I grew up on The Wirral and cringe every time I see, or hear 'Wirral' and not The Wirral.

Even the late, great, Paul O'Grady always said The Wirral.

Paul was constantly reminding people that he was from The Wirral and not Liverpool.

This is laziness, brought about by outsiders from Liverpool, moving across and referring to it as Wirral.

If you look on Wikipedia, it quite clearly refers to The Wirral Peninsula (quote, "known locally as The Wirral" unquote) I can only assume that this has caught on through ignorance.

I also think it was a sad day when Birkenhead became "Merseyside", rather than "Cheshire" (which is on my birth certificate!) Everybody assumes you are from Liverpool, if you say Merseyside.

"My geography teacher, in 1947, predicted that one day, if Liverpool had their way, they would do away with Cheshire and turn us into Merseyside. She was spot on!

Just letting off steam!

Too late to right the wrong now, anyway, but I take every opportunity to point out that it is The Wirral, but sadly, nobody cares any more.

Madeline, by email