Wirral's Viking Trail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ncLpGyTtc&t=30s There are hundreds of field and track names in Wirral with Scandinavian names or showing that many Scandinavian dialogue words were still being used well into the 19th century. Many of these names are recorded in 19th century tithe maps, which are archived in Chester at the record office. In this visit we went to investigate one name in particular, Piladall near Raby. Piladall is an old Viking name meaning ‘willow tree valley’. We now show how we use a tithe map alongside a modern map to help find where it is today and who knows? If we can find it, maybe there are some willow trees still there. Let’s investigate! So here we are inside the record office and we come across some tithe maps. Now this particular tithe map in front of me is from Little Neston parish in the area of Hargrave and the reason why these fragments, which come from the Victorian period, are useful is you can find names of fields and roads, many of which have our ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8b2pv1JTTA   Transcript: There are hundreds of major and minor place names in Wirral with Viking  origins and you can get a good appreciation of the density of these names  from signposts, such as this one here in the village of Irby, which itself is a  Scandinavian name (‘settlement of the Irish’ or ‘settlement of Scandinavians from Ireland’).   We're now in the centre of the village of Irby in north Wirral. In front of us you can see a signpost. It’s not just any old signpost, but it’s a signpost which points to the past because all or most of the place names on that signpost are Viking in origin. Moving from right to left, there's Thurstaston, which means Thorstein’s farmstead; West Kirby, which means the west village of the church; Thingwall, which means assembly field, the site of the Viking parliament; Arrowe, which means pasture land away from the farmhouse and then you can see Pensby and Heswall. So all these places are...

  Professor Steve Harding and Tim Baldock gave a talk to St Andrews URC Afternoon Guild in Meols on 16th April 2024 about the ancient boat which is rumoured to be under the patio of the pub. The talk wasn't recorded, so this link is a summary of the talk with all the visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw8V9No2lvQ