Southport Memories of a Seaside Town (Part 02)

[@BooSilva]

Thank you so much for posting this. I loved seeing back into my families past, my past and my children's present. It breaks my heart to see this fair town loosing its charm. It should have been the jewel in Seftons crown, not a tipping ground for their waste. Shame on you Sefton Council.

[@michaelturner4457]

Having lived in Ormskirk up until I was 20, Southport was always a day trip for our family.

[@SuperChefBob]

Every year on june 29th(st.peter and Paul) we all went to southport and rode on the trains.I managed to get back the other year 55years after and the trains were still there, and the feeling was just as MAGICAL-thank you

[@BitAnBobs]

Once again, thanks for uploading this. I thoroughly enjoyed watching both parts of the video. I was born in Southport and lived there for 20 years. I've always been fascinated by the towns wonderful and diverse history. This video is a gem. I'm very happy to have stumbled upon it.

[@jaskvalers]

Thanks for this...my home town!

[@johnparsons222]

enjoyable and informative video..many thanks

[@capekurtz]

I went with my aunt to the model village in 1957

[@stuartbedford6344]

Things change like every where not always for the better

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

what happened to the train that was on the pier in the 1980s- 1990.

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

my late grandfather was born in Marshside southport

[@Millennial_Manc]

The most destructive act was by Amanda Thompson. The council made the incomprehensible decision to sell pleasure land to Blackpool pleasure Beach. It was making a significant profit and at one stage overtook Alton Towers in visitor numbers. Blackpool pleasure beach however was haemorrhaging money and has done ever since. Thompson inherited both fairgrounds when her father died and after a couple of years she decided to shut down Southport to concentrate resources on Blackpool in the hope that it would revive it. She not only removed the new rides from the fairground that had been funded by the pleasure beach and had achieved such high visitor numbers, but she destroyed the old rides such as the wooden rollercoaster which was a very significant rollercoaster for enthusiast groups around the world. Once the fairground had been destroyed in this way the daytrippers from the rest of Merseyside and Lancashire immediately dropped off. Then the town became increasingly dilapidated and the coach trips to the town tailed off too. Of course the town was already on a downward trajectory before the fairground was sold but that had remained a reliable draw for the tourist season especially as the fairgrounds around Liverpool and Camelot in Lancashire heart all closed and Southport was the last one standing. I am not one for fairgrounds particularly, but I remember before the council sold it that every ride and stall and shop was owned by an independent trader. That meant that the people facing the customers had a very strong passion for what they did and would actively and engage customers and give them the best experience they possibly “. As soon as the site was sold everybody in a customer facing role was an employee on minimum wage And they behind the stalls totally disinterested in customers of what was going on around them as no matter what they did or didn’t do they would be paid exactly the same. I was surprised to learn earlier this year that Southport had 33 railway stations and was the most visited seaside resort in the entire United Kingdom. It wasn’t long before Blackpool overtook in terms of numbers however Southport attracted and older well to do holiday maker and was still highly prosperous. Of course Blackpool went the same way as Southport in terms of a gradual decline but Southport seems to have made more unforced errors in terms of town planning, poor maintenance, and the overall economic strategy for the area. It doesn’t really matter if Southport is in Merseyside or in Lancashire. The resort as it has been for the last 25 years is an economic Nonstarter. The Northwest has been chronically neglected since the 90s and there are too many forces against Southport being successful. The public transport is diabolical, there is no bus station, there is no car parking, and the town is only accessible via single carriage slow and congested roads, except for the recent improvements leading from the M57 / M58, which have come far too late. Sadly Southport is all over and it is never coming back so all we can do is look at videos that remind us of the greatness that once was.

[@MrBooojangles]

What happened to the pier because in this film the tram is fenced off on the side of the pier, but now the tram runs through the centre of the pier and not fenced off.

[@oceanparadox]

+MrBooojangles Good question, I suspect with improvements in technology instead of having a greased up pulley / chain system where someone could injure themselves, we swopped to electric battery run on rails which are safer to step on so they saw no need to keep the barrier and increase space.

[@MrBooojangles]

+Juan Carlos One other thing. When we were at the end of the pier and looking south (off left side of pier), there was a piece of large diameter pipe sticking vertically out the sea with a ball shape top with holes in it. It was before the sand dunes started I think. What was that for, i've not been able to find out?

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

that was part of a ship that sank off southport pier

[@davidsumner4335]

@@MrBooojangles It was the inlet/outlet for the sea bathing lake.

[@MrBooojangles]

@@davidsumner4335 ah ok, thanks.

[@johnparsons5650]

There needs to be some grown up town management introduced to run Southport

[@oceanparadox]

+John Parsons Definitely! Bootle town hall has transformed us into Bootle! Landscape Chapel Street, trees and a fountain would not go amiss with some nice floor paving. The beach could also use a clean up, the team that manages the gardens have done a good job. They are our local heroes amidst all the council cuts. We have three useless park and ride follys, loads of 20mph signs for no reasons, slaloms and islands in roads for no reason and not much landscaping!

[@mxllard]

U got a daughter? If so, is she ginger😏😏😏

[@mxllard]

Old 1 words of wisdom man, really proud of u. Props to you.

[@SteCrook]

And the newest tram on the pier will take you the 3/4 mile journey in just 6 hours harnessing the technology of electric

[@steviejmal]

totally agree

[@abbcrane6659]

sorry i just realised its from the olden days when everywhere like had grey and white and black.

[@oldbloke135]

I remember working at Southport Theatre for Ken Dodd's summer season. Who'd have thought that Doddy would last better than the town he was performing in? He might look old but at least he is still recognizable, not like Southport.

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

sadley Ken Dodd passed on today aged 90

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

sadley the west Lancashire railway scrapped the silver belle from southport pier

[@elcid5447]

Shoppers paradise? Investment on its way? ha ha ha. Sefton Councillors hang your heads in SHAME!! Greedy Landlords, advising Estate Agents, all to blame in the lets get rich greedy society of the 80's & 90's. The most famous race horse of its time didn't even get honoured. A small donkey look-alike hidden away in an arcade was the best the council could muster. While Aintree has a majestic life size monument. The problem with Southport is its not controlled by the people of Southport.

[@mikechick221]

southport need to be run a a concil for southport area only and not run bye sefton its a concil that too big dosent work and has destroed southport. southport is hanging on but for how log will it ever come off its it life suport or is it dead in the water i think at the moment there is at least hope

[@CrisTheRed]

And Southport should go back to Lancashire as Sefton don't care and use it as a bin

[@mikechick221]

sothport fail is noting like it was when it was pulled apart now maily travling ride and few ground ones the baths is as brill with only three slides and one big pool and is rundown and the pier is jsut another arcad with some silly arcade msem at the end it still there but southport far from flursing its a town that is slowly dying of rott and vandels it will only get worse

[@John-xi9pl]

Great vids - thanks. Just half the energy wasted on council bashing recycled into positivity the Town would make a better image. Some of the posters have a weird agenda. Sorry - had to say

[@oceanparadox]

Guess what our idiot council did, bought a tram that was too heavy for the pier and therefore had to go back to using the rubbish train on wheels for tourists. The modern tram they bought in at a sizeable cost was damaging the pier. *GROAN* Why not check this before you bought the damn thing?

[@oceanparadox]

+kingofkeyboards I really do not know, best try mentioning it to the council. It would be really silly to not do something like that as it is an extra attraction. There is a lot of investment and funding to do up the part of Lord Street around the monument to open up a public square I believe. There are other things included as part of that but I am unaware if the tram is part of it. If enough people get in touch with the council about it then that will help. All the best!

[@MrBooojangles]

+Juan Carlos What idiots LOL. You would have thought council engineers or advisors would have checked that first. Would that be the same tram that was there when I went in March 2014?

[@oceanparadox]

+MrBooojangles Yes, I agree! Any retired engineer in the town could have pitched in. I think it would be, it was a rectangular shaped, quite fancy thing that looked like a small coach. I think it even had electric doors; it was a nicer colour than brown and cream too!

[@MrBooojangles]

Juan Carlos Yeah sounds like the one I went on. I held him up at one point, LOL. I was taking a photo down the length of the pier and unknowingly I was standing on the track. I turned around and he was stopped right behind me, waiting for me to move, LOL.

[@oceanparadox]

+MrBooojangles Haha! So a near death experience then? :-)

[@MrPerston]

I love u

[@foggyconnor]

It's weird seeing how where I live has become even more of a shithole

[@stevethomas2559]

Colour video is the worst thing to happen to our nation. Everybody was much slimmer and healthy in black and white.

[@abbcrane6659]

great film but it could be cartoon.

[@myallotment]

why?