Liverpool Bay

From Wikishire
Jump to navigation Jump to search
NASA Landsat images of Liverpool Bay, showing (clockwise) the Ribble, Mersey, Dee and River Clwyd.

Liverpool Bay is a bay on the Irish Sea coast of Great Britain between Denbighshire, Flintshire, Cheshire and Lancashire. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from reduced oxygen content from prior massive discharges of sewage sludge, according to C.Michael Hogan.[1]

The rivers Alt, Clwyd, Dee, Ribble and Mersey drain into the bay. The bay is littered with wrecks and has many dive sites. The bay also contains several oil and gas fields including the Douglas Complex, with a combined daily capacity (as of January 2008) of 60,000 barrels. The UK's first major offshore wind farm, North Hoyle, is located in the south of the bay, which is a busy shipping route to the Mersey Docks.

The land area around the bay is occasionally referred to as the "Liverpool Bay Area". The term is often used to describe a wide area which may include the Lancashire towns of Ormskirk and Skelmersdale to the north, St Helens and Warrington to the east, and Chester plus northern Wales to the south. In this sense, it is often promoted by local thinkers and urbanists to encourage regional co-operation in both economic and cultural terms. It is not recognised by the British Government as a strategic economic sub-region, however. Despite having its advocates, the term is still not particularly common in the area.

The Cheshire and Lancashire portion of Liverpool Bay is one of the 120 natural areas into which England is divided by Natural England for conservation purposes.[2]

Wind power

Wind turbines which are the biggest in the world as of 2017 have been installed in Liverpool Bay.[3]

Notable ships lost in Liverpool Bay

  • SS City of Brussels
  • SS Ellan Vannin
  • PS Lelia
  • Ocean Monarch
  • Resurgam
  • HMS Thetis

References

Further reading

Outside links