Southport Pier

Liverpool trip
Southport Pier is really long, at over a kilometre; it's the second longest pier in the UK after Southend. I couldn't see from one end to the other, or even capture it all in one photo. It was a bracing walk (!) and I didn't stop at the ice cream and doughnut shack part way down, but thankfully there's quite a smart pavilion café at the far end so I could wrap my hands around a hot coffee to warm up.

Interestingly, at one time, pleasure and fishing boats used to berth at the pier head. When the bay silted up, the pier was extended, but nowadays the tide goes out far beyond the pier and the bay is too shallow for boats. There was once a tramway, originally for transferring baggage and goods, but that finally ceased in 2015 due to rising costs. For those who can't manage the walk, there is now a little land train that runs up and down.

I couldn't see the sea, even from the pier head - but I could see Blackpool with its famous tower, further up the coast.