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A guide to places to visit, history and wildlife along the Liverpool, Wirral and Cheshire shores of the Mersey Estuary
Stretching for around thirty miles to the coast, the Mersey Estuary is perhaps best known for Liverpool’s spectacular waterfront and the Mersey Ferry. But there are many hidden gems along its shores, including waterside parks, sandy beaches and poignant reminders of the days of steamships and sail.
The Mersey Estuary: A Travel Guide provides suggestions for places to visit around the estuary from its upper reaches in Warrington to Liverpool, Wirral and the coast at New Brighton and Formby Point. Other destinations include Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port, Port Sunlight, Runcorn and Widnes. Suggested places to visit in Liverpool include the Three Graces, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool Cathedral, the Museum of Liverpool and the Maritime Museum.
In addition to the main tourist attractions, readers will discover some less well-known sights, including lighthouses, outdoor art, medieval buildings, and a transporter bridge, along with ideas for boat trips around the estuary’s docks and canals and places for a bird’s eye view of Liverpool and beyond.
There are also maps and route descriptions for fifteen suggested walks and cycle routes around the estuary, ranging from a couple of hours to a full day trip. Highlights include walks in Liverpool, New Brighton, Runcorn, Warrington and Widnes and cycle rides that take in Port Sunlight, Warrington’s waterways and the Another Place statues at Crosby Beach.
For those interested in a more in-depth look at the estuary, the second part of the book has chapters on maritime connections, wildlife and rivers and tides.
Maritime history themes include the development of the Port of Liverpool, the Mersey ferries and modern-day shipping and navigation. Further inland, topics include efforts to create a shipping route to Warrington and Manchester starting with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and culminating in the Manchester Ship Canal. Wirral’s maritime history is discussed too, including the development of Port Sunlight and Birkenhead Docks.
River and tidal themes include an introduction to the key role that scientists from Liverpool and Bidston Observatory played in the developing the science of tidal prediction, and how the estuary has been cleaned up in recent decades so that even salmon have returned. Other wildlife topics include the many nature reserves around the estuary and the types of habitat and wildlife they shelter. There are also tips on seeing seals, red squirrels, wading birds and the Mersey’s little-known tidal bore.
With stunning colour photographs, The Mersey Estuary: A Travel Guide is a must-read for travellers to the area and local residents alike.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
A very detailed and informative book about what the Mersey Estuary has to offer. This book caught my eye because I lived in the area for over 20 years and I was interested to see what Kevin Sene had to offer up in this traveller guide. The book was filled with rich history of the area, significant maritime information, information about walk and cycle routes and other places of interest (some of which I didn't even know existed!) I really enjoyed the chapter about Tidal Bores in the Mersey Estuary and the walking routes were a nice touch. The ebook format has a great function, allowing you to access various web resources directly - via the hyperlinks - for additional reading. This is a great guide for highlighting the abundance of what the Mersey Estuary has to offer and I would recommend to anybody visiting the area.
A great little guide to anyone who likes local history or wants to take a wander around the Mersey Estuary.
The first thing to say about The Mersey Estuary: A Travel Guide is I live on the Mersey in an area mentioned in the book and I had no idea about a lot of the things in this book. It is well written and has an abundance of information split into sections on places to visit along the Mersey, the natural environment, the history of the estuary, the maritime connections and wildlife. Amongst all of this information and great photography, Kevin Sene provides walking and cycling routes throughout Merseyside as well as several links to for local travel and further reading on the different areas around the estuary. This is highly recommended for anyone looking to visit the area and for local residents looking to learn more about what the Mersey has to offer them.
The Mersey Estuary is a travel guide to the area by Kevin Sene. Released 28th April 2020 by Matador, it's 256 pages and available in ebook format (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. This is a good general guide to the area with a richly varied collection of associated activities both solitary and family/social oriented. The introduction (with a good traveller's safety segment) is followed by particular places to visit arranged by geographic area (Lower estuary - Liverpool, Wirral - Cheshire, and upper estuary), with more attractions arranged thematically (rivers & tides, maritime, and wildlife). Many of the sites listed in the book conveniently include active links for further reading. The pictures (most of which are credited to the author himself) are clear and illustrative. (Note: the book should be viewed full screen for the photos to display correctly). The author also includes a short bibliography and reading list for further information. I would definitely recommend this guide to anyone contemplating a trip to the area as well as people (like me) who aren't travelling at all in the midst of the pandemic and just needed to "leave home" without leaving home, as it were. Five stars. Very well written, down to earth, and up to date.
A decent guide to the whole area alongside the Mersey estuary, which managed to bring back fond memories of Liverpool city centre, "Another Place" and more for me. It's very nice pictorially, reminding anyone of the diverse pleasures to be had in the area (although to my disappointment it didn't detour round to Meols and a certain famous phone box). I did think it a little woolly, however, in the text the general information bit promised us too often we'd see something in the future, and was a little namby-pamby, the text can be quite repetitive at times, and the cycling trip guides aren't nearly as comfortingly detailed as I'd have expected. You'd have to really gen up on maps before striking off, even if mostly they're straight waterside routes either that or I'm just some southern softie who wouldn't know a real lobscouse when it hit him. We then get further, more competent and discursive looks at the geology and tides of the whole estuary, and how tide prediction as a science was partly born in the area and how to do it today; the history of the area as a maritime hotbed; and the wildlife of both the waterways and skies thereabouts. In the finish I can see this as having a strong market in the area, and not just those in Liverpool or on the Wirral itself, as it covers much inland ground too, and I would think it some good interest to those wishing to stay in and learn about the region. I wish it success.
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