Beechwood is a housing estate situated between Bidston and Noctorum, to the west of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in England. The estate was built in the 1960s as the Ford Estate and completed in the mid to late 1970s, to house people moving from the North End of Birkenhead and providing a better standard of living. Most of Beechwood is former council property, bought from Wirral Borough Council by local tenants who formed 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 at Woodchurch and Noctorum. The estate is now separated into three sections, these being Upper Bidston Village, Beechwood and Greenfields. In recent years the estate has seen significant redevelopment of the former wooded area at 6th Avenue and through the demolition of maisonettes, tower blocks, manor County Middle School and residential care homes, with the construction of new affordable homes by private investors.
Beechwood is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in 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 governmentward 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.
Local amenities
Beechwood is served by the Post Office, a community library, a recreation centre, a social club, a children's centre and a health centre. The estate has a small shopping area. Beechwood originally had 5 public houses, Seven Stiles, Windmill, Buccaneer, One O'clock Gun and Corsair. The Windmill was the final public house on the estate to close, which was named after the nearby windmill on Bidston Hill. The Corsair pub, was situated towards Bidston, was demolished after being closed for a number of years and then damaged in a fire. There are two churches, the modern Roman Catholic church, which is St. Paul's, and the small, modern Beechwood Chapel which is a Church of England building.
Education
Beechwood Primary School is situated at the end of Beechwood Drive,. This was previously known as Manor County Primary & Middle Schools, however in recent years the buildings of the middle school were demolished and the school combine in the buildings of the primary school. St Paul's Primary School is a Catholic school situated on Farmfield Drive,.
Transport
Roads
The M53 motorway runs along the western side of Beechwood and the nearest junction, Junction 1 of the motorway, is situated north of Beechwood. The A5027 is situated at the southern side of Beechwood and the A553 is to the north.
Buses
Until deregulation of the bus services, in 1986, the area was served by both the forerunner to Merseytravel, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive and the separate operator, Crosville. Present-day services are run primarily by Arriva, and are coordinated by Merseytravel. Beechwood has bus stops along Fender Way, the main road through the area. Merseytravel's daily "Saveaway" Area B and All Zones tickets are valid to use from any bus stop in Beechwood, on the basis of being for the passenger of relevant age, in-date and for use after 9:30am.
Railways
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'sWirral 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.
Cycling
passes along the western side of Beechwood, alongside Fender Way. This route goes from Chester to Liverpool via Leasowe and Seacombe and includes part of the Wirral Way, along its course.
