Birkenhead
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- This article is about Birkenhead in northwest England. For other meanings of the word and places with this name, see Birkenhead (disambiguation)
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Birkenhead (Welsh: Penbedw) is a town on the Wirral Peninsula, on the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. The town was famous as a sea port and as a centre for ship building as it was close to the maritime activity of Liverpool. The town is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside. Birkenhead, with the rest of the Wirral Peninsula, was (prior to 1974) part of the county of Cheshire. The Member of Parliament is Frank Field.
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[edit] History
The name Birkenhead is possibly from the Old English bircen meaning birch tree, of which many once grew on the headland which jutted into the river at Woodside.
The first Mersey ferry began operating from Birkenhead in 1150 when Benedictine monks under the leadership of Hamon de Mascy built a priory there.[2][3] Distanced from the Industrial Revolution in Liverpool and the North-West by the physical barrier of the River Mersey, Birkenhead retained its agricultural status until the advent of the steam ferry service in 1820. Ready access from Liverpool now opened up the Wirral Peninsula for development and prompted the rapid growth of Birkenhead as an industrial centre. This access was further improved by the building of the Mersey Railway tunnel in 1886 and later by the building of the Queensway Tunnel in 1934.
Birkenhead Park is acknowledged to be the first publicly funded park in Britain.[4] The park was the forerunner of the Parks Movement and its influence was far reaching both in Britain and abroad – most notably on Olmsted's design for Central Park, New York. Designed by Joseph Paxton (later Sir Joseph Paxton) in 1843 and officially opened in 1847, it was an immediate economic and social success. The history of the park is inseparable from that of Birkenhead town, itself.
Birkenhead was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1877, and became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. The borough included the parishes of Birkenhead St Mary,[5] Claughton with Grange, Oxton, Tranmere and part of Bebington, later known as Rock Ferry. The parishes of Landican, Prenton and Thingwall were added in 1928, followed by the parishes of Noctorum and Woodchurch in 1933.
Ship-building started in 1829.[6] The business eventually became Cammell Laird. John Laird, a Scot, was influential in the design of the town and so parts were laid out in a grid-iron pattern like the New Town in Edinburgh with similar architecture. This grid pattern was centered around Hamilton Square which was started in 1826 and, apart from Trafalgar Square in London, contains the most Grade 1 listed buildings in one place in England.[7]
The nearby localities of Bidston, Oxton, Prenton, Tranmere and Noctorum are often regarded as Birkenhead's suburbs.
[edit] Historic Architecture
- Hamilton Square
- Birkenhead Town Hall
- Birkenhead Priory
- Flaybrick Watertower
- St. James' Church
- Flaybrick Memorial Gardens
- Birkenhead Central Library
- Woodside Ferry Terminal
- Queensway Tunnel Main Entrance & Branch Entrance
- Birkenhead Park Main Entrance
- Roman Boathouse in Birkenhead Park
- Laird School of Art
- Williamson Art Gallery
- St James' Church
- St Werburgh's Church (oldest RC church in B'head)
[edit] Transport
- Birkenhead had the first street tramway in Europe. Opened on 29 August 1860 the first line ran from Woodside (landing stage of the Mersey Ferry) to Birkenhead Park. (A preserved tram can be seen at Woodside today.)
- Birkenhead and Liverpool became the first major conurbations in northwest England to be served by an underground railway system, which became part of "Merseyrail" in the 1970s and 1980s. The major underground station in Birkenhead is Hamilton Square, the nearest station to the ferry terminal. Hamilton Square is linked to the "Liverpool Loop Line", which includes James Street, Moorfields, Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations, all of which are underground. Other stations located in Birkenhead include Birkenhead Central, Green Lane, Conway Park, Birkenhead Park and Birkenhead North. Lines from Birkenhead travel South to Chester and Ellesmere Port. A line leaves Birkenhead North and travels around the North and West of Wirral, ultimately leaving England near Shotton and terminating in Wrexham. For network Map visit View Merseyrail Network Map
- The Queensway Road Tunnel, running underneath the River Mersey, connects the town to Liverpool.
- Junctions 1 & 3 of the M53 motorway allow access to the national motorway network.
- The A41 trunk road connects Woodside with Marble Arch in London.
- The nearest airport is John Lennon Airport in Liverpool.
- The Mersey Ferry at Woodside supplies a passenger service to Liverpool.
- The Twelve Quays ferry terminal allows a direct freight & passenger service to Dublin, Ireland & Belfast, Northern Ireland.
[edit] Notable vessels built at Birkenhead
- HMS Achilles
- HMS Affray
- CSS Alabama
- HMS Ark Royal
- HMS Birkenhead
- HMS Caroline
- Huáscar
- RMS Mauretania
- Resurgam
- HMS Thetis
- HMS Conqueror
- HMS Prince of Wales
[edit] Education
- Birkenhead's oldest independent school is Birkenhead School.[8] It was exclusively a boys' school from its founding in 1860 until 2000 when its Sixth Form became co-educational. It also has a preparatory school for boys aged 3–11 and a co-educational nursery from 3 months. Former "Old Birkonians" (as former pupils are known) include the lawyer F. E. Smith, who took the title of "Lord Birkenhead" when he entered the House of Lords, Andreas Whittam Smith, chairman of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the founder of The Independent quality daily newspaper, Andrew Irvine, famous for attempting Mount Everest and Philip Toosey, hero at the Bridge on the River Kwai.
- Birkenhead's technical college in Woodside (Previously in Borough Road), now called Wirral Metropolitan College, had a theatre named after one of its most famous former students and Birkonian (born 1936), Glenda Jackson, the Oscar-winning actress and Member of Parliament. Sadly the college and the Glenda Jackson Theatre were demolished in late 2005, to make way for apartment blocks, although Wirral Metropolitan College flourishes on other sites across the Wirral. A little known fact is that the theatre secretly housed an emergency command centre for the region in its basement, accessible via the college. Politicians and officials would have retreated to this secure bunker in the event of nuclear war to coordinate the recovery effort. By the 1990s the bunker had been decommissioned, and the surrounding complex of rooms was used by the college as a rehearsal space and a recording studio.
- In 1856, Birkenhead Library was opened as the country's first public library in an unincorporated borough.[9] The library was situated in Hamilton Street until 1909, when it moved to a new building in Albion Street, near Birkenhead Market. In the 1930s, this building (along with much of the surrounding area) was demolished to make way for the entrance to the Mersey Tunnel. The present library, Birkenhead Central Library, is situated on Borough Road & was opened by King George V in 1934.
[edit] Sport
- Birkenhead is the home of Tranmere Rovers Football Club, a professional football team who play at Prenton Park near the Tranmere area of the town. It is also the home of several successful amateur football leagues, both 11-a side and six-a side.
- Birkenhead North End & Victoria Cycling Clubs. Olympic riders, from the clubs, include Chris Boardman, Steve Cummings & Rachel Heal.[10][11]
[edit] Healthcare
Formerly, Birkenhead was served by St. James' Hospital in Claughton, St. Catherine's Hospital, Tranmere & Birkenhead General Hospital on Conway Street. Presently, Birkenhead is served by Wirral Hospital NHS Trust & Birkenhead & Wallasey Primary Care Trust.
[edit] Local Media
[edit] Newspapers
- Wirral Globe
- Wirral News
[edit] Radio
- Wirral's Buzz 97.1, based in Birkenhead.
- BBC Radio Merseyside, based in Liverpool & transmits to Birkenhead.
- Radio City 96.7, based in Liverpool & transmits to Birkenhead.
- Juice 107.6, based in Liverpool & transmits to Birkenhead.
- Dune 107.9, based in Southport & transmits to Birkenhead.
- Rock FM 97.4, based in Preston & transmits to Birkenhead.
[edit] Twin Towns
Birkenhead is twinned, as a part of Wirral, with Gennevilliers in France, Lorient in France & Latina in Italy. Birkenhead also has a Sister City Agreement with Midland, Texas.[12]
[edit] Notable people connected with Birkenhead
- Jason McAteer, footballer
- Lewis Collins, actor
- Matt Dawson, rugby union player
- 'Dixie' Dean, record-breaking footballer, was born at 313 Laird Street
- Adrian Henri, poet and artist
- Indie band Half Man Half Biscuit hail from Birkenhead
- Megs Jenkins, actress
- Charlie Landsborough singer/songwriter
- Paul O'Grady (also known as Lily Savage), comedian and TV host and was a pupil at St. Anselm's College.
- World War I poet, Wilfred Owen, although born in Oswestry, was educated at the Birkenhead Institute. His former home on Elm Grove is now adorned with a commemorative English Heritage blue plaque.
- Patricia Routledge, actress, attended Birkenhead High School
- Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
- Impressionist painter Philip Wilson Steer
- Norman Thelwell, cartoonist
- Philip Toosey of The Bridge on the River Kwai
- David Thompson, footballer
[edit] Miscellanea
- Michael Marks, of Marks & Spencer, opened one of his first seven Penny Bazaar stalls here, in Birkenhead Market, during the 1880s.[13]
- Despite being in England, Birkenhead hosted Wales's National Eisteddfod in 1917, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1879. Birkenhead's original name was Welsh, "Penbedw"
- The first Boy Scout group in the world was founded as the 1st Birkenhead YMCA in 1906. The original Scout headquarters were in Park Road West. In 1929 the 3rd World Scout Jamboree was held at Arrowe Park, Birkenhead.
- Birkenhead is the home of No.400 Squadron of the Air Training Corps.
- Birkenhead is mentioned in the song "What She Said" on the album Meat Is Murder by The Smiths: What she read/All heady books/She'd sit and prophesise/(It took a tattooed boy from Birkenhead/To really really open her eyes).
- The Argyle Theatre was a major music hall which opened in 1868. It was being used as a cinema when it was destroyed by bombing in 1940.[14]
- The town is also mentioned in the song "Everything Is Sorrow" on the Boo Radleys' C'mon Kids album: I worked in Birkenhead for you/It brings me tears even now.
- The main entrance of the 'Kingsland', once a dance hall in Borough Rd (now a restaurant), is actually a fireplace which came from an old house in the town also named the Kingsland.
- The film Chariots of Fire had scenes shot at Woodside. These scenes were as a representation of Dover in the 1920s.[15]
[edit] Future
The major redevelopment project under consideration is Peel Holdings' 'Wirral Waters'. This would allow for a £4.5bn of investment in the regeneration of the dockland area. This equates with an investment of over £14,000 for each of the 320,000 population of Wirral. At the East Float & Vittoria Dock, the development would include several 50-storey skyscrapers, 5 million square feet of new office space & 11 million square feet for new residential apartments. A retail & leisure quarter at the former Bidston Dock site would encompass another 571,000 square feet of space. The whole project would create more than 27,000 permanent new jobs, aside from the employment required for construction & other peripheral employment. An outline planning application is expected to be submitted during the summer of 2007.[16] The development would be expected to take up to 30 years.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ *Birkenhead Urban Area, 2001 Census, ONS
- ^ *Birkenhead Priory
- ^ Birkenhead history
- ^ *Birkenhead Park
- ^ *Birkenhead Parish History
- ^ *Laird Shipbuilders
- ^ Grade 1 listed status of Hamilton Square
- ^ *Birkenhead School
- ^ *Birkenhead Library
- ^ *Birkenhead North End Cycling Club Olympians
- ^ *Birkenhead Victoria Cycling Club history
- ^ *Twin Towns, Wirral Borough Council
- ^ *Michael Marks
- ^ Theatres in Birkenhead
- ^ *Chariots of Fire - Where Did They Film That?
- ^ *Wirral Waters details & planning application date
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