River Mersey
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"Ferry across the Mersey", June 2005 |
The
River Mersey is a
river in north-western
England. The river's name comes from
Anglo-Saxon Mǽres-Ä"a = "border river", likely because it was the border between
Mercia and
Northumbria. It is the traditional border between the historic counties of
Cheshire and
Lancashire.
The Mersey is formed from three
tributaries: the
River Etherow, the
River Goyt and the
River Tame; becoming the Mersey near
Stockport,
Greater Manchester.
From Stockport it flows near
Didsbury,
Stretford,
Urmston,
Flixton, and then at
Irlam it flows into the
Manchester Ship Canal, which canalised the
River Irwell to this point. The course of the Mersey has been obliterated by the Canal past
Hollins Green to
Rixton although the old river bed can be seen at
Warburton; at Rixton the
River Bollin enters the Canal from the south and the Mersey leaves the Canal to the north, meandering through
Woolston, where the Ship Canal Company's dredgings have formed a nature reserve (
Woolston Eyes), and
Warrington. It is tidal from Howley Weir in
Warrington, although high spring tides often top the weir. At the
Runcorn Gap between
Widnes &
Runcorn rail and road bridges (
Runcorn Bridge) span the river and the Ship Canal, which runs alongside the widening estuary to
Eastham Locks where canal and river unite, and from here the estuary narrows to flow between
Liverpool and
Birkenhead into
Liverpool Bay on the
Irish Sea, after a total course of around 70 miles. The conurbation on its banks near the coast is known as
Merseyside. The eastern part of this estuary is much affected by silting, and part of it is marked on modern maps as dry land instead of as tidal. At the point between the Woodside Ferry Terminal and
Albert Dock, the Mersey is 1.2km (0.75 miles) wide.
Two road
tunnels run under the Mersey at Liverpool: the older
Queensway Tunnel (opened
1934) connecting with Birkenhead, and the
Kingsway Tunnel (opened
1971) connecting with
Wallasey. There is also a
railway tunnel dating back to the
1880s, which carries passenger services on the
Wirral Line of the
Merseyrail franchise.
The
Mersey Ferry runs between the
Pier Head at Liverpool, and the Birkenhead terminals at
Seacombe and
Woodside.
A project called the
Mersey Gateway to build a new road bridge over the Mersey east of the existing
Runcorn Bridge, is currently being considering, and has received some government support[
1].
Water quality in the River Mersey has been severely affected by industrialisation in the region, and in
1985, in the wake of the
Toxteth riots, the
Mersey Basin Campaign was established to improve water quality and encourage waterside
regeneration. In
2002, oxygen levels that could support fish along the entire length were witnessed for the first time.
The river is now internationally famous thanks to the music of the 1960s known as
Merseybeat and its strong association with Liverpool, which produced songs such as "
Ferry Cross The Mersey".
*
Mersey Estuary*
Rivers of the United Kingdom*
Mersey Sound / Merseybeat*
Mersey and Irwell Navigation*
Mersey Basin Campaign*
Mersey map - aisliverpool.org.uk *
River mersey information
