Secret Wirral

Explore the Wirral's secret history through a fascinating selection of stories, facts and photographs.

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The Wirral Peninsula is a place of contrasts. The large north-eastern towns differ dramatically from the rolling green acres of mid-Wirral and the breezy open shores of its western edges. Much has been written about this unique region over the years. Port Sunlight is particularly and deservedly renowned, as is a particularly popular group from the 1960s who performed on this side of the Mersey many times. There are, however, many lesser-known stories to tell of this exceptional peninsula and Secret Wirral sets out to illustrate some of these tales. Les Jones tells of the rise and fall of New Brighton’s Tower Grounds before chronicling the role the peninsula has played in the burgeoning entertainment industry. The many myths and legends that have built up on these once wild and windswept shores are covered in a later chapter, before a selection of unusual facts on some of Wirral’s diverse villages are discussed. The extraordinary history of the groundbreaking Birkenhead Park provides the contents of the penultimate chapter before some unusual facets of Wirral’s sporting and leisure industry concludes an evocative and interesting excursion through secret Wirral.