Quirky Wirral

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A01=Ken Pye
Art Architecture & Photography
Author_Ken Pye
Category=NHTB
Category=WQH
Cultural History
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
forthcoming
History
History & Criticism
Local & Urban History
Photography
Social & Cultural Anthropology
Social History

Product details

  • ISBN 9781398126176
  • Dimensions: 165 x 234mm
  • Publication Date: 15 Jul 2026
  • Publisher: Amberley Publishing
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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The Wirral Peninsula has a fascinating history. Before the development of the docks along the Mersey Estuary to the north, the area was a rural patchwork of communities and villages. The nineteenth century saw the growth of towns on Wirral such as Birkenhead, Wallasey, and Ellesmere Port. Industrial growth also led to the building of William Lever’s remarkable Port Sunlight garden village. As Wirral became more connected to Liverpool through rail and road, new suburbs developed, although the west area remained mostly rural, and today Wirral is still an area of contrasts.

In Quirky Wirral author Ken Pye delves into lesser-known but fascinating tales from Wirral’s past. Readers will discover tales about the many tunnels and caves under the Peninsula; Wirral’s lighthouses; the origins of the Cheshire Cat; zoos, the escaped tigers and the tightrope walker Blondin at Eastham pleasure garden; the Black Rock mermaid; New Brighton Tower and Waxworks Chamber of Horrors; smugglers and the Wallasey Wreckers, led by Mother Redcap; the Holy Grail buried at Bidston, and much, much more.

Quirky Wirral celebrates the unusual and often strange history of Wirral and its characters over the years. This fascinating insight into the Wirral will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the area’s quirky history.

Ken Pye is the author of a number of books, and produced the Discover Liverpool series of DVD documentaries. He is a regular contributor to magazines, journals, newspapers, and television, and is the official local historian for Radio City in Liverpool (420,000 listeners per week = 2,500 per hour). He broadcasts on BBC Radio Merseyside (317,000 listeners per week = 1,886 per hour) on a weekly basis, and gives around ten local history lectures every month, as well as operating four tours per week for tourists. He is an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool Hope University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. A Scouser born and bred, Ken still lives in his home town, Liverpool.

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