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 t...

This book tells the story of the town (later city) and port of Liverpool. It begins in 1207, when King John decided to transform the tiny, otherwise unknown fishing hamlet of ‘Lerpul’ into a major base for his planned invasion of Ireland. Soon renamed ‘Liverpool’, the new town continued as a garrison and military harbour for centuries. Then, during the Civil War in the seventeenth century, it was razed to the ground. After being rebuilt it went on to play an important role in the Jacobite ...

Liverpool’s rise to become the second city in the British Empire was directly linked to its development as a commercial port. It was also because of its crucial role as an international trading hub for the transportation and exchange of raw materials, commodities, and manufactured goods. However, its economic dominance and wealth was also directly because of its leading role in the transatlantic slave trade, from the 1730s to the 1830s. Large numbers of emigrants and immigrants passed thro...

In Ken Pye's third collection of strange and often bizarre tales from Merseyside's History, prepare to be amazed and entertained, once again.Where on Merseyside was the nonsense rhyme, 'The Owl and The Pussycat' written? How did the 'Cast Iron Shore' or the Cazzie get its name? Is there a lost street running beneath Lime Street?Learn about 'Roast Beef' the Crosby Hermit, the prehistoric footprints on Formby Shore, and the particularly intimate wax models of...

Animals have featured in the lives and cultures of the people of Merseyside since the dawn of time, and in so many ways. Beastly Merseyside describes this, and tells wonderful stories about these animals, and about the roles they have played. Horses have carried us and our weaponry into battle for millennia, right up to the wars of the twentieth century. They have ploughed our fields, carried our goods, and pulled our carts, wagons, carriages, stagecoaches, canal barges, buses, trams, and ...

The city of Liverpool is famous throughout the world. This once small fishing village was transformed into a mighty commercial powerhouse, seen by many as the second city of the British Empire. In 1715 Liverpool created the world’s first enclosed, commercial wet dock; eventually there would be docks along 7.5 miles of the River Mersey. It rapidly grew into the greatest port and city in the entire British Empire outside London. Nevertheless, by 1980 Liverpool’s population had decreased by o...

Liverpool was once the epitome of ‘the city with a pub on every corner’, but no longer. As social habits and communities continue to radically change, hundreds of pubs continue to disappear annually, and mostly without trace except in memories. However, not all have been lost. Right across the heart of this European Capital of Culture and UNESCO World Heritage City, Liverpool still boasts many outstanding and historic pubs, each with fascinating tales to tell. Every year, millions of peopl...

The city of Liverpool is famous throughout the world. This once-small fishing village was transformed into a mighty commercial powerhouse, seen by many as the second city of the British Empire. In 1715 Liverpool created the world’s first enclosed, commercial wet dock; eventually there would be docks along 7.5 miles of the River Mersey. It rapidly grew into the greatest port and city in the entire British Empire outside London. Nevertheless, by 1980 Liverpool’s population had reduced by ove...

Liverpool was founded by King John in 1207 as a military base on the River Mersey. From his new town the king planned to invade Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Heavily fortified, and defended by a great castle and a formidable tower, Liverpool was besieged and changed hands three times during the English Civil War. Volunteer troops from the town later helped defend the region against the Jacobite Rebellions of 1715 and 1745, and was then the scene of grisly executions of Sco...

This book brings to life a selection of the most notorious, and grimmest, murders and other crimes in and around Liverpool from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. The tales include ‘Fire in the Menagerie’, ‘Murderous Propaganda Against Prostitution’, ‘HMS Thetis - A Floating Tomb’, and ‘The Mass Graves of Old Swan’. Alongside these the author examines lesser-known cases such as ‘The Hope Street Bodysnatchers’, ‘The Telltale Brooch’ (the Liverpool pub landlady who wa...

Millions live there, millions more visit each year – but how many really know London?Find out:How New York's famous Central Park came to be modelled on a seventeenth-century London squareWhen Primrose Hill almost gained a pyramid even larger than the Great Pyramid of CheopsWhy about 640 people came to be drowned in the Thames in a single nightWhat the royal family might do to escape London if the balloon ever goes up...

Strange laws, heroic deeds, surprising revelations, and quirky stories that have shaped the unique history of Britain’s capital.London’s long history is extraordinarily rich—and whether your interest is political, social, architectural, or historical, you’ll find a variety of topics in this alternative guide to London.Learn about:· Roman ruins· Notorious crimes· Hidden tube stations· The famous London smog· Cockney rhyming...