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Talk:ICEE Polar Bear

ICEE Polar Bear was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was REDIRECT. The article has been merged and redirected to ICEE. 5 votes to delete, 1 of whom accepted move as an alternative; 3 votes to move and redirect. As the vote is split with 4 absolutely preferring deletion, and 4 accepting move/redirect, the article shall be kept as a redirect. Postdlf 05:29, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC)

ICEE Polar Bear
Stub about the mascot for a product (ICEE) that is itself not listed in Wikipedia. —tregoweth 21:56, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC)
 * Move to ICEE and develop that article.  —Triskaideka 22:21, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Mascot-man strikes again! The brand is notable.  The bear is not.  Geogre 00:35, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable mascot. --*drew 00:37, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Brands are not usually notable, advertisements are almost never encyclopedic. --Improv 02:43, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Redirect to ICEE. [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 03:47, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)
 * Move to ICEE (creating a redirect), and expand that article a bit. — siro  χ  o  04:17, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete or Move to ICEE. Gazpacho 22:45, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.

title: Talk:ICEE Polar Bear


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/SOUND team

SOUND team was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE. 5 votes to delete, 1 vote to keep. Postdlf 06:16, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC)

SOUND team
Article about band from Austin, Texas; list of press clippings smells of vanity. —tregoweth 21:56, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: There are record releases, but they're on small independents. The band is not sufficiently notable.  BTW, the format is just what you do when you're making a press release for a band.  What we're missing is the promo single. I wish them well, and all independent, non-corporate bands well, but they are not yet sufficiently notable to be encyclopedic.  Geogre 00:33, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. For the time being. --*drew 00:35, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Not notable. --Improv 02:43, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Very weak delete, although with just a little more evidence of notability I'd say keep. Perhaps a rewrite into paragraphs would help expose notability.  — siro  χ  o  04:22, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Ambi 00:36, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Talk:Contras

Please observe the bias found in wording like "white propaganda."
Although various direct facts might support a sweeping label of the character of any individual, group or country, some phrases incite possible emotional responses while downplaying rational observation and discourse.

 * Read this definition: “White propaganda is propaganda that does not hide its origin or nature.” Based on your edits, it seems you assumed this phrase to be referring to “propaganda made by white people” however, that is not the case. Pythagimedes (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:23, 5 May 2020 (UTC)

Section: In popular culture
i am unsure if there is a wiki policy applicable to this, but i feel the whole section as such inappropriate.

i mean what the list of examples of commercialization of a historical controversy has to do with the encyclopedical discussion of the historical event?

why would arcade games and TV serials belong into an article about a war - a political, historical event? i feel undue weight is given to popular culture reflections about the historical event - imho actually zero weight would be more appropriate. i am not very familiar with the WP guidances relating to this, but i think this article (and potentially any other article that is not particularly about pop culture) would be better, more to the point without unnecessary inclusion of pop culture references. 89.134.199.32 (talk) 21:00, 21 July 2020 (UTC).
 * See: Rja13ww33 (talk) 03:16, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

Death squads
They were death squads. They are, in many instances, the go to example of US funded death squads. 72.28.60.42 (talk) 02:35, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Further, removing the sources is against the npov rule:

"Generally, do not remove sourced information from the encyclopedia solely because it seems biased. Instead, try to rewrite the passage or section to achieve a more neutral tone. Biased information can usually be balanced with material cited to other sources to produce a more neutral perspective, so such problems should be fixed when possible through the normal editing process"

It should at least be mentioned that they are commonly considered death squads — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.28.60.42 (talk) 02:43, 29 May 2022 (UTC)
 * The whole thing is a problem on multiple levels. First off, of the 2 sources added, only one is RS (The NY Times; The Intercept is considered biased according to our RS list ). And the one RS says nothing about Death Squads. The next big issue is the fact this is not developed in the article, ergo it's a issue as far as our polices for LEAD. We already have many sources detailing the Contras human rights abuses. The are also issues here as far as LABEL and so on. But I guess we can keep the sources.Rja13ww33 (talk) 02:53, 29 May 2022 (UTC)
 * If you look at that list, the intercept is quite clearly marked as a reliable source, so both sources are WP:RS. I don't like to seem glib, but that's what the big green tick with the text "generally reliable" signifies. Bias and reliability are not the same thing, in fact most reliable sources have bias. For opinion and analysis, the intercept should generally be used with attribution, for factual claims, not - I'll let you be the judge of which is more appropriate here. You can read a breakdown of the consensus on the reliability of the intercept here (linked in WP:RS also by the way)
 * As for WP:LABEL though, I agree with you, there are definitely some issues there Tomatoswoop (talk) 05:39, 4 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Our RS list says this about The Intercept: "Almost all editors consider The Intercept a biased source, so uses may need to be attributed." Since the particular article cited is a opinion piece....it most likely falls into the category of needing attribution. (And the NY Times article discussed above says nothing about "death squads".) But that aside, it still has a few other issues (as noted). And-if I follow you correctly- you agree with the LABEL issue yourself. And there are still even more issues. For one, with a single source calling them this, it probably just warrants-if it was included, and I still don't think it should be- a brief mention in the main body....such a brief mention in a decent sized article (with such a source) probably doesn't warrant a mention in the LEAD. So yes, this is problematic on multiple levels.Rja13ww33 (talk) 18:33, 4 September 2023 (UTC)

Potential bias in language
The use of the term "right-wing" makes no sense and is at risk for creating a bias as the group is not related to right-wing in terms of economic policies at all. Melledelle (talk) 16:29, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Contras


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West Kirby

West Kirby is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. In the north west of the Wirral Peninsula and at the mouth of the River Dee, the town is contiguous with Hoylake and historically within Cheshire.

At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,733.

History
The name West Kirby is of Viking origin, originally Kirkjubyr, meaning 'village with a church'. The form with the modifier "West" exists to distinguish it from the other town of the same name in Wirral: Kirkby-in-Walea (now the modern town of Wallasey). The earliest usage given of this form is West Kyrkeby in Wirhale in 1285.

The old village lay around St. Bridget's Church, but the town today is centred on West Kirby railway station, which is about 1 km away. The town has a Victorian promenade, flanked by the West Kirby Marine Lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide. The original wall was built to create the lake in 1899 but suffered a catastrophic leak in 1985. A new lake was constructed on the site which is wider than previously and allows better sporting opportunities. The Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial is a notable local landmark, designed in 1922 by the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger, who was responsible for a number of war memorials around the world, including the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London.

Civic history
West Kirby was a township and parish within the Wirral Hundred. It became part of Hoylake West Kirby civil parish and Hoylake Urban District in 1894. The population was 148 in 1801, 435 in 1851 and 4,542 in 1901.

On 1 April 1974, West Kirby was absorbed into the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Wirral as part of local government reorganisation in England and Wales. At that point, West Kirby ceased to be in Cheshire for administrative and ceremonial purposes and became part of the new metropolitan county of Merseyside.

In February 2008 plans were raised for a regeneration of the concourse sports and leisure centre including new retail space and controversially a multi-storey car park. As of 2013 the project appears to have stalled with developers' interest and funding wavering. Local residents' opposition is strong.

Geography
West Kirby lies at the north-western corner of the Wirral Peninsula. West Kirby is on the eastern side of the mouth of the Dee Estuary, opposite North Wales and approximately 8 mi west of Liverpool. Hilbre Island is approximately 1 mi offshore from West Kirby, at the mouth of the Dee Estuary.

Schools
Secondary schools in the area are Calday Grange Grammar School on Caldy Hill, West Kirby Grammar School and Hilbre High School, which includes the WestWirralWorks City Learning Centre and West Kirby Residential School.

Churches
St Bridget's Church is West Kirby's Church of England parish church, and the chancel of the present church dates from around 1320. St Andrew's Church is West Kirby's second Church of England church, originally built as a chapel of ease for St Bridget's, gaining its own parish in 1920.

St Agnes' Church is the local Roman Catholic church. West Kirby also has a United Reformed church, which dates to 1890, and a Methodist church dating from 1904.

Leisure
West Kirby Library is within West Kirby Concourse, and operated by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. The West Kirby Museum, founded in 1892, is adjacent to St Bridget's Church.

Parks, gardens and beach
The town itself contains Ashton Park and a starting point of the Wirral Way, which follows the trackbed of the former Birkenhead Railway branch line from Hooton. Sandlea Park lies in the centre of the town, a short walk from the railway station. Coronation Gardens is located between the southern end of the promenade between South Parade and Banks Road. There are various other small parks and bowling greens around the town. Another popular activity is to walk out to the islands of Little Eye, Middle Eye and Hilbre Island at low tide. The promenade, beach and the walk to the war memorial allow an excellent panoramic view of part of the North Wales coastline.

Sport
Sailboarding, sailing and kayaking are all popular local sports. In October 1991 the World Windsurfing Production Speed Record was set by Dave White on the West Kirby Marine Lake at 42.16 knots.

Water sports fans are warned to wear appropriate footwear while using the marine lake because of the presence of weaver fish with sharp poisonous barbs. There is also an RNLI Lifeboat Station near West Kirby Sailing Club.

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, a links course between West Kirby and Hoylake, has hosted 11 British Open Golf championships in the past 121 years, most recently the 2006 and 2014 British Opens.

Tennis tournaments have been held in Ashton Park. Here, players including John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Monica Seles and Pete Sampras have played in competition.

West Kirby FC is the town's senior football club, which plays in the West Cheshire League and plays its matches at Marine Park, Greenbank Road. West Kirby Ladies FC was officially established in 2017 and also play their matches at Marine Park, as do West Kirby Ladies U18s who play in the Cheshire Women's and Youth League. The town has one of the largest junior football clubs in the North West, with over 90 teams and 1,000 players at West Kirby United. The teams play at many venues across West Kirby, including Calday Grange Grammar School, Hilbre High School and Greenbank Road. There were initially two junior clubs in the town, West Kirby Panthers and West Kirby Wasps, until the two sections merged to create West Kirby United in July 2017. The junior clubs play in the Eastham League with a youth section who play as West Kirby United in the North West under-21 League.

West Kirby is also home to Hoylake Amateur Swimming Club who train at West Kirby Concourse.

Marine Lake
The Marine Lake is a large man-made coastal lake. The structure is large enough to hold sailing events, such as the Wilson Trophy, sailboarding and water-related activities including canoeing, kayaking and power-boating. In 2009, it was reported that the lake had undergone structural damage, most likely due to estuarine erosion. Since this report a £750K refurbishment has taken place to help restore the lake, and it is now back to holding water-sport activities.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada; the local television station TalkLiverpool also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter. With its close proximity with North Wales, BBC Wales and ITV Cymru Wales can also be received from the Moel-y-Parc TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Merseyside, Heart North West, Capital North West & Wales, Radio City, Smooth North West, Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West, Radio Wirral, and Wirral Wave Radio, a community-based station.

The area's local newspapers are the Wirral Globe and Liverpool Echo.

Railway

West Kirby railway station is the western terminus of Merseyrail's Wirral line. It facilitates return services to Birkenhead Hamilton Square and Liverpool Central; a change at Bidston provides a connection to Wrexham and North Wales.

Roads
Grange Road, the main thoroughfare of West Kirby, is part of the A540 road. The B5141, starting at the Dee Lane junction with Grange Road, joins West Kirby with Caldy via Banks Road, Sandy Lane and Caldy Road.

Buses
The town is well served by bus routes. There are frequent connections to Birkenhead and Liverpool, provided by Arriva North West services 407 and 437; these run every 10–20 minutes. Stagecoach Merseyside also serve the town with connections along the coast on service 38. There is also a direct bus service 22 between West Kirby to Chester, via Heswall and Neston, that runs hourly from Monday to Saturday.

Notable people

 * Andrew Baddeley, English middle distance runner (1500 m), brought up in West Kirby and attended Calday Grange Grammar School.
 * Rafa Benitez, former Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C. manager, lives in West Kirby.
 * Margaret Brownlow, a herb farmer and garden designer was born here in 1916.
 * Paul Clark, co-artistic director of performance company Clod Ensemble, was born in West Kirby.
 * Cyril Clarke (1907–2000), medical geneticist, died in West Kirby.
 * Daniel Craig, James Bond actor, attended Hilbre High School and Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby.
 * Cyril Edward Gourley, recipient of the Victoria Cross, was a pupil at Calday Grange Grammar School and is buried in Grange Cemetery.
 * Esther McVey, British Conservative politician
 * Shirley Hughes, writer and illustrator, was brought up in West Kirby.
 * Pete Price, broadcaster, comedian and author is a presenter on Radio City.
 * Glenda Jackson, actress and politician, attended West Kirby Grammar School.
 * Selwyn Lloyd, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Speaker of the House of Commons, lived in West Kirby.
 * George Mallory, mountaineer, was schooled in West Kirby.
 * Denys Rayner, recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, was brought up in West Kirby.
 * Bill Ryder-Jones, co-founded The Coral in West Kirby.
 * Joanna Scanlan, actress and television writer, born in the town
 * David Sheppard, cricketer and Bishop of Liverpool, retired to West Kirby.
 * Philip Sheppard and Sir Cyril Clarke, lepidopterists, worked in West Kirby.
 * Olaf Stapledon, science fiction author and philosopher, was a former resident.

title: West Kirby


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Pensby

Pensby is a large village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England. It is located 1.5 mi to the north of the town of Heswall and approximately 0.5 mi to the south west of Thingwall. Historically within Cheshire, the area is part of the Pensby and Thingwall Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West.

At the 2001 census the village of Pensby had 6,900 inhabitants. The 2011 census measured the population of the Pensby and Thingwall ward at 13,007.

History
The name Pensby comes from Old Norse, meaning a village or settlement at a hill called "Penn". The "by" suffix, included in neighbouring place names such as Frankby, Greasby, and Irby, is Viking in origin. Over time, the name has been spelt variously as Penisby (c.1229), Penlisby (1307) and Pemmesby (1523).

Lower Pensby was previously known as Newtown. This was due to the building of new houses around the turn of the twentieth century at the crossroads of Pensby Road and Gills Lane.

The population of the village over time was recorded at 22 in 1801, 48 in 1901 and increasing significantly to 2,996 by 1951.

Governance
Pensby was formerly a township in the parish of Woodchurch, in the Wirral Hundred. It became a civil parish in 1866. Historically within the county of Cheshire, it was part of the Wirral Rural District from 1894 and Wirral Urban District from 1933. Further changes occurred on 1 April 1974, when local government reorganisation resulted in most of Wirral, including Pensby, transfer from Cheshire to the newly formed metropolitan county of Merseyside.

Pensby is represented nationally through the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. As of, the current Member of Parliament is Margaret Greenwood, a Labour representative. At local government level, it is part of a Pensby and Thingwall Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors. The most recent local elections took place on 6 May 2021.

Schools
Pensby's primary schools are Ladymount RC Primary, and Pensby Primary School. The local secondary school is Pensby High School.

Churches
St. Michael and All Angels Church is a Church of England building on Gills Lane. The Emmanuel Holiness Church is an independent Evangelical ministry which is on Heswall Mount. The Holy Family Catholic Church is on Pensby Road.

Leisure
Pensby has two community centres, the Hope Centre, adjoining Ridgewood Park on Fishers Lane, and the Kylemore Drive Community Centre. There is also an adult day centre on Somerset Road. Pensby Library is on Pensby Road. The 3rd Heswall Scout group is also based in Pensby.

Public Houses
The Pensby Hotel was the single pub in the village, but after a £500,000 cannabis bust by police, was boarded up and left empty after October 2013. There was a campaign for the building to be listed as a community asset, meaning that the community would have been given six months to prepare a bid for it, which may or may not have been accepted by the owner, but community asset status was rejected by Wirral Council in September 2015. Planning permission was subsequently granted for the demolition of the building and construction of the new care home, and demolition began in October 2016.

Parks and Commons
Pensby Wood and Ridgewood Park are adjacent to Fishers Lane. Arrowe Park is approximately 1 mi north of Pensby.

Sport
The famous Everton FC footballer Dixie Dean played for Pensby Institute in his early days, on the fields at the side of Gills Lane. He was sold to Tranmere Rovers for the fee of a new kit for the team.

Pensby recreation centre and bowling club is on Pensby Road.

Road
Pensby is on the B5138 Pensby Road, which connects to the A540 and the A551. Junction 3 of the M53 motorway is within two miles of the village.

Bus
Services operating in the Pensby area, as of January 2020:

Rail
Heswall railway station on the Borderlands line is located approximately 2 mi south-east of Pensby and provides services between Wrexham and Bidston.

Landmarks
Pensby Hall is a two storeyed red sandstone dwelling with a slate roof. The windows are a mix of casements and sashes, some of which are mullioned. Built in 1688, with some structural additions to the property in the 19th century, it was designated a Grade II listed building in 1962.

Notable people

 * The guitarist Karl Benson, from the indie band Half Man Half Biscuit, is from Pensby.

title: Pensby


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New Ferry

New Ferry is an urban area on the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, with the River Mersey to the east and the town of Bebington to the west. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, the area was developed from the early nineteenth century.

The 2001 census measured the population at 5,300.

History
As with the neighbouring settlement of Rock Ferry to the north-west, a ferry service gave its name to the locality: the first recorded mention of New Ferry was in 1774. On 4 April 1865, a "South End" service was established between New Ferry and South Ferry Basin in the southern dock system of Liverpool, although this appears to have been relatively short-lived. From 1879, services to Liverpool Pier Head were usually augmented with Rock Ferry. The ferry service was forced to close after a ship collided with New Ferry Pier in thick fog, in the early hours of 30 January 1922. Declining passenger numbers, improved local land-based public transport and a close proximity to the Rock Ferry service meant that it never reopened. The lease on the ferry rights officially expired on 22 September 1927, although no service had operated at New Ferry for over five years as a result of the collision.

New Ferry was part of the Lower Bebington township, which became the Bebington-cum-Bromborough civil parish in 1922. Between 1894 and 1974 these parishes were administered as part of Bebington urban district. On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of Wirral, including New Ferry, being transferred from the county of Cheshire to Merseyside.

On 25 March 2017, a massive gas explosion destroyed and damaged a lot of buildings, causing many injuries. It was caused by a shop owner attempting to destroy his business so he could collect insurance money.

Geography
New Ferry is on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, on the western bank of the River Mersey. The area is approximately 9 km south-south-east of the Irish Sea at New Brighton and about 10 km east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at Heswall. The area lies at an elevation of between 0-27 m above sea level.

Transport
New Ferry is on the A41, the main road between Birkenhead and London before the introduction of motorways, and immediately adjacent to the village of Port Sunlight. At the centre of the town is the Toll Bar area, a name originating from when New Chester Road used to be a toll road. The re-routing of the A41 road onto the New Ferry By-pass, the first part from Bolton Road to Thorburn Road built in 1960, and extended from Thorburn Road to the Tranmere roundabout in 1976, has resulted in a decline in through-traffic in the town centre.

The nearest railway stations to New Ferry are Bebington and Port Sunlight, where trains operate to Chester, Ellesmere Port and Liverpool Central on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.

New Ferry is served by several bus services: Arriva, Stagecoach and Merseylink all operate through the town en route to destinations such as Chester and Liverpool.

Governance
New Ferry is within the parliamentary constituency of Wirral South.

At local government level, the town is incorporated into the Bromborough Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. It is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors.

Community
The community-led New Ferry Residents Association (NeFRA) has been actively seeking funding for a variety of projects since its inception in 1999. As well as successfully campaigning to get CCTV cameras around the shopping centre; the main car parks resurfaced; environmental improvements within Winstanley Road and Salisbury Drive; new pavings, railings and lighting in New Chester Road; and starting up the successful Wirral Farmers' Market in the Village Hall, the group has more recently carried out improvements to the Shorefields Nature Park where further improvements are also imminent. The group was also very active in discussions with waste operator Biffa and the Forestry Commission regarding turning the nearby former tip site at Bromborough Dock into a new park, the Port Sunlight River Park, which opened in 2014.

Shopping
New Ferry has a small shopping precinct often referred to as "The Ferry". The area used to have a few chain stores as well as many independent shops. Kwik Save had two small premises in the town before moving to one new purpose-built site in 1992, which was then taken over by the Somerfield supermarket chain in 1998. The Kwik Save name was retained until 2006 before rebranding as Somerfield. After the Co-operative Group acquired the Somerfield chain in 2009, the New Ferry store was rebranded again. This supermarket finally closed in May 2016.

There is also an Iceland store that moved into one of the old Kwik Save sites in 1992. The collapse of the Woolworths chain in 2008 saw the closure of its New Ferry branch, but the building reopened in September 2009 as a Heron Foods frozen food shop. The Ethel Austin clothing chain also had a large store in the precinct for many years which closed in 2011, two years before the collapse and eventual demise of the company in 2013. The building re-opened in 2015 as an independent general store. There was a Rightway DIY store for many years but this has now closed.

Numerous smaller retailers include: the Discount Carpet Centre, a 20-year-old family business; Buckleys newsagents, which has been in business under the same owner since the early 1980s. The Buckley family have also been prominent in New Ferry since the early 1800s, when they used to own and run most of the buildings dotted around. Buckleys newsagents was taken over in 2013, and is now a convenience store with an off-licence. For a small shopping centre it is unusual in having four butcher's shops: reputedly the oldest on Wirral is Edge's, with the same family trading in New Ferry since it opened in the 1850s and a recipient of the 'Best Local Retailer' in BBC's national Food and Farming Awards in 2014. The other butchers include G H Pearson's Pork Butchers in New Ferry Road and D E Griffiths (Butchers) Ltd in Bebington Road. The latter was severely damaged in the explosion of 2017 leading to closure.

The Wirral Farmers' Market, held in New Ferry's Village Hall (between Longfellow Drive & Grove Street) on the second Saturday of the month, received a UK National Regeneration Award from the British Urban Regeneration Association in 2005 for its work investing in the local community. It was also awarded the title of Britain's Best Farmers' Market in 2007 from the national BBC Food & Farming Awards. The market is run entirely by volunteers, its profits being used to fund local community groups and good causes.

New Ferry also had three major banks. These were National Westminster Bank, more commonly known as NatWest, which closed in 1993 and HSBC, formerly Midland Bank, which closed in the late 2000s. The third bank was the Trustee Savings Bank (TSB), which, due to a merger with Lloyds Bank in 1995, became Lloyds TSB and later due to new banking regulations demerged and the branch was rebranded as Lloyds Bank. The New Ferry branch closed in late July 2016. The only remaining ATM/cash machine was located outside the Post Office on the New Chester Road. Following a campaign during the summer of 2016 by the small, independent businesses, two separate, independent ATM companies have provided cash machines in the main central shopping area that do not charge customers cash withdrawal fees.

2017 explosion
At 9:15 pm on 25 March 2017, there was a huge explosion, destroying the large modern building at the junction of the shopping precinct with Boundary Road. Eighty one people were injured on the night, two of them seriously. The building that was destroyed housed a furniture shop, dance studio, charity shop and funeral service but had previously been used by the employment services. Over 200 surrounding buildings, both commercial and residential, were also significantly damaged and residents had to move to temporary accommodation. Businesses directly affected by the blast included DE Griffiths butchers, Ming Yuan beauty parlour, PK McMullen opticians, Lan's House Chinese restaurant, Amelia Jane (florist), the Cleveland Arms and several vacant shop units. The cause of the explosion was investigated by the police, Health and Safety Executive, National Grid and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. In 2019 Pascal Blasio, a business man who leased the furniture shop in the destroyed building, was convicted of causing an explosion to endanger life and dishonestly making a false representation. He was sentenced to 20 years and eight years in jail, to run concurrently.

After the incident, the Conservative government refused to provide any funding as a result of the explosion, causing anger amongst the local community.

In September 2017, demolition of some of the most badly damaged buildings began. In addition a public consultation promoted by Wirral Council on redevelopment of New Ferry began. In 2020, a regeneration plan was decided by Wirral Council. It was for up to 1000 square metres of retail space and 79 houses or flats. The plan is for the explosion site, an area opposite it where damaged shops and houses had been demolished and also an adjacent large car-park flanked by derelict buildings.

In April 2020, Wirral Council applied for funding to regenerate New Ferry from the government's Future High Streets fund. In December 2020 it was announced that New Ferry was provisionally awarded £3.2 million from the government's fund, aimed at recovery from effects of the Covid19 pandemic and regenerate underused town centres.

Public houses and clubs
The area is home to several pubs including Shillings Bar, The Cleveland Arms and the Wirral Hotel.

The John Masefield is named in honour of a former poet laureate, who was briefly stationed on a training ship on the Mersey near New Ferry. Part of the JD Wetherspoon chain, the company received complaints due to the unfortunate resemblance of the Masefield portrait on the pub sign to Adolf Hitler. As a result, it has received the nickname of "The Bünker" or "Adolf's". The company had said it would consider renaming the pub, but this has not happened to date.

New Ferry also has a number of private members' clubs: The Ex Civil Defence Club in School Lane and The Bebington Liberal Club on Bebington Road. The latter building was sold and redeveloped in 2020 as a business centre to provide co-working space and offices. In addition there was a club of the Royal British Legion at Hesketh Hall on Boundary Road until 2010, when it closed and the building was converted into 14 one- and two-bedroom apartments in 2014.

One of New Ferry's links with its historic past as a tourist resort between the 1860s and 1920s was the Great Eastern Pub. The building dated from 1862 when Liverpool day-trippers began crossing the River Mersey by ferry to New Ferry Pier when it became known as "The Great Eastern Picnic Hotel". By coincidence, in 1888, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous ship the SS Great Eastern was broken up on the nearby shoreline, and many artefacts from the ship were auctioned off as it was being dismantled. The pub's owner bought a number of these including the ship's bar to install into the building, wood panelling for the walls, the ship's wheel and a stained glass window. These were all removed by the last owners of the building in the mid-2000s, and the pub closed down in 2007. In November 2009 the site was sold to a housing developer, Worksharp Ecohomes Ltd of Southport, who, in February 2010, submitted a planning application to Wirral Borough Council to demolish the building, described as being "in a state of serious disrepair" and replace it with ten two-storey semi-detached houses. On 5 March 2010, the security screens were ripped off the doors and windows, the contents of the pub removed and the building left unsecured. Many members of the community had been concerned that the motive behind this was to accelerate the pub's derelict state and ensure its future demolition. This process began in June 2010, ahead of a site meeting by Wirral Council's planning committee and despite an online petition by New Ferry Residents Association to save the building. More than 400 people had signed the petition demanding that it be saved from the bulldozer and instead converted to housing. Worksharp EcoHomes obtained planning permission to replace the building with ten semi-detached homes, but conditions attached to the permission required them to provide a permanent memorial explaining the significance of the area and its connection with the SS Great Eastern. Work finally began on building the replacement houses in March 2013.

Education
Primary schools in the New Ferry area include Grove Street Primary School, Church Drive School, Port Sunlight and St Johns RC Primary. Secondary schools in the New Ferry area also include Co-op Academy Bebington, St John Plessington Catholic College, The former site of New Ferry market has been turned into a Learning Centre, offering opportunities for young people and adults to further their qualifications.

Parks and open spaces
Facilities at New Ferry Park include a play area for children (refurbished and extended in January 2010) and football pitches, which are often used during local amateur Sunday league matches. In early 2012, the football clubs obtained £60,000 to refurbish the changing pavilion in the centre of the park.

Shorefields Nature Park on the banks of the River Mersey is a winter bird haven designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

New Ferry Butterfly Park
Out of a thin piece of land adjoining Bebington railway station and along the railway towards Birkenhead, local volunteers have, since 1993, created a wildlife haven, New Ferry Butterfly Park. Occupying an area of almost 5 hectares, the Park is designated as an Area of Special Biological Interest. Open to visitors on Summer Sundays, local volunteers provide tours and help to manage the site throughout the year.

In December 2009, it was announced that the site's owners, Brock plc, wished to sell the land - it is believed for development, even though the site is zoned as open space by the local authority. Brock have refused to sell the site to Cheshire Wildlife Trust or to Wirral Borough Council. As a result of the 3,600 named petition by local residents and concerned persons across Europe, in January 2010 the Council agreed to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) on Brock to force them to sell the land to them so that this much loved ecological resource can be saved for future generations.

During 2010, artist-in-residence Carol Ramsay created an art trail within the Butterfly Park. The trail now contains work by many more artists. In 2012 an Empty Shop Project funded by Wirral Council allowed the Butterfly Park to move into the town centre for six months, with 6 artist residencies each encouraging community engagement. The shop was formally opened by Harriet Harman MP. The legacy of this project is that 2 more sculptures were added to the art trail, an interactive information board/artwork is in situ and a book has been published about it all. New Ferry Butterfly Park was awarded official Green Flag status for 2013/14. On Sunday 4 May 2014 the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead, officially raised the flag and opened the park for the summer season.

Port Sunlight River Park
On the shore of the Rivery Mersey, between New Ferry and Bromborough, the former landfill site at Bromborough Dock was turned into a new £2.3 million community park. Now known as Port Sunlight River Park, it opened in summer 2014. The park now provides visitors with a number of distinct experiences including a freshwater lake which is rich in wildlife and other new habitats, a scenic waterfront, a perimeter walk, a link to Shorefields Nature Park, and paths to the summit with views of the River Mersey estuary and Liverpool skyline.

Sport
New Ferry Rangers Football Club are a local amateur football club, who play their home matches at New Ferry Park on Sunday mornings.

The Olympic Taekwondo Centre is based at Bebington Youth Club, Cornwell Close. In 2008 the coach won Wirral Sports Council 'Coach of the Year' and the club took the Junior -73 kg male British National Champion title for the second year running.

New Ferry is the home of Bebington Youth Centre. In late 2012, Wirral Borough Council proposed to close the youth club (amongst many across the borough as the result of significant budgetary problems). However, the proposals were heavily opposed by the community who came together and signed a petition with over 1700 signatures to save the centre. As a result, and the fact that the centre is one of the best attended in the borough, the Council dropped proposals for its closure in early 2013.

title: New Ferry


text:
HMS Bulwark (1899)

HMS Bulwark was one of five London-class battleship pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 19th century. The Londons were a sub-class of the Formidable-class battleship pre-dreadnoughts. Completed in 1902 she was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as its flagship. The ship then served with the Channel and Home Fleets from 1907 to 1910, usually as a flagship. From 1910 to 1914, she was in reserve in the Home Fleet.

Following the start of the First World War in August 1914, Bulwark, along with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the reformed Channel Fleet to protect the British Expeditionary Force as it moved across the English Channel to France. On 26 November 1914 she was destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness; only a dozen men survived the detonation. It was probably caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler-room bulkhead. Little of the ship survived to be salvaged and her remains were designated a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.

Design and description

The five ships of the London class were ordered in 1898 in response to increased naval construction for the Imperial Russian Navy. The design for the London class was prepared in 1898; it was a virtual repeat of the preceding Formidable-class battleship, though with significant revision to the forward armour protection scheme. Rather than a traditional transverse bulkhead for the forward end of the main belt armour, the belt was carried further forward and gradually tapered in thickness. Deck armour was also strengthened.

Bulwark was 431 ft long overall, with a beam of 75 ft and a draught of 28 ft at deep load. She displaced 15366 LT normally and up to 15955 LT fully loaded. The ship had a metacentric height of 4.46 ft. Her crew numbered 738 officers and ratings as a private ship and up to 789 when serving as a flagship. The London-class ships were powered by a pair of three-cylinder inverted vertical triple-expansion steam engines. The cylinders were 31+1/2 in, 51+1/2 in and 84 in diameter with a stroke of 4 ft. Each set drove one screw, using steam provided by twenty Belleville boilers. The boilers were trunked into two funnels located amidships. The London-class ships had a top speed of 18 kn from 15000 ihp. During her sea trials, Bulwark reached 18.2 kn from 15353 ihp. The ships carried enough coal to give them a range of 5550 nmi at a speed of 10 kn.

The main battery of the London class consisted of four BL 12-inch (305 mm) Mk IX guns mounted in twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their secondary armament consisted of a dozen BL 6 in Mk VII guns mounted in casemates mounted in the sides of the hull. Defence against torpedo boats was provided by sixteen quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder (3 in) 12 cwt guns, eight of which were mounted in the central superstructure and the remaining eight guns were positioned on the main deck fore and aft and fired through unarmoured embrasures in the hull. Each of the two fighting tops were provided with three QF 3-pounder 47 mm Hotchkiss guns. As was customary for battleships of the period, they were also equipped with four submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the hull, two on each broadside.

The Londons had an armoured belt that was 9 in thick; the transverse bulkheads on the aft end of the belt were 9 to 12 in thick. Their main-gun turret faces were protected by armour plates 8 in thick, atop 12-inch barbettes, and the casemate guns were protected with 6 inches of Krupp steel. The conning tower had 14 in thick sides. The ships were fitted with three armoured decks, ranging in thickness between 1 and 2.5 in each.

Construction and career
Bulwark, named for "the solid part of a ship's side extending above deck", was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was one of the three battleships ordered as part of the 1898–1899 Naval Estimates. She was laid down at HM Dockyard, Devonport, on 20 March 1899 and launched on 18 October 1899 by Lady Harriet Fairfax, wife of Admiral Sir Henry Fairfax, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. The ship was completed in March 1902, at a cost of £997,846 plus £167,970 for her armament. Bulwark was commissioned by Captain Frederick Hamilton on 18 March for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Admiral Sir Compton Domvile hoisted his flag on board on 1 May as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.

1902–1909
She left Plymouth five days later, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 10th, then proceeded to Malta. In August, she was the flagship of a squadron visiting the Aegean Sea for combined manoeuvres and visits to Lemnos and Nauplia, and was slightly damaged during an exercise where the battleship HMS Formidable (1898) misjudged the distance while attempting to tow Bulwark and collided with her. The following month, the annual manoeuvres with the Channel Fleet began off the coasts of Greece and Italy. She visited Cagliari, Sardinia, in October during the exercise. In late December 1902 she was back in Greek waters when she visited Astakos in the Ionian Sea with HMS Irresistible and HMS Pioneer. On 18 April 1903, King Edward VII was hosted aboard Bulwark and he reviewed the fleet two days later. During the fleet manoeuvres in August off the coast of Portugal, the ship was visited by King Carlos I of Portugal. During Kaiser Wilhelm II's visit to Malta in April 1904, he assumed temporary command of Bulwark on 11 April as an honorary British Admiral of the Fleet. Domville and Bulwark sometimes served as observers during the manoeuvres with the Channel Fleet in May 1905, rather than participating in them. The Mediterranean Fleet was recalled to Malta from the Adriatic Sea on 27 October after the Dogger Bank Incident where the Russian Baltic Fleet mistakenly fired upon British fishermen as it passed through the North Sea en route to the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War. The fleet arrived on the 29th and began loading coal and ammunition in preparation for war, but stood down on 2 November after the Russians agreed to investigate the incident. On 10 December, Bulwark was ordered back to England for her crew to be paid off and Domville hauled his flag down three days later. The ship departed Malta on 14 December, arrived at Devonport on 21 December and was paid off two days later.

Bulwark was recommissioned on 3 January 1905 with Commander Edward Philpotts as the acting flag captain and departed on 5 January for Malta where she arrived on the 12th where Domville rehoisted his flag. On 9 June, the ship arrived at Genoa, Italy, where Domville hauled his flag down again and Captain Osmond Brock relieved Philpotts. Two days later, she arrived in Malta where Admiral Lord Charles Beresford hoisted his flag aboard as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. Bulwark began a lengthy refit at Malta on 30 October that lasted until 5 February 1906; the work included the addition of spotting tops equipped with 4 ft Barr & Stroud coincidence rangefinders. On 10 February, the ship departed for Lagos, Portugal, to rendezvous with the Channel and Atlantic Fleets for manoeuvres that lasted the rest of the month. The annual manoeuvres that began on 24 June were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a strategy of commerce raiding as Bulwark was the flagship of the fleet blockading Lagos before the general fleet action began three days later. In 1906–1907, all the main-deck 12-pounders were repositioned on the superstructure.

On 19 January 1907, she departed Malta for Portsmouth to be paid off; after arriving on 26 January, Beresford hauled down his flag, although the ship was not paid off until 11 February at Devonport. On 12 February, Bulwark was recommissioned under the command of Captain Bertram Chambers to serve as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Frank Finnis of the Nore Division, Home Fleet. The ship visited Trondheim, Norway, on 18 June and then Invergordon, Scotland, on the 26th. She was present during the fleet review conducted by King Edward at Cowes on 3 August. After participating in the fleet manoeuvres earlier in October, Bulwark ran aground twice near Lemon Light in the North Sea while trying to avoid Dutch fishing ships on 26 October, but was able to get herself free both times. Her bottom was slightly damaged during the incidents and she entered drydock at HM Dockyard, Chatham on 31 October to begin repairs and a lengthy refit that lasted until 9 March 1908. While still in dockyard hands, Captain Arthur Leveson temporarily assumed command on 3 January and Rear-Admiral Stanley Colville relieved Finnis in command of the Nore Division on 17 January. After conducting torpedo and gunnery training and trials over the preceding months, Captain Robert Falcon Scott of Antarctic fame was appointed captain of Bulwark on 18 May. On 1 August, the ship put into Sheerness Dockyard to pay off the crew, some of whom joined the battleships HMS Duncan (1901) and HMS Magnificent (1894) when she was formally decommissioned on 17 August. Bulwark was recommissioned the following day with a nucleus crew from the battleship HMS Majestic (1895). She was transferred to the Channel Fleet on 3 October and arrived at Plymouth Sound on 11 December. Ten days later, Devonport Dockyard began repairs to the ship's 12-inch turrets and replacement of the worn-out gun barrels that took until 3 March 1909 to complete. That same day, Captain Bentinck Yelverton assumed command of the battleship. Under the fleet reorganisation of 24 March 1909, the Channel Fleet became the 2nd Division of the Home Fleet. Bulwark was present at the fleet review at Spithead conducted for the Lords of the Admiralty on 12 June.

1909–1914
She was refitted at Devonport from 25 August to 17 December and was paid off on 28 February 1910. The following day Bulwark recommissioned into the reserve at Devonport with a nucleus crew as the flagship of Vice-Admiral George Neville, Vice-Admiral of the 3rd and 4th Divisions, Home Fleet, at the Nore, with Captain Cunningham Foot in temporary command. He was relieved by Captain George Hope on 18 March. Bulwark participated in the annual manoeuvres in July and she began a brief refit on 30 December that was completed on 25 February 1911. Captain Edmund Hyde Smith relieved Hope on 24 March and Vice-Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg assumed command of the 3rd and 4th Divisions. Bulwark was paid off on 25 April, and Prince Louis hauled his flag down that same day. She was recommissioned as a private ship the next day with a nucleus crew. The ship was present during the Coronation Fleet Review of King George V at Spithead on 24 June. Bulwark arrived at Chatham on 23 July to unload her ammunition and stores in preparation for an extensive refit that began on 1 September and lasted until 1 May 1912.

By this time, a pair of the 3-pounders had been repositioned on the bridge and the others had been removed. While conducting sea trials, the ship grounded twice on Barrow Deep off the Nore during refit trials on 4 May 1912, extensively damaging her bottom. Repairs were not completed until the end of the month. On 4 June Captain Herbert Chatterton recommissioned Bulwark which was assigned to the 5th Battle Squadron (BS) of the Second Fleet. She briefly served as the flagship for the second-in-command of the squadron from 20 August until September, when his own ship returned. Aside from occasional gunnery practice, the ship was very inactive for the rest of the year; for example, she did not leave Spithead from 18 November 1912 to 25 February 1913. Bulwark was refitted at Portsmouth from 14 April – 4 June. The ship participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres in August and returned to Spithead on 30 October where she remained for the rest of the year. Captain Guy Sclater relieved Hyde Smith on 17 November.

Bulwark was visited by King Christian X of Denmark when he inspected the squadron on 9 May 1914. On 22 May, she began her annual refit at Chatham which was completed on 9 July. The following day she was alerted to prepare for a test mobilisation in lieu of the annual fleet manoeuvres as part of the British response to the July Crisis. The mobilisation was ordered on 15 July, and the fleet was reviewed two days later at Spithead after which it conducted exercises.

First World War
At the beginning of the First World War, Bulwark and the 5th BS were based at Portland and assigned to the newly reformed Channel Fleet to defend the English Channel. After covering the safe transportation of the British Expeditionary Force to France in August, the 5th BS remained in Portsmouth until 4 September when they returned to Portland. They stayed there through October aside from exercises. From 5 to 9 November, Bulwark hosted the court martial of Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge for his actions during the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau in the Mediterranean Sea in August. On 14 November, the 5th BS was transferred to Sheerness because of concern that a German invasion of Great Britain was in the offing.

Explosion
A powerful internal explosion ripped Bulwark apart at about 07:53 on 26 November 1914 while she was moored at Number 17 buoy in Kethole Reach, 4 nmi west of Sheerness in the estuary of the River Medway. All the ship's officers were killed in the explosion and only a dozen ratings survived. A total of 741 men were lost, including members of the band of the gunnery school, HMS Excellent, which was playing aboard. Only about 30 bodies were recovered after the explosion. In terms of loss of life, the incident remains the second most catastrophic accidental explosion in the history of the United Kingdom, exceeded only by the explosion of the dreadnought battleship HMS Vanguard (1909), caused by a stokehold fire detonating a magazine, at Scapa Flow in 1917.

A naval court of enquiry into the causes of the explosion that was held on 28 November ruled out external explosions such as a torpedo or a mine because eyewitnesses spoke of a flash of flame near the aft turret and then one or two explosions quickly following, not the towering column of water associated with explosions against the outer hull. The gunnery logbook, recovered partially intact, and the testimony of the chief gunner's clerk, as well as several other survivors, said the six-inch ammunition magazines were being restowed to keep the cordite propellant charges together in lots that morning. This meant at least 30 exposed charges had been left in the cross-passages between the ship's magazines with the magazine doors left open when the ship's company was called to breakfast at 07:45. These passages were also used to stow hundreds of six-inch and twelve-pounder shells, and the court concluded that the cordite charges had been stowed against one of the boiler-room bulkheads which was increasing in temperature as the boilers were fired up. This ignited the cordite charges which detonated the nearby shells and spread to the aft twelve-inch magazine, which exploded.

Wreck site
On 29 November divers sent to find the wreck reported that the ship's port bow as far aft as the sick bay had been blown off by the explosion and lay 50 ft east of the mooring. The starboard bow lay 30 ft further away. The remainder of the ship had been torn apart so violently that no other large portions of the wreck could be found. One 12-inch gun was located on 28 December, a considerable distance away from her mooring, and later recovered.

The wreck is marked by the "East Bulwark" and "West Bulwark" buoys. It was designated as a controlled site in 2008 due to it being military remains and cannot be dived upon except with permission from the Ministry of Defence.

Memorials
A memorial to those lost on Bulwark and the minelayer HMS Princess Irene (also lost in an accidental explosion) was erected at the Dockyard Church, Sheerness, in 1921. It was dedicated by Archdeacon Charles Ingles, the Chaplain of the Fleet, and unveiled by Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. Victims of both ships are also commemorated on the Naval War Memorial at Southsea. Another memorial was placed in Woodlands Road Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, as part of the Naval Burial Ground.

title: HMS Bulwark (1899)


text:
Heswall

Heswall is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was historically part of Cheshire and is located on the Wirral Peninsula.

In the 2011 Census, the population was 13,401, which included the nearby village of Gayton.

Geography
Located on the eastern side of the Dee Estuary, with views across the river to North Wales, Heswall is 13 miles from Chester and 10 miles from Liverpool (via the Queen Elizabeth Tunnel or 56 miles (avoiding the tunnels). The towers of Liverpool's cathedrals can be seen on the horizon from the town.

Early history
Before the Norman Conquest, Heswall has been cited as a possible location for Dingesmere, mentioned with regard to the Battle of Brunanburh, in Egil's Saga. Heswall was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Eswelle, owned by Robert de Rodelent, who also owned much of the land on the eastern side of the River Dee. In 1277, it became the property of Patrick de Haselwall, who was Sheriff of Cheshire.

Development
In 1801, the population was recorded as 168. By the census in 1841, it had grown to 398. Before 1897 it was known as Hestlewelle or Hesselwelle. Its growth was started by wealthy merchants from Liverpool; they had originally chosen it as a retreat, but the arrival of two railway connections allowed them to commute. One line is the Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central to Bidston which opened in 1896. This line is still active and has Heswall railway station on the eastern edge of the town. The station was formerly called Heswall Hills to distinguish it from the older, now demolished, Heswall Station. The old station was in Station Road in the Lower Village on another line from West Kirby to Hooton. This opened in 1886 but the line closed to passengers in 1956. The track of the old railway became a footpath, the Wirral Way.

The speedy development of Heswall has seen the once separate villages of Gayton, Heswall, Pensby and Thingwall become joined by continuous housing.

Architecture
The oldest structure is the tower of St Peter's Parish Church, which is about 500 years old. The present church was built in 1879, and is the third to have been built on the site. The previous church was destroyed by a violent thunderstorm on 19 September 1875; the organist and the boy who pumped the bellows for the organ were both killed.

The remains of Gayton's windmill, which stopped operating in 1860 and is now converted into a house, can be seen close to the Devon Doorway Restaurant on Gayton Roundabout, a short distance back up Telegraph Road towards Heswall.

The Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital originally opened in Heswall as Liverpool Country Hospital for Children in 1909. The hospital was situated on a 9 acre site purchased in 1900. It stood on the opposite side of Telegraph Road from 'The Puddydale’ and had a clock tower and grounds with views over the Dee estuary. The hospital closed in 1985 and there is now a Tesco supermarket on the site. The supermarket was extended in the early 2000s, then refurbished during 2011.

Economy
An affluent area, Heswall was listed as the seventh richest neighbourhood in the UK in 2001, with an average household income of £46,600.

In 2022, the median house price in Heswall was £409,500, making it the most expensive in the Wirral area.

Open spaces
There are several areas of open space. The largest is the Dales, an area of dry, sandy heathland overlooking the River Dee. It has the status of both Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve (LNR). Within this SSSI lies 'the Dungeon', a small river valley cut into the hillside. A path connects the Dales to the Wirral Way and the coast. Other open areas also overlooking the Dee are the Beacons, and Poll Hill, which is the highest point on the Wirral Peninsula. Whitfield Common, off Whitfield Lane, contains open land as well as playing fields and tennis courts.

Education
Heswall is well served by St Peter's C of E, Gayton and Heswall Primary Schools.

Pensby High School is the local secondary school situated in nearby Pensby.

Heswall Primary School
Heswall Primary School serves the local community of Heswall and surrounding areas on the Wirral Peninsula.

Heswall Primary School opened in 1909. It was originally on the eastern edge of The Puddydale, opposite the Royal Liverpool Children's hospital on Telegraph Road (now converted into a local Tesco). The original building was demolished in 1982 after falling into disrepair. Prior to demolition, the juniors were moved to the current Whitfield Lane site in 1976 and the school became known as Whitfield Primary School. The infants joined the juniors in 1982 unifying the school on one site again – eventually becoming Heswall County Primary school.

The current Whitfield Lane site was formerly the location of the Beehive Dairy. The school has retained the Beehive logo in its school badge. The single form entry school has 220+ children on roll. Now known as Heswall Primary School, the school is surrounded by the Barnston fields and has its own field and wooded areas.

The school is the home of Wirral Science Under the Stars, an event run by the school that brings together science links in real life settings with education.

Bus
Heswall bus station is owned and managed by Merseytravel. The bus station consists of four stands. The main bus operators at Heswall are Arriva North West, Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire, Eazibus, A2B Travel and Helms Coaches.

Notable people

 * The singer Ian Astbury, most famous for fronting the rock band The Cult, was born in Heswall.
 * Cricketer Ian Botham (Lord Botham) was born in Heswall.
 * TV presenter Jim Bowen was born in Heswall.
 * England, Everton and Sunderland footballer Paul Bracewell was born in Heswall.
 * TV presenter Fiona Bruce was educated at Gayton Primary School in Heswall.
 * Christian Furr, the youngest artist to have officially painted Queen Elizabeth II, was born in Heswall.
 * Pianist Stephen Hough CBE is from Heswall.
 * Philip May, husband of former Prime Minister Theresa May, was brought up in Heswall and was a pupil at Heswall Primary School and Calday Grange Grammar School, in Caldy. The May family lived on Downham Road North for 16 years.
 * In 1964, Paul McCartney bought "Rembrandt", a detached mock-Tudor house in Baskervyle Road, Heswall, for his father, Jim McCartney at a cost of £8,750. The senior McCartney later moved to a bungalow nearby, and lived in Heswall until his death on 18 March 1976.
 * Singer and bass guitarist Andy McCluskey, co-founder of the electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), was born in Heswall.
 * Phil Morris MBE, former soldier, double cancer survivor and winner of a David Cameron award for services to cancer awareness and support. Awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2021
 * Hugh O'Leary, accountant, husband of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss
 * Disc jockey and broadcaster John Peel was born in Heswall.
 * Bill Steer, British guitar player, and co-founder of the extreme metal band Carcass, spent his teenage years living in Heswall, and went to Heswall Primary School on Whitfield Lane.
 * John Williams (27 May 1946 – 12 August 1978), English motorcycle short-circuit road racer who also entered selected Grands Prix, lived on Whitfield Lane, Heswall.

Cultural references
Heswall Flower Club is mentioned in the song "This One's For Now" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on their 2014 album Urge For Offal. Heswall Village Fete is the scene for Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor II" music video. Heswall is the destination on the front of a bus in the 2014 John Lewis Christmas advert, 'Monty The Penguin'.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter. Heswall's close proximity to North Wales means that BBC Wales and ITV Cymru Wales can also be received from the Moel-y-Parc TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Merseyside, Capital North West & Wales, Heart North West, Smooth Radio North West, Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West, Radio City and Wirral Wave Radio, a community-based station.

The town's local newspaper is the Liverpool Echo.

Sport
Heswall F.C., founded in 1891, play at Gayton Park on Brimstage Road and competes in the West Cheshire Association Football League.

Heswall Lawn Tennis Club, based at Quarry Road East for over 100 years, competes in the Cheshire Lawn Tennis Association Inter Club League.

Heswall Golf Club, on Cottage Lane, was founded in 1902 and has an 18-hole championship golf course.

title: Heswall


text:
Meols

Meols (sometimes known as Great Meols) is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. On the north coast of the Wirral Peninsula, it forms a contiguous built up area with the nearby town of Hoylake which lies to the west. Historically in Cheshire, since 1 April 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

The 2001 census recorded the population of Meols as 5,110. In the 2011 census specific population figures for Meols were not available. The total population of the Hoylake and Meols local government ward was 13,348.

History
Meols was named as such by the Vikings; its original name from the Old Norse for 'sand dunes' was melr, becoming melas by the time of the Domesday Survey.

Impressive archaeological finds dating back to the Neolithic period suggest that the site was an important centre in antiquity. Since about 1810, a large number of artefacts have been found relating to pre-Roman Carthage, the Iron Age, the Roman Empire, Armenia, the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. These include items as varied as coins which belonged to the Coriosolites in Brittany. Also, tokens, brooches, pins, knives, glass beads, keys, pottery, flint tools, mounts, pilgrim badges, pieces of leather, worked wood and iron tools. They came to be discovered after the beginning of large-scale dredging (to accommodate the needs of the nearby growing seaport of Liverpool) started to cause notable sand erosion along the coastline near Meols. These finds suggest that the site was used as a port as far back as the Iron Age some 2,400 years ago, and was once the most important seaport in the present-day North West England. Thus trading connections are believed to have reached far across Europe. Some of these artefacts are on display locally, at the Museum of Liverpool. In the 1890s the local authorities built the first sea wall. The rapidly eroding coastline was saved, but the sea wall changed the currents and archaeological sites at Meols were buried in the sand. The remains of a submerged forest off Dove Point have now also disappeared but they were visible until the spring of 1982.

In 1938, what was believed to be a Viking (Nordic clinker) boat was discovered beneath 6 - 10 ft of clay when the 'Railway Inn' public house was being rebuilt. Workers at the time covered the ship over again so as not to delay the construction of the pub's new car park. The pub landlord mentioned its previous discovery to local police constable Tim Baldock, who contacted Professor Stephen Harding of the University of Nottingham. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment was used to confirm existence of the boat and precise location on 10 September 2007. Further archaeological work was undertaken in February 2023, by a team from Wirral Archaeology CIC, supervised by a professional archaeologist and Professor Harding. Cores of soil were drilled and samples taken away for analysis. By using Carbon14 dating, dendrochronology and wood assessment, the group aim to discover the age of the boat and where the wood it was constructed from was felled.

Meols was formerly called Great Meols. It was a township in West Kirby parish of the Wirral Hundred before becoming a civil parish from 1866. On 31 December 1894 it was abolished to create the Hoylake and West Kirby civil parish. Great Meols had a population of 140 in 1801, 170 in 1851 and 821 in 1901. Between 1894 and 1974 it was within Hoylake Urban District. On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Meols, transfer from the county of Cheshire to the newly created county of Merseyside.

The historic name of Great Meols survives in the name of the primary school and the Anglican church. It was still in more general use up to the 1960s, for instance in postal addresses and on the destination indicators of buses from Chester. There also used to be a village called Little Meols, on Meols Drive between Hoylake and West Kirby The name Little Meols fell out of use in Victorian times, having been absorbed by Hoylake. From 123 inhabitants in 1801 and 170 in 1851, by 1901 at 2,850, its population had outstripped Great Meols.

Meols was known to be spelt as Meolse up until when the railway station was placed. The error came about at the time of the station's construction, when rail managers took the spelling of Meols from the Southport suburb of Meols Cop and used it for new signage.

Geography
Meols is at the north-western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, adjacent to the Irish Sea.

Governance
Meols is within the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. The current Member of Parliament is Margaret Greenwood, a Labour representative.

At local government level, the area is incorporated into the Hoylake and Meols Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. It is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors. The most recent local elections took place on 6 May 2021.

Community
Meols is mainly residential with a small yacht and fishing community on its Irish Sea shore line. The centre has a small row of shops adjacent to Meols railway station, the 'Railway Inn' public house and a primary school. The North Wirral Coastal Park stretches from Dove Point in Meols to New Brighton. There is also a local community park known as Meols Park and Recreation Ground and a bowling green. The Friends of Meols Park are a community group set up in 2007 to help maintain and improve the recreation ground.

Transport
The area is served by Meols railway station on the West Kirby branch of Merseyrail's Wirral line.

Bus
A number of school services also serve Meols.

Notable people and cultural references
Cyclist Chris Boardman, winner of a gold medal for Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics, lived in Meols before moving to nearby Hoylake.

Miles Kane, former member of the Little Flames, the Rascals, one half of the Last Shadow Puppets with the Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and now a successful solo artist, is from Meols.

Andy McCluskey, the co-founder, singer and bass guitarist of the electronic music band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) is also from Meols. OMD had a track called "Red Frame/White Light" from their self-titled debut album which referred to the public telephone box between the church and the Railway Inn on Greenwood Road, Meols. Hidden within the lyrics was the telephone number of the telephone box (632-3003). It is claimed that fans would call that telephone number from all over the world. The telephone box was removed by BT in August 2017 but was returned by October after a campaign by fans of the duo, and now displays a plaque noting its significance.

The television sitcom Watching, produced by Granada Television between 1987 and 1993, utilised Meols as a filming location. This was likely because the characters Malcolm and Mrs Stoneway lived in the village.

title: Meols


text:
Oxton, Merseyside

Oxton is a suburb of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Originally a village in its own right, it became part of the Municipal Borough of Birkenhead upon its creation in 1877. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the county of Cheshire.

History
The name Oxa-tún derives from Old Norse, meaning "a farm or enclosure where oxen are kept". By 1278, the name had been adapted into Old English as Oxeton and was recorded as Oxon in 1549.

Oxton was once one of the most affluent areas in England mainly due to its proximity to Liverpool and the fact that along with various other Wirral locations, it was a favourite residential area for wealthy Liverpool merchants and tradesmen of the time. Oxton Village is a mainly early Victorian era settlement with fine sandstone and brick built houses, many of which now form part of a conservation area designated in April 1979 and administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Some of these buildings have been designated by English Heritage as Grade II listed.

A significant part of the land on which Oxton is situated was part of the Estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury. This has been commemorated over the years in many of the road names, which bear the family names and titles of the various Earls: Alton Road, Beresford Road, Chetwynd Road, Ingestre Road, Shrewsbury Road, Talbot Road, Waterford Road and Wexford Road. The oldest pub in Oxton Village is called the Shrewsbury Arms and the bar which is now known as the Oxton Bar and Kitchen was formerly the Talbot Hotel.

Christ Church opened in 1849 and has a Father Willis organ, installed in 1888.

Location
The Wirral peninsula is formed of Triassic Keuper and Bunter sandstones covered by glacially deposited boulder clay. The historic settlement of Oxon-hill laid to the north-eastern side of the peninsula on the sandstone ridge near to current location of St Saviours Church and the Caernarfon Castle public house

Oxton Village pre-dates the conurbation that developed around Birkenhead, of which it now forms part. It is bordered to the north by Claughton and to the south by Prenton. Birkenhead town centre lies to the east.

Originally an agricultural community, Oxton became a desirable residential location for the middle classes and bourgeoisie as the economy of 19th century Birkenhead and Liverpool grew. The north east of the conservation area, at the junction of Victoria Mount, Rose Mount, Village Road and Claughton Firs developed as a commercial centre with restaurants, pubs, cafes and shops.

Conservation Area and Oxton Village
Oxton Village Conservation Area was established in 1979 by Wirral Borough Council in order to "preserve and enhance the village's distinctive character". Soon afterwards, a registered charity was founded to promote the Conservation Area; this was named The Oxton Society. This objective of this charity is to work in partnership with the council, local businesses and the community to pursue this objective.

The approximate boundary is bounded by Shrewsbury Road to the north, Fairview Road to the east, Arno Road to the south and Talbot Road to the west. Irregular in places, the boundary has a number of ‘pockets' encompassing small groups of properties or parts of streets. In 2010 Wirral Council commissioned an appraisal for Oxton Village Conservation Areas that evaluated and analysed various features which gives the conservation area its special architectural and historic interest. The appraisal made recommendations to extend the Conservation Area boundaries of Normanston Road & Derwent Road, Birch Road, Village Road & Wellington Road and Talbot Road, Mill Hill and Ingestre Road. The consultation period for the boundary extensions has now closed and the extensions are in the process of being adopted.

Post town controversy
Owing to a redefining of post towns by the Royal Mail in 2003, Oxton is partially identified as being within Prenton. However, whilst this was only a postal address, in its 22 May 2003 edition, the Liverpool Echo reported that "Jeremy Watson, of the Oxton Society, has called on the Royal Mail to have a ballot"; however, the code at that time did not allow a request to ballot. A similar complaint was made on behalf of Prenton residents when the Royal Mail defined part of Prenton to be within Oxton.

Education
Independent and selective Birkenhead School was exclusively a boys' school from its founding in 1860 until 2000, when its Sixth Form became co-educational. It became fully co-educational in 2008. Birkenhead High School was formerly an independent selective school for girls but became a state-funded all-ability Academy school in 2009. Both changes were driven by falling numbers of pupils in the schools as a result of the abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme. Despite this, both schools maintain their place around the top of the Wirral A Level results.

In addition Prenton Preparatory School lies in the heart of the Conservation Area and Oxton St Saviour's is the local primary school. A number of other schools lie just outside the boundary of Oxton, including St. Anselm's College (boys, RC) and Townfield Primary School.

Sport
Oxton Cricket & Sports Club is also located here. Founded in 1875 as Oxton Cricket Club, other sports played at the club include tennis, lacrosse, squash and bowls.

Demographics
At the 2001 Census, the population of Oxton was 14,066, consisting of 6,680 males and 7,386 females.

Some 2005 demographic statistics of area CH43, which encompasses the geographical area of Oxton, Claughton and parts of Bidston and Noctorum, (total CH43 population (2005): 36,443) are:

Governance
Oxton is part of the Birkenhead parliamentary constituency.

Local Councillors
After reorganisation in 2004, Oxton forms an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, which had an electorate of 11,237 on 6 May 2010.

2019 local elections
The results of the Local Election Result for Oxton ward on 2 May 2019 were:

https://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?XXR=0&ID=67&RPID=508567813

Administrative history
Oxton was historically a township in the ancient parish of Woodchurch in the Wirral Hundred of Cheshire. Part of the township was administratively absorbed into Birkenhead in 1843 when it was added to the improvement commissioners' district which covered the town.

The rest of the township was made a local government district in 1863, governed by a local board. The local government district was abolished in 1877 and its area was incorporated into the new municipal borough of Birkenhead. Oxton continued to be a civil parish within the borough until 1898 when all the parishes within the borough were merged into a single parish. The borough of Birkenhead was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the metropolitan borough of Wirral in the new county of Merseyside.

Notable connections

 * Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1857) - town planner
 * Michael Chan - Baron Chan of Oxton in the County of Merseyside
 * Brigadier Philip Toosey - military officer
 * Cyril Scott - British composer (1879-1970)
 * Charles Whittle (1921-2001), cricketer
 * John Hughes, (1903-1977), Olympic gold medal-winning architect

Ron Gittins
8 Silverdale Road, Oxton, known as Ron's Place, is a former rented flat which is grade II listed because of tenant Ron Gittins' outsider art work on its interior. The director of The Twentieth Century Society, Catherine Croft, described the building as "the first example of outsider art to be nationally listed".

title: Oxton, Merseyside


text:
Parkgate, Cheshire

Parkgate is a village on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Dee, adjoining 100 km2 of salt marsh. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 3,591.

The village is in Neston civil parish, north-west of the town of Neston and almost contiguous with it.

History
Parkgate was an important port from the start of the 18th century, in particular as an embarkation point for Ireland. The River Dee, which was a shipping route to the Roman city of Deva (Chester), had partly silted up by AD 383, creating a need for a port further downstream. Quays were built, first at Burton and later near the small town of Neston, but further silting required yet another re-siting slightly further downstream near the gate of Neston's hunting park. Hence the settlement of Parkgate was born. Two distinguished guests stayed at local hostelries. One was Lord Nelson's mistress, (Lady) Emma Hamilton, who was born in nearby Ness and bathed at Parkgate, apparently as a cure for a skin complaint. Another was George Frideric Handel. Contrary to often-repeated legend, he did not stay in Parkgate before sailing to Dublin in November 1741 for the first performance of his Messiah (he travelled from Holyhead). However, he returned from Ireland via Parkgate in August 1742.

As the Dee silted up even more, Parkgate became unusable as a port and was superseded by the port of Liverpool, on the nearby River Mersey. Towards the end of the 18th century, Parkgate was popular as a seaside resort with bathers, but this diminished as the sands of the estuary were consumed with grass. Sailing from Parkgate across the estuary to Bagillt was still possible in 1864, as there is a report of an accident in which the landlord of the Pengwern Arms and his brother were drowned when trying to land in rough sea conditions; three others survived. But as silting progressed, with no beach and no direct access to the sea, Parkgate could manage only small subsistence from fishing and shrimps. The silting of the Dee has been accelerated by the deliberate introduction of the invasive colonising grass Sporobolus anglicus in Connah's Quay in 1928, resulting in the growth of extensive marshlands.

Mostyn House School, a striking black-and-white building, was opened in Parkgate in 1855. From 1862 until it closed in 2010, it was run by the Grenfell family, most recently as an independent co-educational day school. Sir Wilfred Grenfell (1865–1940), a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador, was born in Parkgate and was a pupil at the school. The 6th Duke of Westminster's children attended Mostyn House, including his son the 7th Duke.

During the Second World War, two of Parkgate's houses which contained cellars were converted into air raid shelters for public protection from German bombing. Small lights were placed on the marsh to trick German bombers into thinking settlements were there. After the war, Parkgate flourished as a desirable residential area. The surrounds became a conservation area in 1973.

Notable buildings
A row of three houses – one formerly a butcher's shop – overlooking the anchorage was built in the early 18th century for the Mostyn estate; they are Grade II* listed. The chapel of Mostyn House School, built in 1895 in red brick and terracotta, is also Grade II* listed.

The Anglican Church of St. Thomas was built in 1843 as a Congregational chapel. It reopened for worship in May 2010, having been closed since it was declared unsafe in 1994.

Community
An affluent village, it is popular with tourists and birdwatchers. During seasonal high tides, the water reaches the sea wall and visitors come to the village to witness the unusual sight. Birdwatchers also come at this time to see the birds usually hidden in the grasses of the marshland. A popular location is the Old Baths site, to the north of the village, from which the marshes can be viewed from a parked vehicle. Sightings are recorded daily on a local website which covers the whole Dee Estuary.

The marshlands of Parkgate are managed by the RSPB as part of the Dee Estuary Nature Reserve. In March 2022, an area of around 1 km2 of reedbed was destroyed by a fire, thought to have been started deliberately.

title: Parkgate, Cheshire


text:
Talk:Susumu Tonegawa

Untitled
I have seen his birthdate as September 5, but the Nobel Prize autobiography (see link) claims it is September 6. I decided to stick with his own autobiographical information, since he probably knows it best. Sayeth 22:00, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, but the Nobel prize autobiography also lists his Ph.D. as being awarded in 1978 when it was awarded in 1968, so the birthday might be wrong too. Amulekii 00:08, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

November 17, 2006 CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) -- The Nobel-winning founder of a neuroscience center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is resigning as its director after a school investigation concluded he inappropriately discouraged another scientist from accepting a job at MIT.

Reference #2 (a report from the MIT committee that investigated Tonegawa's behaviour as mentioned above) has been taken off of the web while the committee incorporates comments that it has received regarding the report. Subsequently, the link to this reference is broken and the document is now unavailable to the public.
 * reference repaired Liulab 20:59, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Jail time
What about the fact that the guy went to jail? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.155.252.204 (talk) 00:48, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

More details? 24.218.80.101 (talk) 13:51, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

title: Talk:Susumu Tonegawa


text:
Seacombe

Seacombe is a district of the town of Wallasey, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, Seacombe is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Wallasey, within the geographical county of Cheshire. At the 2001 Census, the population of Seacombe was 15,158, (7,081 males and 8,077 females), increasing to 15,387 (7,554 males, 7,833 females) at the Census 2011.

History
Seacombe is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Seccum.

In 1845 George Turnbull was the civil engineer who designed and built the Seacombe Wall sea defence that helped drain the marshes behind the town.

Seacombe was originally a terminus for the Wirral Railway; however, passenger services ended on 4 January 1960 and all services on the line terminated on 16 June 1963. Much of the line to Seacombe station was used as the approach road to the Kingsway Tunnel.

Geography
Seacombe is situated to the north-east of the Wirral Peninsula, adjoining the River Mersey to the east. Seacombe is less than 4 km south-south-east of the Irish Sea at New Brighton and about 11 km east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at Caldy. The area is at an elevation of between 0-18 m above sea level.

Notable features
Seacombe is dominated by three landmarks. The first of these is one of the terminals for the Mersey Ferry, the legendary "Ferry 'cross the Mersey" described by Gerry & The Pacemakers. The ferry travels in a triangular route between the Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head terminals. The second landmark is the parish church of St Paul. The third is a building housing some of the ventilation systems for the Kingsway Tunnel, a colossal structure which faces the river. It consists of two huge grilles which resemble stereo speakers, and a central concrete flue-like structure. This building has an almost identical counterpart on the Liverpool side of the river.

Seacombe was also home to Spaceport, a space-themed visitor attraction situated near the ferry terminal. Spaceport was opened on 26 July 2005 by Merseytravel Chairman Cllr Mark Dowd. It closed at the end of 2019 due to large financial losses. In November 2022 a new children's attraction, Eureka! Science + Discovery opened at the same site and welcomed 100,000 visitors in its first year.

Wallasey Town Hall is situated in Seacombe. It is a Grade II listed building. During World War I it was used as a military hospital.

Seacombe is also the location of Guinea Gap Baths. It is the oldest swimming pool in the Wirral, with the first swimming club being founded in the 1890s. It was originally filled with sea water, being so close to the River Mersey.

The nearest school to Seacombe Ferry is Riverside Primary School. The school has over 200 pupils and over 25 staff. The school's Latin motto is Da Totem Habes!, translated as Give it all you've got!

Popular culture
The area was immortalised in the title of "Party Seacombe", an instrumental by George Harrison on his Wonderwall Music album.

Michael Portillo lived briefly in Seacombe in 2003 for the BBC TV programme When Michael Portillo became a Single Mum, which saw the former Conservative MP experience life as a single parent (he also worked in the Asda superstore in Wallasey).

Notable people
Falkland Road in Seacombe, which runs from Brighton Street to Liscard Road, is the birthplace of the writer, peace campaigner and philosopher Olaf Stapledon, (1886 - 1950), author of Last and First Men and Star Maker. Stapledon's birth certificate gives his place of birth as "Poolton (sic) - cum - Seacombe". The prominent Welsh dramatist, literary critic and politician, Saunders Lewis, was born in 61 Falkland Road on 15 October 1893. Marjorie Cottle, pioneer female motorcyclist was born in the town in 1900.

title: Seacombe


text:
Wodao

The wodao is a Chinese sword from the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty. It is typically long and slender, but heavy, with a curved back and sharp blade. It bears a strong resemblance to the Tang sword, zhanmadao, tachi or ōdachi in form. Extant examples show a handle approximately 25.5 cm long, with a gently curved blade 80 cm long.

The Chinese word wo literally means "Japanese", so wodao literally means "Japanese sword". The term wodao sometimes refers to Japanese swords, but it mainly refers to similar swords developed in China with Japanese swords used as reference. Chinese wodao was developed based on the Japanese sword used by the wokou pirates, a mixed group of Japanese and Chinese who repeatedly looted in the Chinese coast. Qi Jiguang (1528-1588 AD), a general of the Ming Dynasty, studied wokou's tactics and Japanese swords to repel wokou pirates. General Qi also wrote a military book named Jixiao Xinshu which depicted, among other things, the detailed usage of the wodao. He also included a wodao branch in his army alongside branches of other weapons. Another Ming general Li Chengxun (李承勋), in his own revised edition of Jixiao Xinshu of 1588, quoted General Qi as saying that the long sword (believed to be referring to the ōdachi and tachi) was introduced into China during the wokou invasion of the Ming dynasty.

The Chinese martial art of wielding the wodao is believed to be a combination of medieval Japanese sword fighting styles and traditional Chinese techniques regarding the use of two-handed weapons. The term wodao was still in usage in China until the Qing dynasty as evidenced in various Chinese novels at the time.

In 1921, the Chinese warlord Cao Kun created a branch in his army that specialized in wielding two-handed single edged blades and called it the miaodao branch. Since then, miaodao became the name for this form of Chinese two-handed single edged blade and the term wodao is now rarely used. The art of wielding the miaodao can be traced back to the lineage of Jixiao Xinshu.

title: Wodao


text:
Shinjō, Nara

Shinjō (新庄町) was a town located in Kitakatsuragi District, Nara Prefecture, Japan.

On October 1, 2004, Shinjō, along with the town of Taima (also from Kitakatsuragi District), was merged to create the city of Katsuragi.

title: Shinjō, Nara


text:
Mors Principium Est

Mors Principium Est (Latin for "death is the beginning") is a Finnish melodic death metal band formed in 1999.

History
The band was formed in 1999 in Pori, Finland by singer/lead guitarist Jori Haukio, guitarist Jarkko Kokko and keyboardist Toni Nummelin. Drummer Mikko Sipola joined in late 1999, soon followed by the arrival of new vocalist Ville Viljanen in early 2000 when Haukio decided to focus on his guitar work. Bassist Teemu Heinola was not appointed until after the band's first demo, Before Birth, which attracted attention from French record label Listenable Records in 2001.

One year and two demos later, Mors Principium Est signed a three-album contract with Listenable Records completed by the album Liberation = Termination released in March 2007.

The band announced on 25 April 2007 the new lineup of the band. Karri Kuisma joined the band as the rhythm guitarist in 2006 and lead guitarist Tomy Laisto joined the band in 2007. Jarkko Kokko will still be a member of M.P.E. but he will not play any live shows.

In March 2011, the band stated that members Tomy Laisto and Kalle Aaltonen had parted ways to pursue other ventures. The band stated "If we still want to continue with Mors Principium Est, we need new guitar players" and proceeded to ask for anyone who could try out around the world to do so.

On 30 April 2011, the band announced on their website that Andy Gillion had been recruited as the first replacement guitarist. On 29 September 2011 the band announced on their website that Andhe Chandler had been recruited as the second replacement guitarist.

In April 2012, the band signed a new deal with AFM Records, with the first single for fourth album ...And Death Said Live being released in October of the same year, followed by an album release in December in Japan, then a United States release in January 2013. The band's deal with AFM would continue with Dawn of the 5th Era in 2014, Embers of a Dying World in 2017, and Seven in 2020.

In June 2021, the band announced that they had parted ways with Andy Gillion, with Gillion being unaware of his removal. In February 2022, the band would announce a compilation album of rerecorded material called Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity, with a new rendition of "The Lust Called Knowledge" from their debut album Inhumanity being released on the same day. The album would later be released on April of the same year.

Current members

 * Ville Viljanen – vocals (2000–present)
 * Jori Haukio – lead guitar (1999–2007, 2021–present)
 * Jarkko Kokko – rhythm guitar (1999–2009, 2021–present)
 * Teemu Heinola – bass (2001–present)
 * Marko Tommila – drums (2021–present), session drums (2007, 2020)

Former members

 * Toni Nummelin – keyboards (1999–2004)
 * Mikko Sipola – drums (1999–2017)
 * Tomy Laisto – lead guitar (2007–2011), live rhythm guitar (2016–2017)
 * Joona Kukkola – keyboards (2004–2007)
 * Kalle Aaltonen – rhythm guitar (2009–2011)
 * Andy Gillion – lead guitar (2011–2021)
 * Andhe Chandler – rhythm guitar (2011–2014)
 * Kevin Verlay – rhythm guitar (2014–2015)
 * Iiro Aittokoski – drums (2017–2021)

Former touring musicians

 * Karri Kuisma – live rhythm guitar (2007–2008)
 * Tom "Tomma" Gardiner – live rhythm guitar (2008–2009)
 * Lauri Unkila – live rhythm guitar (2017–2021)
 * Joni Suodenjärvi – live bass (2019–2021)

Albums

 * Inhumanity (2003, reissued in 2006)
 * The Unborn (2005)
 * Liberation = Termination (2007)
 * ...And Death Said Live (2012)
 * Dawn of the 5th Era (2014)
 * Embers of a Dying World (2017)
 * Seven (2020)
 * Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity (2022)

Demos

 * Before Birth (2000)
 * Valley of Sacrifice (2001)
 * Third Arrival (2002)

title: Mors Principium Est


text:
Roby, Merseyside

Roby is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. It was previously administratively linked with its neighbour Huyton by the Huyton-with-Roby civil parish and Huyton with Roby Urban District. Like Huyton, Roby is effectively a dormitory village or suburb of the neighbouring City of Liverpool. At the 2001 Census, the population of Roby was 9,353, (4,511 males, 4,842 females). reducing to 7,254 at the 2011 Census. Roby is the location of the sixth form centre of Knowsley Community College.

History
Roby grew from a tenth-century Norse settlement named Rabil, meaning "boundary farm/village". Roby is therefore mentioned, as Rabil, in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1351, it became part of the Barony of Widnes and subsequently merged into the Duchy of Lancaster.

Governance
In 1894 Roby was included in the Huyton with Roby Urban District. On the abolition of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1974, the urban district was also abolished and its former area was transferred to Merseyside to be combined with that of other districts to form the present-day metropolitan borough of Knowsley.

Geography
The area is located within a green belt area of Merseyside and partly consists of detached houses and private roads such as Wynwood Park. It has a golf course situated in nearby Bowring Park by the M62 motorway and Roby Road.

A new instated sign marks Roby by the Bowring Park Golf Course, including Roby Station and Roby Road within its location.

Transport
Roby railway station is situated on the Liverpool City Line, between the stations of Broadgreen and Huyton.

TV and radio

 * The Boys from the Blackstuff episode "Jobs for the Boys" was part filmed in Woodlands Road, Roby

title: Roby, Merseyside


text:
Category:Southern California freeways

This category contains articles about Southern California freeways listed by number and by names that are or have been commonly used to refer to the road.

title: Category:Southern California freeways


text:
Academia pro Interlingua

The Academia pro Interlingua was an organization dedicated to the promotion of international auxiliary languages, and is associated in particular with Giuseppe Peano's language Latino sine flexione (Latin without inflections).

The Academia was a descendant of the Kadem bevünetik volapüka (International Academy of Volapük) created at a Volapük congress in Munich in August 1887. Under Waldemar Rosenberger, who became the director in 1892, this group had transformed Volapük into Idiom Neutral and changed its name to Akademi Internasional de Lingu Universal in 1898.

When the Akademi effectively chose to abandon Idiom Neutral in favor of Latino sine flexione in 1908, it elected Peano as its director, and the name of the group was changed to Academia pro Interlingua since Interlingua was an alternative name for Peano's language. The original Academia pro Interlingua survived until about 1939.

The official journals of the "Academia" were "Discussiones" (1909–13), "Circulares" (1915–24), and "Academia pro Interlingua" (1925–27). They have been recently published in a CD-Rom by the mathematics department of the university of Turin. They show a collective attempt to propagate, in a democratic way, an international language to facilitate the scientific reports among nations, favouring the progress of civilization and culture.

Concerning Interlingua de IALA (IA)
Today the name Interlingua often refers to a different language presented in 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). Advocates for IA currently use, among others, the name Academia pro Interlingua.

title: Academia pro Interlingua