Well I'm glad to say that I've not been here for a while, but it was certainly one of the worst…read moretrain stations that I've ever stepped foot in within the UK. From the outside it looks as though it might be quite nice, but inside it's dank and depressing, unclean and smoggy. The toilets are some of the stinkiest I ever went in, and so horrible that I'd sooner hold it in and wait till I get to my destination than go inside. They were dark with a UV light lighting up the dirt and grime, so that local smack heads couldn't shoot up inside there. Apparently the UV light means they can't see their veins. OK, given that it's a state, it still gets you from A to B, but I never felt as though I could relax in this station! But if you need to get to Liverpool in a rush, this is the place for you, but I'd sooner turn around and get the bus as the stop is only 5 minutes away.

Conway park is one of the seemingly numerous train stations in Birkenhead. It's fairly convenient…read morefor the shops and restaurants, though I prefer Hamilton Square as I love walking through the square and enjoying that small patch of green in the city. You won't really find much here in the way of a shop or snack bar, though, so if you're hoping to grab some chocolate on your way home you might want to nip into a newsagents before arriving at the station. All in all, not a bad station, but certainly not my favourite either.

It is cold.... there is a distinct lack of anywhere warm to stay and wait if you are heading…read moretowards Liverpool, so this is one of those stations that is cold in the winter but tolerable in the summer. The extra staff is there because the station staff are lovely.

Birkenhead North Station is a small railway station kind of nearish Birkenhead, but not right in…read morethe city. There isn't much to see here, and from what I've been told it's a quite rough area so you may not want to wander around here alone, especially at night. There are no toilets, shop, or café at this station as far as I am aware, unless they have been built very recently, which I doubt. If you want to get into Birkenhead you are better of to use Hamilton Square station or Birkenhead Central.

The station was built in the 1800's, and is apparently a Grade 2 historical building. Yet there's…read morereally not much to see at this little station. But it's a good place to change trains if you're coming from Liverpool and you want to get to Chester. Also, if you want to go shopping in Birkenhead it's fairly easy to get to the shopping centres and market from this station. Also, as the name of the station suggests, it's near Hamilton Square itself, which is a nice patch of green in the city. It makes a great place to have a picnic lunch, and it's right by the Wirral Museum.

If you were to watch a horror movie that's set in the city, and then if someone were to get…read moremurdered in a dank and horrible station, it would probably look like Hamilton Square! It's just dank and dim and dark and I never feel 100% comfortable here! Much like its little sister station, 'Conway Park', it's another dark stop on the Wirral line as you make your journey towards the city of Liverpool. I always much prefer to get the bus if I'm stuck in Birkenhead, just because all the stations in Birkenhead are shitty and don't seem to be that well kept! Although this is a grade 2 listed building, this means nothing to me! If it were a mansion it would be rotting away at the floorboards! Boo!

Birkenhead Central lies on the Liverpool-Chester line and is the last stop before the railway…read moreplunges underground to cross the Mersey. Like most of the stations I've used in this area Birkenhead Central looks better from the outside. Inside it's more than a little run down and in need of refurbishment. There is a small snack bar but otherwise it's all a bit desolate. On the plus side it is handily placed for the town centre, if you take a left just past Central Hotel and head past House of Fraser it's only a five minute walk to the shops.

As the name denotes, this station is fairly central to Birkenhead, so if you're here for a day of…read moreshopping, to get your hair done, or even to spend a nice relaxing hour reading a book in Hamilton Square, you're fairly close to everything with this train station . Sometimes it's easier to get off at Hamilton Square, depending on where you are coming from, since you will only need one train to get to Birkenhead this way, but I still think this station is a nicer one. It also has a fairly sizeable snack bar, unlike Hamilton Square. Definitely a plus. Within easy walking distance of the Grange Shopping Centre, Pyramid Shopping Centre, and the Birkenhead Market.

The Woodside Bus Station in Birkenhead is conveniently located right beside the Woodside Ferry…read moreTerminal. So if you want to hop off the ferry at Woodside, you can easily catch a bus into the city of Birkenhead or on to another destination. Or, you can easily walk into Birkenhead. It's a short walk to Hamilton Square, Hamilton Square train station, the Birkenhead Market, the Grange Shopping Centre, and the Pyramid Shopping Centre. Everything is fairly close together and easy to get around.

Birkenhead Bus Station is actually one of the best things about Birkenhead! For a start, it gets…read moreyou out of there as soon as you like, secondly it's nice to look at as it's a huge glass frame, thirdly it's warm, and finally it's secure so you won't get mugged here. I remember when it first got built and people would marvel at its sheer beauty.. Well that's a lie, people would just bicker and sigh that their buses were late, much as they still do today. But it's a great sheltered space with bus routes leading over to Liverpool and all over the Wirral as far as New Brighton, Heswall and West Kirby. They have two help desks in case you're not too sure what bus to take, or you need a bus pass or a TRIO or Saveaway. They also have a machine that vends cans of pop, and one with hot drinks. What more could you want?

It's not too bad as bus stations go. But all the announcements are proceeded with a very loud…read moredoorbell. Incredibly cheap and quite a shock if you're not deaf. Spend any length of time waiting there and you will end up with post traumatic stress. It's actually quite close to Conway Park station. However for buses; considering it's the nearly the last stop before Liverpool there's actually a large gap between Liverpool buses if you don't have the right ticket. Merseytravel couldn't even sort out a shared ticket arrangement whilst the rail tunnel is closed. It really should do better in terms of providing a shuttle link between Birkenhead and Liverpool.. considering this link is completely covered by a Merseytravel Monopoly (Tolls, ferries, buses, train .. all ultimately accountable and paid to Merseytravel). There's no cycle way in the Birkenhead tunnel's lower deck for example. It terms of some buses it's built in the wrong place... most notably peak time 471,472 bypass the bus station and go straight to Liverpool. The ding-dong doorbell announcements say it all ... an expensive project .. but couldn't be bothered going the extra mile.

What we noticed first was just how basic this place is. It's a fine building, clean, bright, airy…read moreand almost empty. Then we realised just how quiet it was around us as a commercial port area. We've toured Europe over the last 6/7 weeks with two weeks cruising Europe and so we've been in a half dozen industrial Spanish, Portuguese and French ports and all of them were really active, and very busy from we arrived until we departed - usually an 8 hour span each time. This deep port terminal was quiet, eerily quiet. No real trade or commerce quiet mid week 8am in a major city. We began to wonder if it's deathly quiet is a result of Brexit as the signs are all around in plain sight - British productivity has fallen through the floor, inflation is toward double figures and recession has arrived. There's no longer a functioning health service yet the government pretends there is opting to spend billions in Ukraine from its money tree, gp's have vanished behind closed and locked doors as they are told there's no money tree so appointments are like getting a golden ticket to Willie Wonka's place and public dentistry has all but disappeared. Two of it's former prime ministers accurately said leaving Europe would make Britain much poorer and they had to lose the battle to be proved right with the super rich and the working poor voting to leave Europe and in doing so have thrown everything away in pursuit of something that's not worth it. It'll be several months at least before we reluctantly pass this way again. By that stage the kamikaze British government may continue acts of self harm and break the international protocol agreement they themselves opted for. If they do then they'll also completely devastate their fishing industries in Scotland and Southern England and do the same to the fishing and diary industries in Northern Ireland and all quite literally overnight. In this likely next step by the government port terminals like this sleepy one will have very little to offer in terms of work. It's so bad here that even the chief government spin doctor an Australian bloke who was the architect of pushing Brexit and was behind the bus poster campaign said this week that they should have stayed in the single market. The bus posters promised millions of pounds annually to their NHS but instead they have it desperately needing life support. Their government couldn't run a bath but at least their spin doctor has a thriving country to go home to.

For spectacular views of Liverpool's impressive skyline, there is no better vantage point than…read moreBirkenhead's Woodside Ferry Terminal. Close to Hamilton Square, the first station on the Wirral from Liverpool, this is an amazing location that catches the eye of any motorist driving from Birkenhead to the Wallasey Tunnel. As a born and bred scouser the vista from this site never fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There isn't much here besides a tranquil cafe, great for staring out at the perfect panorama, the Liver Birds, the Echo Arena, the Port of Liverpool building or any of the city's new waterfront additions. Sitting there today (30 August) among just a couple of people, it was interesting to wonder just how busy Liverpool was during the Beatles inspired day of the Mathew Street festival. Far removed from the peace and quiet of Woodside. I could quite easily spend a day here with my Canon, but I'd recommend a very wide lens to fit in all Liverpool has to offer.

Although Delta are always my first port of call when ordering a taxi in or out of the city centre,…read moreDavy Liver are another city favourite and they are very very reliable, often arriving quicker than Delta. They are my first port of call if I am in or around the Lark Lane/Aigburth area, as they are based nearby and get to you in no time at all! They use a ring back service; this logs your mobile number and gives you a missed call as your carriage is just about to pull up outside your house! They run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I've always heard good things about the drivers, making them reliable and trustworthy. They are far better, personable and more affordable that the city's hackney cabs. I never get a hackney unless I'm really stuck as they are incredibly pricey compared to the independent cab firms such as Davy Liver and Delta!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY…read more I booked a taxi last night to be picked up this morning from Hope Street. The silly girl on the other end of the phone didn't seem to know where Hope Street was! This morning the taxi did not turn up, no doubt due to the stupid moronic woman on the other end of the phone not booking it properly. Yet when I rang to check where the taxi was some other idiot tried to make out like it was my fault. This isn't the first time something like this as happened. I repeat, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY THEY ARE UNRELIABLE.