Wirral, Cheshire?
Historically, the Wirral was wholly in Cheshire; in the Domesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls". However, since the Local Government Act 1972, only the southern third of the peninsula remains in Cheshire, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The remainder forms the Metropolita Borough of Wirral, in the county of Mereyside. An area of saltmarsh and reclaimed land adjoining the south-west of the peninsula lies in the Welsh county of Flintshire.
The coastal towns, New Brighton ...
... Hoylake ...
... and West Kirby were seaside resorts for Chester and Liverpool. The resorts, some have said, become more genteel as you travel from east to west, but the business nowadays is more for day trips from the big cities.
Lands adjoining the Mersey were heavily industrialised starting with the vast Birkenhead ship building areas.
With the decline of heavy industry, much of the former industrial area is being develooed for light industry, warehousing, housing and leisure.
Shiny light coloured warehousing marks the change to 'brown field' sites on the banks of the Mersey.
So, before we indulge in the changes that 'franchising' has brought to the Wirral, let us remind ourselves of the situation in St Helens, checking on the last few town services.
35 : Gillans Green - Town Centre - Junction station 
A cross town route.
Was Arriva.
37/37A : St Helens - Ormskirk/Southport
fbb cannot help sniggering at the idea of a bus for cranks to Crank, sadly not mentioned as a time point. The X37 is just one journey.
The 37s run way beying Rainford.
The village is famous (?) for the intriguing Crank Caverns ...
.... but not, sadly, for a huge works producing cranks!
q
q38 : Town Centre - Rainford
(see map for 37!37A/X37)
The 38A is an occasional variant.
37s and 38s were Arriva.
39 : Town Centre to Newton le Willows ...
... where it joins the 34 and 34A
But it does wiggle a lot to get there!
The 39 was in the hands of Huyton Travel ,,,
... photographed anonymously and incorrectly destined for a 39!
Which reminds fbb that as well as the expulsion of Arriva from St Helens, Huyton Travel and Hattons have lost significant amounts of work.
Somehow, it seems a bit cruel, but then losses are equally gargantuan on the Wirral peninsula, as we shall see tomorrow.
Two "out of area" routes to the Wirral are not part of Steve Rotherams's bus grab.
The 1A and its bedfellow, the X1 ...
... trundle along near the eastern shore of the Wirral, crossing the Mersey in tunnel.
You might hazard a guess that the X1 is Limited Stop ...
The 22/22A is operated by Al's Coaches on behalf of Chester and West Cheshire Unitary Authority.
Al has double decks!
The routes follow the Dee Estuary (sort of) with a very real route variation.
It is a pity that the 487 is shown in the same colour!
At least the timetable is straightforward!
But who are the winners and losers in Wirral?
Tomorrow will reveal more.
Next Wirral blog : Friday 2nd Oct
