Merseyside

From Free net encyclopedia

Merseyside
Image:EnglandMerseyside.png
Geography
Status:	Ceremonial and Metropolitan county (no county council)
Origin:	1974
Region:	North West England
Area: - Total	Ranked 43rd 645 km²
ONS code:	2B
NUTS 2:	UKD5
Demographics
Population: - Total (2004 est.) - Density	Ranked 9th 1,365,900 2,118 / km²
Ethnicity:	97.1% White
Politics
Members of Parliament
Joe Benton, Ben Chapman, Claire Curtis-Thomas, Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle, Louise Ellman, Frank Field, Stephen Hesford, George Howarth, Jane Kennedy, Peter Kilfoyle, Edward O'Hara, John Pugh, Robert Wareing, David Watts, Shaun Woodward
Districts
Image:MerseysideNumbered.png Liverpool Sefton Knowsley St Helens Wirral

Merseyside is a metropolitan county, located in the North West of England. Merseyside is named after the River Mersey and comprises the conurbation by the Mersey estuary centred upon Liverpool. The county was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.

Merseyside contains the metropolitan boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral. The county 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 northern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, both parts border Cheshire to the south.

The two parts are linked by two road tunnels, a railway tunnel, and the famous Mersey Ferry.

Other districts that are part of the urban area (but not part of Merseyside) are Ellesmere Port and Neston, West Lancashire and Halton, this area is known informally as "Greater Merseyside".

It is traditional to express location within the Merseyside area by the preposition on, thus "on Merseyside" as opposed to "in Merseyside" (after all, one would be "on the side of the Mersey" not "in" it). Current usage seems to be to make a distinction between the geographical "Merseyside" (The "Greater Merseyside" referred to above) for which "on" is appropriate and the county, for which "in" is used.

1 History and administration
2 Towns and villages
3 Places of interest
4 Continued existence
5 See also
6 External links

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History and administration

A 'Merseyside' metropolitan area was proposed by the Redcliffe-Maud Report covering south-west Lancashire and north-west 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.

The Report was rejected by the incoming Conservative Party government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area 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.

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.

Merseyside however still exists legally, and as a ceremonial county.

Despite the abolition of the county council some local services are still run on a county-wide basis, now administered by joint-boards of the five metropolitan boroughs, these include the:

Merseyside Police
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (who are responsible for public transport including Merseyrail)
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority

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Towns and villages

See the list of places in Merseyside.

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Places of interest

Image:Arms-merseyside.jpg

Gambier Terrace
Albert Dock
Cavern Club
Croxteth Hall
Speke Hall - National Trust
Mersey Tunnels - Queensway and Kingsway
Tate Liverpool, a branch of the Tate Gallery
Lady Lever Art Gallery
Liverpool Museum
Merseyside Maritime Museum
HM Customs & Excise National Museum
Museum of Liverpool Life
Walker Art Gallery
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King
Port Sunlight
Leasowe Castle
Bidston Windmill
Leasowe Lighthouse
Hilbre Island
North Wirral Coastal Park
St Helens' World of Glass

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Continued existence

Several organisations are still recognised using the old name of "Merseyside". The court service at Liverpool's Magistrate Court for example, registered the domain merseysidemcc.org.uk on 25th March 2000, more than a decade after the Merseyside Council was abolished.

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External links

United Kingdom | England | Ceremonial counties of England

Image:Flag of England.svg

Counties of the Lieutenancies Act 1997

Districts of North West England	Image:Flag of England.svg
Allerdale \| Barrow-in-Furness \| Blackburn with Darwen \| Blackpool \| Bolton \| Burnley \| Bury \| Carlisle \| Chester \| Chorley \| Congleton \| Copeland \| Crewe and Nantwich \| Eden \| Ellesmere Port and Neston \| Fylde \| Halton \| Hyndburn \| Knowsley \| Lancaster \| Liverpool \| Macclesfield \| Manchester \| Oldham \| Pendle \| Preston \| Ribble Valley \| Rochdale \| Rossendale \| St Helens \| Salford \| Sefton \| South Lakeland \| South Ribble \| Stockport \| Tameside \| Trafford \| Vale Royal \| Warrington \| West Lancashire \| Wigan \| Wirral \| Wyre
Counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside