Slope of No Hope

In the 1970s, Kirkby set out to put Merseyside on the map with an ambitious new attraction: its very own ski slope. But what began as a bold regeneration project quickly spiralled into one of the region’s most infamous planning disasters. The slope was built, never opened, and became a source of local legend.

Local historian Peter Eric Lang guides us through the ambition, the mistakes, the fallout — and explaining why the Kirkby Ski Slope still stands as one of Merseyside’s strangest “what might have been” moments.