Merseyside

I

Introduction

Merseyside, non-administrative metropolitan county, north-western England, bounded by Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester metropolitan county to the east, the county of Cheshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Merseyside is largely urbanized, but it includes a narrow band of less heavily populated coastal land, stretching from the Ribble estuary southwards to Crosby. The county was created in 1974, taking most of the peninsula known as the Wirral from Cheshire, and a section of the southern part of Lancashire. The area of the county is 652 sq km (252 sq mi).

II

Land and Resources

The larger part of Merseyside is based on Carboniferous rocks; the coastal strip northwards to Southport is composed chiefly of blown sand. The estuary of the River Mersey dominates the southern half of Merseyside, and cuts off the Wirral from the rest of the county. The climate is moderate. Annual rainfall for the county is in the region of 760 to 1,000 mm (30 to 40 in). The Ainsdale Sand Dunes are designated as a National Nature Reserve. A wide variety of seabirds can be seen, and the dunes are also the home of sand lizards and natterjack toads. The coastal dunes, south of Southport, continue southwards to Formby Point, where there is a reserve for red squirrels.

III

Population and Administration

The population of the county was estimated in 2001 to be 1,362,034. The principal towns are Liverpool (2001, 439,476) and St Helens (1996 estimate, 179,483). Other towns of note include Birkenhead (1991, 93,087), Bootle (1991, 65,454), Crosby (1991, 52,869), Formby (1991, 25,356), Kirkby (1991, 43,017), Southport (1991, 90,959), and Wallasey (2001, 60,895). Liverpool has city status. It is one of the most cosmopolitan of English cities, a reflection of its role as a port. However, one group has helped give it a very particular flavour, the great many immigrants from Ireland. Merseyside still has a large population of Irish descent, which explains the fact that the county has a higher proportion of Roman Catholics among its population than any other English county.

From 1975 to 1986, the senior administrative authority in Merseyside was the metropolitan county council (based in Liverpool). In 1986, the single-tier metropolitan district councils of Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton, and Wirral were created and took over most of the responsibilities of the former county council.

IV

Education and Culture

The University of Liverpool (founded 1881) and John Moores University (Liverpool Polytechnic until 1992) are both in Liverpool. The latter is named after the founder of the football pools company, Littlewoods, which is one of the city's largest employers (see Gambling). Merchant Taylors' public school, Crosby, was founded in 1620. In 1996 the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), the brain-child of former Beatle Paul McCartney, was opened.

Liverpool is the home of two of the country's top football teams, Liverpool FC and Everton FC. Tranmere Rovers FC is based in Birkenhead. Rugby league has many fans in the area, and the golf courses at Hoylake and Royal Birkdale are used for international tournaments. One of the country's most important and popular sporting events, the Grand National Steeplechase, the premier British steeplechase race, is held at Aintree, on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Lobscouse, a stew of which the principal ingredients are salt beef and potatoes, is so associated with Merseyside, and particularly Liverpool, that its shortened form, “scouse”, has come to be a synonym for “Liverpudlian”. Certainly, as long ago as the beginning of the 19th century any Irish-Liverpudlian sailor was likely to be nicknamed “Scouse”. Nowadays someone who comes from Liverpool may well be a “Scouser”, and the distinctive accent of the speaker is referred to as Scouse. Lobscouse may have been invented by cooks on sailing ships. However, it seems likely that it was Liverpool's Irish immigrants who would have substituted the potato for the barely edible ship's biscuit that sailors had eaten with the stewed beef.