1987 saw the dropping of the ‘West’ from the stamps and also the introduction of two colour printing. In 1988 two deliveries were initiated. 1990, 1991 & 1992 saw the original central sort split into two, three and then four centres in successive years. By 1995 there were about 300 shops acting as temporary ‘Post Offices' and the sort was split into five locations. After 25% was donated to other charities the remaining profits were divided between the 60 participating groups. It is known that in some years Wirral Press subcontracted part of the printing which may explain some slight colour variations. Guide trefoil badge added to the design from 1993 onwards.
The Wirral comprises several districts within the Scout County of Merseyside.
Type 1, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on plain white envelopes.
Type 2, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Types 3 and 4, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. Type 4 has the scout badge omitted and appeared once in each sheet. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Types 5 and 6, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. Type 6 has a small "p" in the value and appeared once per sheet. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 7, 28x40mm, designed by Whitefriars Advertising (Chester) and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 8, 28x40mm, designed by Whitefriars Advertising (Chester) and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 9, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Types 10 and 11, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Professional Marketing Services, rouletted about 7. It is known that some of the printing was subcontracted (but not to whom) and the two red colour variations appeared on slightly different sized paper. Cachet C2 was also used instead of stamps on bulk mail for this year only. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Types 12 and 13, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. The violet areas of type 12 appear not to be overlaid with green - the overlapping of green & violet in type 12a leads to a significantly darker effect in the main violet areas (it is not known which came first, or whether the change was deliberate or accidental.). First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 14, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 15, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 16, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 17, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 18, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 19, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 20, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 21, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 22, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 23, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 24, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Type 25, 28x40mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, rouletted about 7. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
Types 26 & 27, 26x37mm, designed by ? and printed in sheets of 50 (10 rows of 5) by Wirral Press, type 26 on gummed paper rouletted about 9, type 27 on self-adhesive labels on a well-cut backing sheet. First day covers produced on locally designed special envelopes.
These illustrate the differing perforations at the corners.
It is also still possible to find the West Wirral cancellations being used on Wirral stamps. Dates for P1 - P8 are those when first seen by the compiler, usage continued in later years.
Type C1 - used on FDCs in 1987 only.
Type C2 - used on bulk mail (without stamps) in 1994 only.
Type P1, open corners - used from 1987.
Type P2, open corners - used from 1990.
Type P3, closed corners - used from 1990.
Type P4, closed corners - used from 1991.
Type P5, closed corners - used from 1990.
Type P6, closed corners (thin text) - used from 2000.
Type P7, larger - used from 2000.
Type P8, even larger - used from 2000.
| Year | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 |
| Start | None | None | None | None | None | None | Dec 8 | Dec 6 | Dec 7 | Dec 10 |
| Printed | None | None | None | None | None | None | . | . | . | . |
| Carried | None | None | None | None | None | None | 443,000 | 500,000 | 650,000 | 679,000 |
| Charity donation | None | None | None | None | None | None | £9,300 | £11,729 | £14,527 | £18,000 |
| Year | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Start | Dec 9 | Dec 8 | Dec 8 | Dec 7 | Dec 11 | Dec 9 | Dec 8 | Dec 7 | Dec 7 | Dec 11 |
| Printed | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Carried | 732,000 | 712,000 | 757,000 | 794,500 | 750,000 | 773,000 | 780,000 | 740,000 | 750,000 | 763,000 |
| Charity donation | £20,025 | £19,000 | £20,000 | £20,000 | £24,000 | £24,230 | £24,250 | £23,200 | £22,150 | £23,880 |
| Year | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Start | Dec 10 | Dec 9 | Dec 8 | Dec 6 | Dec 5 | Dec 5 | . | . | . | . |
| Printed | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Carried | 685,000 | 648,000 | 629,000 | 602,000 | 574,000 | 610,000 | 607,000 | . | . | . |
| Charity donation | £22,190 | £21,000 | £19,710 | £19,002 | £17,848 | £20,140 | £19,600 | . | . | . |
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