From remote woodland to hub for holidaymakers

NCE a remote wooded peninsula, the Wirral has been transformed over the centuries into the home of seaside resorts, industry and suburbs.

- Stephen Guy

Ancient villages and landmarks were relatively inaccessible until great advances in communications – railways and motors - ushered in new eras.

As Liverpool and Birkenhead grew, so did Wirral. First train services spread across the countryside, boosting growth and prosperity. New roads, linked to the opening of the Queensway tunnel from 1934, generated suburban growth.

Many parts of the centuries-old landscape survive but others have long disappeared. Only paintings, drawings or photographs survive.

Birkenhead Hall was a casualty of Victorian growth. Pictured some years before its demolition in 1843, the manor house was also known as Birket House or Priory House because of its links to nearby Birkenhead Priory.