Funland

Liverpool trip
Another photo taken on my recent visit to Southport.  'Life is a journey, enjoy the ride.'

Things to smile about

Liverpool trip
Wandering around Southport, a few things caught my eye and made me smile. For one thing, despite it being a seaside town, I couldn't see the sea! Strong currents didn't seem to be a current issue.
The Lancashire coast is gradually silting up and the wide expanses of shallow sand mean that the tide goes in and out over a huge distance. So beware, as when it does come in (you can see the high tide mark in my photo) it comes in fast and unpredictably, and yes, there are strong cross-currents that have caught many people out and even caused fatalities.

A café close to the pier had a large area of seating outside. Being Britain, the day was cold and windy so there were just three brave souls sitting there. That didn't seem to bother the resident entertainer, who was belting out old favourite songs and a stream of banter as though the whole world was listening.

I chose not to sample the delights of the lawnmower museum! (Though it is, I'm sure, a cutting edge attraction). 

I was just thinking 'the North isn't all cloth caps and whippets' (a popular stereotype) when half a dozen whippets walked past!

The butt of jokes, perhaps...

Colours

Liverpool trip
Sometimes it only takes a few bright colours to cheer me up... and a cup of tea, of course!

All the fun of the fair

Liverpool trip
Have you ever been in a Hall of Mirrors, those distorting mirrors that they have in fun fairs and amusement parks? For some reason ever since I was a child I have found them absolutely hilarious and have been known to collapse, helpless with hysterical laughter, once inside. I was delighted to find that the seaside resort of Southport did not disappoint. There was a hall of mirrors in the pier amusements. I'm taking the risk of posting some images! I might pin the second one on the fridge as a deterrent!

Carousel

Liverpool trip

To my delight, there was a Victorian carousel - Herbert Silcock's Golden Gallopers - at the end of Southport Pier. I love carousels. Since it was the week of the famous Grand National horse race (yes, ages ago!), held at the nearby Aintree racecourse, I decided that was a good excuse to treat myself to a ride, which I haven't done for... oh, at least 35 years! It was a smooth and graceful ride. I love the colours and the tinny organ music. This particular carousel was built over 100 years ago by Savages of Kings Lynn. It was purchased by the Silcock family, who run Southport's pier amusements, in 1989 and took three years to restore. A few of the 33 horses and the three cockerels are the originals but most are faithful reproductions. 

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.

Southport

Back to my Liverpool trip last month... So many outings, I'm finding it hard to fit all the photos in!

Whilst in Liverpool, I took the train a few miles up the coast to Southport. As with most of our northern coastal towns, the resort's heyday was in late Victorian and Edwardian times, when those with money came to stay in elegant hotels, believing sea-bathing to be a cure for many ills, and the working class had day-trips to the seaside. The legacy of those times is found in Southport's extensive Marine Gardens, recently restored by the town council in a £5.5 million project.

The huge lake, with its elegant bridges, was at one time the scene of elaborate, masked Venetian galas and firework displays. (One of the stone, arched bridges is in the background of my photo below. The tall suspension tower belongs to a newer road bridge behind the gardens.) Things are rather more sedate these days but it's very pleasant to stroll around. There are children's playgrounds, bowling greens and a miniature railway that has run through the gardens since 1911.

Southport is nowhere near as run down as many of our seaside towns. It is close to several prestigious championship golf courses, strung out along the sandy coast, including Royal Birkdale which sometimes hosts the Open Championship. The town also holds several major shows each year, like the Southport Flower Show, the UK's largest independent flower show, and it is a conference venue.

One of its 'jewels' is Lord Street, a long and wide boulevard with gardens in the middle. It holds many of the town's public buildings and many shops and cafés, under elegant glass arcades. There's also a market and a pedestrianised shopping area, so the town is a magnet for those who love shopping. I enjoyed my day there very much! (Treated myself to lunch in the Westminster Tearooms too: smoked salmon sandwiches, tea in a silver teapot, fine bone china teacup - wonderful!)