Beechwood, Merseyside

Beechwood is a housing estate to the west of Birkenhead, situated between Bidston and Noctorum, on the Wirral Peninsula. The estate was built in the 1960s, as the Ford Estate, to house people moving from the North End of Birkenhead, with a better standard of living. Most of Beechwood is former council property, now being managed by a Community Housing Association. Some of the council houses have been sold under the Right to Buy scheme. The estate is the most northerly of three housing estates within a mile of each other. The other two being those found at Woodchurch and Noctorum. The estate is now separated into three separate sections. These being Upper Bidston Village, Beechwood and Greenfields.

Government
Beechwood is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. The estate is part of the parliamentary constituency of Birkenhead. The current Member of Parliament is Frank Field, a Labour representative. He has been the MP since 1979 and currently holds a majority of 15,395.

The area is also part of a local government ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, this being Bidston and St. James Ward. Beechwood is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors. These are Jim Crabtree, Ann McLachlan and Harry Smith, who are all Labour councillors. Ann McLachlan is also the deputy leader of the council. The most recent local elections took place on 22 May 2014.

The electorate numbered 9,932, there was a turnout of 26.6% and the majority is 1,161. The result was declared at 11:57.

Services, shops and leisure
Beechwood is served by the Post Office, a community library, a recreation centre, a social club, two primary schools which are Manor Primary School and St. Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School, a children's centre and a health centre.

Within the small shopping area is a branch of Sayers, whilst the nearest supermarkets are both outside of the estate. These are a Co-Operative supermarket, next to Upton station, and a large branch of Tesco, in nearby Bidston.

The estate has a small, modern Roman Catholic church, which is St. Paul's, and the small, modern Beechwood Chapel which is a Church of England building.

Beechwood has a couple of pubs. These are the Fender, which was formerly the Seven Stiles, and is situated next to its namesake, and the Windmill public house, which is named after the nearby Bidston Windmill on Bidston Hill. The Corsair pub, was situated towards Bidston, though has recently been demolished, after being closed for a number of years.

The 3rd Birkenhead Scout Group meets at McLachlan Hall on Fender Way. Several caged football and basketball areas are also within the vicinity, on or near to Beechwood Drive.

Transport
Currently, Upton and Bidston railway stations are the nearest to Beechwood, being situated at either end of the estate. These stations are both located on the Borderlands Line to Wrexham. Meanwhile, Bidston station is also part of Merseyrail's Wirral Line, primarily for travel to Liverpool and Chester. There is, however, a proposal for the construction of Beechwood railway station, which would be more centrally located to the area. This would be situated on the modernised and electrified Borderlands Line.