The Wirral is a peninsula in the north-west of England, a square cut of land jutting into the Irish Sea. To the east is the Mersey Estuary and the city of Liverpool, to the west is the Dee and the north coast of Wales. In the nineteenth century, Birkenhead became something of an industrial centre, with shipyards and docks dotted along the Mersey banks. But it's not all just urban sprawl - The Wirral still has a huge diversity of landscapes, from rolling countryside and lowland heaths to coastal cliffs and wide sandy beaches.
At the mouth of the Dee Estuary are the iconic Red Rocks, a stretch of sand dunes and reedbeds along the north-west Wirral coast. Because of its huge variety of habitat - scrubland, rolling dunes, brackish marshes, and open sea - the area is one of the UK's birdlife hotspots. Over 268 different species of bird have been recorded here, from sedge warblers and reed buntings to skylarks and stonechats!
This design shows the wide beaches at the mouth of the River Dee, with the seaside town of Hoylake to the right hand side. Birds dart in every direction, and on the edge of the distant horizon, turbines turn peacefully in the wind. Go on: indulge your love of the English seaside with this beautiful tea towel!
