Ellesmere Port

Bed and Breakfast Ellesmere Port Cheshire

Approximate Population: 64,100

Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and cargo port in the the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated in the south of the Wirral Peninsula on the estuary of the River Mersey, and to the north of the city of Chester. The town had a population of 64,100 as of the 2001 Census.

The town is primarily industrial, being dominated by a Shell oil refinery at Stanlow and a former ICI chemical works. The town is also home to the Vauxhall Motors car factory, noted for producing the Astra range of cars in the United Kingdom. There are a number of tourist attractions: the National Waterways Museum, the Blue Planet Aquarium and the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet which is owned by McArthurGlen Group.

The town of Ellesmere Port was founded as an outlet to the sea from Ellesmere, Shropshire and the Welsh border area around Llangollen via a canal initially called the Ellesmere Canal. The canal was designed and engineered by William Jessop and Thomas Telford as part of a project to connect the rivers Severn, Mersey and Dee. The canal connected to the Mersey in the village of Netherpool, and the basin was known as Whitby Locks. The section between Whitby Locks and Chester was opened in 1795, connecting two of the rivers; but the connection to the Severn was never completed.

The town continues to grow and expand, and more housing estates and shops are being built. The industrial sector is still a major employer in the town although in recent years, a number of factories have been closed and jobs lost.

The Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port is now Vauxhall’s only factory in Britain since the closure of the Luton plant in 2004, and currently produces the Astra and Vectra models for the British market. Doubts over the plant’s future were ended in 2007 when General Motors confirmed that the next generation Astra will be built at the plant when it is launched in 2010. 

Bed and Breakfast Ellesmere Port Cheshire