Wirral doesn't 'fit into Birkenhead', .... it's Birkenhead that 'fits into the Wirral Peninsula'! Birkenhead - Victorian Boom town The settlement here goes back some years and Birkenhead Priory was established on the west bank of the Mersey circa 1150 or so. In 1330 Edward III granted the monks permission to run a ferry across the river. The low ground was marshy and most people lived on the overlooking sandstone hill in the old villages of Oxton and Claughton. In this period Wirral was neither a nice nor popular place - boggy and infamous for its bandits! In 1800 the Birkenhead population was only 110, and the church a ruin. It had been sacked by Henry VIII as part of his dissolution of the monestaries. Incidentally the mediæval priory has been nicely restored and is now used for concerts. There is also a small museum at the site. Across the estuary, early 19th century Liverpool was one of the World's most prosperous cities. (To its shame partly financed by the slave trade). Population and development money spilled across the River Mersey and Victorian Birkenhead sprang up at incredible speed (population = 40,000 in 1845). One innovation was the draining of the marsh including establishment of the world's first municipal park. Birkenhead Park was laid out in 1843-7 by Joseph Paxton with much landscaping, artificial lakes, cricket and football pitches and driveways. The 226 acre design was later copied by Yankee Frederick Law Olmsted in New York's slightly larger Central Park. Paxton himself went on to help design Britain's Houses of Parliament, and his own most famous work - London's Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exibition. William Hesketh (later Lord) Lever established his business here in 1860, making soaps and detergents. The industry used north-west coal and electricity to make soda from the nearby Cheshire salt reserves. Imports of vegetable fats through the Mersey ports allowed manufacture of soaps and detergents. The most famous was the Port Sunlight soap brand - named the same as Lever's Port Sunlight model village in which he housed of his workers. The family firm eventually merged with the Dutch Uni to become the multinational Unilever. They are still here, and the village is quite a fashionable place to live as well as a significant tourist attraction. Lord Lever became very rich, and a Liberal peer. The famous art collection made by Lady Lever is in Port Sunlight Village, with a superb collection of British pre-Raphaelite paintings in particular, including Millais's "Bubbles" used for Lever's soap advert. There is also a fine Williamson Gallery municipal collection. Entry to both collections is free. Enthusiast Bob Speel has some superb pages on the Lever Gallery, and Preraphaelite Art in general. John Laird's yard made fine ships here from 1824 onward. Sadly, the Shipyard closed in August 2001. Perhaps its most famous vessel was the Confederate raider Alabama. She was purchased by the South in the American civil war, and had a short career sinking merchantmen of the Northern Union States. The Alabama was finally sunk by the Union battleship Kearsarge in the Bay of Biscay in 1864. The link with Merseyside is a curious one, but let's face it: Liverpool had an interest in the continuation of slavery. John Laird was Birkenhead's first mayor in 1877 and had already had much to do with development of the town and park. He was buried in the Priory grounds, and his statue stands in Hamilton square, one of the finest 19th century squares in Britain. Cavendish Road (ie here) was a development laid out with in the new parkland. Its first houses were designed by Paxton and his team and 1-5 Cavendish Road (1852) are listed UK Grade II Heritage buildings, as are many of the Park's other fine buildings. /We also have some retired warships well maintained by a local trust. Veterans only of the Falklands conflict, but a really good afternoon out for the kids if you are at the dock, or it's raining. A lot of the kit still works and the submarine is great fun. There is also a scuttled German U-boat salvaged from the sea bottom (rusty but mostly all there!) For more information on the Wirral Peninsula go to: http://www.vwlowen.demon.co.uk/wirral/index.htm and click on the various place names. Hope that this helps! Vivien Blythe, Oxton, Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula "Happiness is helping a stranger find their roots!"