cyclist, was born in Hoylake in 1968.
Ian Botham OBE -  England test cricketer, was born in Heswall in 1955. 
Paul Bracewell - football player and football manager, was born in Heswall in 1962. 
Steve Cummings - acclaimed road racing cyclist was born in Clatterbridge in 1981.
Matt Dawson -  Rugby Union scrum half and most capped English scrum half to date, was born in Birkenhead in 1972.  
Peter Davenport -  footballer and football manager, was born in Birkenhead in 1961.
William Dixie Dean -  the most prolific goal scorer in English footballing history, first man to ever wear the number 9 shirt in league football and holder of the record for most goals scored (60) in one season, was born in Birkenhead in 1907.
Charlotte Dod -  five times winner of the Wimbledon ladies singles, holder of the record for youngest (15) female ever to win Wimbledon, Olympic silver medalist for archery in 1908, twice capped for the England ladies hockey team and voted most versatile female athlete of all time by the Guiness Book of Records, was born in Bebington in 1871.
Austin Healey -   rugby player, capped 51 times for England, was born in Wallasey in 1973.
Andrew Irvine -  mountaineer, was born in Birkenhead in 1902.
Neil McKechnie -  swimmer, Olympic finalist at the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956 and holder of every British swimming record from 100 metres to one mile (30) in 1958, was born in Wallasey in 1939.
Alan Rouse -  mountaineer and first Briton to conquer K9, was born in Wallasey in 1951. 

Wirral's most eminent sporting hero, footballer William Dixie Dean.

Swimming on the Wirral Peninsula.

Beach and lighthouse at New Brighton.

Below are the addresses of public swimming pools, the locations of the area's finest beaches and a list of Wirral hotels with swimming pools.   


PUBLIC SWIMMING BATHS.


Europa Pools.
Conway Street, Birkenhead. CH41 6RN. Tel - 0151 666 5555.

Caldy Grange.
Gourleys Lane, Caldy. CH48 8AS. Tel - 0151 625 7170. 

The Oval.
Old Chester Road, New Ferry. CH63 7LF. Tel - 0151 645 0596. 

Concourse Leisure Centre.
Grange Road, West Kirby. CH48 4HX. Tel - 0151 929 7801. 

Guinea Gap Leisure Centre. 
Riverview Road, Seacombe. CH44 6PX. Tel - 0151 606 2010. 

Leasowe Recreation Centre. 
Twickenham Road, Leasowe. CH46 1PF. Tel - 0151 677 0916.  
 
BEACHES.


The area's finest beaches are situated at -

Caldy - A sand beach with brackish water situated on the River Dee Estuary.
Hoylake - A sand beach situated on the Irish Sea coast.
Meols - A sand beach situated on the Irish Sea coast.
New Brighton -A vast stretch of sand beach situated on Liverpool Bay in the Irish Sea.
West Kirby - Sand beaches situated on both the River Dee estuary and the Irish Sea Coast. 

For Hilbre Island (West Kirby) tide times and heights please refer to this website  pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tides

HOTELS WITH SWIMMING POOLS.


Mercure Chester North Hotel.
Berwick Road, Little Sutton. CH66 4PS Tel - 0151 339 5121.


Rockland Guest House.
70 Birkenhead Road, Meols. CH47 0LA. Tel - 0151 632 4249.


Thornton Hall Hotel and Spa.
Neston Road, Thornton Hough. CH63 1JF. Tel - 0151 336 3938.


Village Leisure Hotel.
Pool Lane, Bromborough. CH62 4UE. Tel - 0151