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Before Liverpool became the North West's major sea port it was Parkgate - until the sea went away and left the village high and dry.
Today it remains one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Wirral, famous for its shrimps and ice cream.
The village grew from the early 17th Century, and by 1686 had become a well-known passenger port for Ireland. The main channel of the River Dee passed only 50 yards from the village sea front, but in the early 18th Century all this changed.
The main channel of the Dee was re-dug to follow the Welsh coast and allow ships access to Welsh ports, and Parkgate was the victim. The river channel - and passenger trade - dried up.
Parkgate instead re-invented itself as a bathing resort and became a fashionable bathing spot for the great and the good. Lady Hamilton, Nelson's Neston-born mistress, took a well-publicised dip here, but others are rumoured to include the painter Turner.
It's hard to imagine now, but what is today marshy grassland was then golden sand, and Parkgate remained a popular destination right up until the 1930s. These days the sea rarely comes close, but the charm of this old bathing resort, with its unusual architecture, remains.
Today the village retains its coastal ambience and attracts many visitors who come to stroll along its promenade and enjoy the views across to the Welsh hills. Most call in for an ice cream while they are at it.
Famous for home-made ice cream and shrimps, Parkgate's promenade offers a walk of historical and natural interest, as the Dee Estuary is recognised nationally as an important site for wading birds.
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