West Kirby

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Sunset over the Marine Lake

Map sources for West Kirby at grid reference SJ210869

West Kirby is a town located on the north west corner of the coast of the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It was formerly in the county of Cheshire, but since 1974 has been in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It should not be confused with Kirkby (pronounced Kirby), also in Merseyside.

The old village was located around St Bridget's Church, but the town as it is today is centred on West Kirby railway station about 1km away. The town has an elegant Victorian promenade, flanked by a marine lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide. Windsurfing, sailing and sea kayaking are all popular local sports.

In October 1991, the World Windsurfing Speed Record was set on the West Kirby Marine Lake at 42.16 knots. It was held for 2 years until it was beaten in Australia.

Water sports fans are reminded to wear appropriate footwear whilst using the marine lake due to the presence of weaver fish with sharp poisonous barbs. There is also an RNLI Lifeboat Station near West Kirby Sailing Club.

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, a links course sited between West Kirby and Hoylake, hosted the 2006 British Open.

The town itself contains such delights as Ashton Park and the start of the Wirral Way, which follows the trackbed of a former railway line to Hooton. A popular activity is to walk out to the islands of Little Eye, Middle Eye and Hilbre Island at low tide.

A scouse nickname for West Kirby is Weka.

[edit] See also

Districts of North West England
Allerdale \| Barrow-in-Furness \| Blackburn with Darwen \| Blackpool \| Bolton \| Burnley \| Bury \| Carlisle \| Chester \| Chorley \| Congleton \| Copeland \| Crewe and Nantwich \| Eden \| Ellesmere Port and Neston \| Fylde \| Halton \| Hyndburn \| Knowsley \| Lancaster \| Liverpool \| Macclesfield \| Manchester \| Oldham \| Pendle \| Preston \| Ribble Valley \| Rochdale \| Rossendale \| St Helens \| Salford \| Sefton \| South Lakeland \| South Ribble \| Stockport \| Tameside \| Trafford \| Vale Royal \| Warrington \| West Lancashire \| Wigan \| Wirral \| Wyre
Counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside