Wirral Country Park

Wirral Country Park
The site of Kirby Park railway station, now given over to the Wirral Way.
Type	Public park
Location	Station Road Thurstaston Merseyside CH61 0HN
Created	1973
Operated by	Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Cheshire West & Chester
Open	All year
Status	Open

The Wirral Country Park is a country park on the Wirral Peninsula, England, lying both in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in the county of Cheshire. It was the first designated country park in Britain, opening in 1973.

The park is located along the Wirral Way, which follows the track bed of part of the former Birkenhead Railway route from West Kirby to Hooton. The old line, which closed in 1962, follows the estuary of the River Dee for 7 miles (11 km) between West Kirby and Parkgate. The route then heads inland, across the Wirral peninsula, to Hooton.

There are two visitor centres along the Wirral Way. The visitor centres are located near to the site of Thurstaston railway station, at Thurstaston, and at the preserved Hadlow Road railway station, in Willaston.

Work began on the park in 1969, and the park was formally opened in 1973 by Lord Leverhulme. The park's creation followed a successful campaign by Captain Lawrence Beswick DSM, which prompted the necessary investment from the Countryside Commission.

Construction of the park required the removal of 30 miles (48 km) of railway track and accompanying sleepers, the digging and forming of drainage channels, levelling and consolidation of thousands of tons of gravel or ballast, and the removal of some brick built road bridges. The old station platform at Thurstaston, the preserved 1950s-era railway station at Hadlow Road, Willaston, a number of bridges and the occasional railway incline signs, which indicate a degree of climb or descent, are some of the few remains of the original railway line.