Did you know that despite it's small size Wirral has:
1900 listed buildings
215 churches
50 towns and villages
25 conservation areas
9 scheduled ancient monument sites
8 sites of special scientific interest
10 lighthouses
5 nature reserves
4 windmills
4 historic parks
2 watermills
1 castle
1 fort

Impressive, huh?

plus one great football club.

I get the impression the politicians don't give a toss about the one fort, we tried to get a slice of some money that became available for English resorts for the Titanic Radio room were doing at the one fort and got told we are not diverse enough, ex mariners and ex Marconi radio officers and radio hams, we are still doing it with our own money and what people have given us, we are still not diverse enough according to our delightful council.

10 lighthouses

The coast of the Wirral was once protected by seven lighthouses. Today, only five survive and are, sadly, no longer operational. They are situated at Hoylake, Moreton, Bidston, New Brighton and Whitby. The additional lights were at Hoylake and Leasowe of which little or nothing now remains,
were are the others

Also:

Wirral has more horses per head of population than anywhere else in the UK.

Wow that's a quality stat.

It's also incredibly diverse with have some Wards that are in the top 10% most affluent in the UK and some that are in the poorest 10%. Just think about the differance between Laird St and Lower Heswall.

Other facts that I know about the Wirral:

- The M53 J1 flyover has the deepest piles in the country

- For a while the Merseyrail tunnel under the Mersey had the steepest, unassisted climb of any railway in the world (don't know if that's still the case)

- Hamilton square has the largest concentration of listed buildings in one place in the UK apart from Trafalger square

Other lighthouses

Hilbre
Stanlow
Red rocks(folly)
Ferry terminals(woodside, new Brighton etc)
I also think there was Another one at ellesmere port as well as whitby

Not suprised at all, well done to you all for sticking at it and fronting the money yourselves

I read New Brighton has the longest promenade in UK

Blackpool's is far longer surely?

You are correct New Brighton has got the longest Promenade in the UK.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallasey#New_Brighton

And Trinidad has the biggest roundabout.

Looking at Rude's list, I can't say I know of any watermills still existing in Wirral.

I think Bromborough watermill was the last one, and that was demolished in the late 1940's...

http://www.oldwirral.com/bromborough.html

Impressive list though!

Found this on another history chat site about Raby watermill:

'Thomas Lawton had it between 1838 and at least until 1850. Died and passed it onto his daughter Martha Lawton.They also had Lawton Cottage, the boating lake and the tea rooms and were still living in Lawton Cottage until 1932 or longer'.

A bit of interest for some, maybe?

No measurements. I strongly suspect this is an Internet rumour that's grown.

If you google largest promenade Europe there are loads of claims without any distances, including Edinburgh

Felixstowe is about 4 miles from one end to other but has the smallest break as it goes around a corner and then joins a Vicorian promenade so that might not be counted, with similar situations elsewhere in the country.

There have been claims that Wallasey Promenade is the longest in Europe for years (certainly pre-google).
Noel Smith's book 'Almost An Island' states that the total length from Seacombe to Meols is 8 miles. Perhaps this has now been beaten elsewhere, but the one in Germany which is presently heralded as the longest in Europe is only 12 km (7.5 miles).

http://www.besttopnews.com/news/interesting_news/23-08-2011/89438-0

But New Brighton isn't the same thing as Wallasey and if you allow overlapping towns there are a lot more contenders.

You are, of course, correct and strictly speaking it is a series of promenades.

Whatever way you look at it though, Wirral is blessed. Even if it isn't the longest promenade in Europe (or perhaps the UK) it is an asset for us to be proud of. Rude's list was making the point that for, a comparatively small place, Wirral has some great history and a heck of a lot packed into it. I think most of us would agree with that.

Completely agree. Wirral is unique in my opinion to anywhere else in the country. We probably have the most coastline too!

Yeah! Even more than Cornwall!

Well I haven't been there! Best to ignore some of the previous post I think What a twit!

There's a nice brochure you can download on the Wirral Tourism site which has loads of quality pictures and useful info on the Wirral area. Haven't read it all yet but it gives some good examples of what makes Wirral special.

Well worth a look. Just click on the link for Wirral Visitor Guide:

http://www.visitwirral.com/