53°39N 3°01W, pop (2000e) 89 700. Coastal resort town in Merseyside, NW England, UK; on the Irish Sea, S of the R Ribble estuary, 25 km/15 mi N of Liverpool; the original garden city; a notable golfing area (Birkdale); railway; chemicals, engineering; annual flower show.
Southport has a population of around 93,000 people, with approximately 40% of the population over 55 years old and around 55% defined as social class ABC1.
Southport has many tourist attractions including the longest overland pier in Great Britain.
History
Southport, in its present form, was founded by William Sutton (The Mad Duke) in 1792.
Southport grew quickly in the 19th Century as it gained a reputation for being a more refined seaside resort than its neighbour-up-the-coast Blackpool.
Southport's suburbs are built around, and still named after, the old villages of the area. The town of Formby is south of Southport, with Hightown and Liverpool further southward, along the A565.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte lived in exile on Lord Street, the main thoroughfare of Southport, between 1846 and 1848, before returning to France, where he became President and subsequently Emperor of the French. On the strength of this coincidence, it has been suggested that the redevelopment may have been inspired by memories of Southport's town centre .
Local government and politics
Politically, Southport is a stronghold of the Liberal Democrats with the Conservative Party also strong in some areas. John Pugh is Southport's current Member of Parliament
Southport is within the historic boundaries of Lancashire, and was incorporated as municipal borough in 1866. Birkdale urban district, including the parishes of Birkdale and Ainsdale was added to Southport in 1912.
Under the 1971 Local Government White Paper, presented in February 1971, Southport would have lost its county borough status, becoming a non-metropolitan district within Lancashire. A recurring local political issue has been the cross-party movement campaigning for Southport to leave Sefton and form its own unitary authority, perhaps adjoined to the neighbouring West Lancashire authority.
In 1980, a Private Member's Bill proposed restoring Southport to Lancashire, and renaming the residue of Sefton to the Metropolitan Borough of Bootle. In 1990 the LGBC made suggestions that Southport, Ainsdale and Birkdale should be made a district of Lancashire: the final recommendations in 1991 "concluded that public opinion was more evenly divided than initially thought", and also that eastward transport links with Lancashire were poor compared to those southward to the Liverpool area. Local MPs Matthew Banks and Ronnie Fearn (MPs for Southport at various times) supported making Southport a unitary authority, with Banks wishing to see it tied to Lancashire ceremonially, but Fearn wishing to see it remain, as a separate borough, in Merseyside.
The commission noted that Southport would have a relatively low population for a unitary authority, even including Formby (89,300 or 114,700), and that it was worried about the viability of a South Sefton authority without Southport, and therefore recommended the status quo be kept.
In 2002, a local independent party calling themselves the Southport Party was established, with policy of "Southport out of Sefton".
To date, there have been no further moves to change Sefton's boundaries, but the Boundary Commission indicated in 2004 that a future review is possible:
Economy
Tourism still plays a large part of the economic make-up of Southport but its reputation of being a nice place to live brings in wealthy families commuting to Liverpool, Preston, Manchester and further afield.
Southport also hosts varied events including an annual air show and flower show, an open air classical music concert concluded with a fireworks display, a jazz festival, and the turning on of the pleasant town centre Christmas lights. Southport hosts the annual musical fireworks championships, and The Open Championship at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club course.
Scouting in Southport
The scouting district of Southport has always been an active one, currently there are approximately 700 members in the Southport area. The current groups in the district include:
1st Ainsdale with Beaver, Cub and Scout sections 11th Kew with Beaver and Cub sections 14th St. James with Beaver, Cub and Scout sections 17th St. Patricks with Beaver and Cub sections 19th Emmanual with Beaver, Cub and Scout sections 23rd Lord St West with Beaver and Cub sections 35th Leyland Rd Methodist Sea Scout group with Cub and Scout sections 48th St. Peters Air Scout Group with Beaver, Cub, Scout and Explorer sections 55th Birkdale United Reform Chruch with Beaver, Cub and Scout sections 58th Holy Family Sea Scout group with Beaver, Cub and scout sections 61st Holy Trinity with Beaver and Cub sections 62nd St. Cuthbert's with Beaver, Cub and Scout sections 71st St. Teresa's with just Scouts Waterside Lodge ExplorersSouthport Scouts enagage in several different town events such as the Carnival and have also started to do a bi-annual Scout and Guide Gang Show.
The Southport District Scout headquarters is Waterside Lodge which is situated next to the Marine Lake.
Transport
Road
Due to its position by the coast, Southport is a linear settlement and as such can only be approached in a limited number of directions by road.
The main roads entering Southport are:
the A565 (from Preston to the north-east), the A570 (from Ormskirk and St Helens to the south-east), the A565 (from Bootle and Formby to the south).There is no direct connection to the motorway from Southport; the nearest connections are:
from the south - junction 3 of the M58 (on the A570, twelve miles) from the north - junction 1 of the M65 (on the A582/A59, nineteen miles)An east-west bypass for the A570 at Ormskirk is planned to relieve congestion on Southport's main access route to the motorway network.
Several areas within Southport town centre have recently undergone major road redevelopment;
Aviation
Southport is home to RAF Woodvale, a small RAF station on the outskirts of the town.
Southport is also home to Birkdale Sands, a sand runway located on one of Southport's beaches.
Rail
Southport has a railway station with a frequent service of electric trains to Liverpool and a regular service to Wigan, Bolton, Manchester and Rochdale.
The Liverpool line was originally built by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway in 1848.
Formerly, Southport was also served by two further railway lines:
From 1882 the West Lancashire Railway operated from Southport Derby Road station to Preston Fishergate. In 1884, another line from Southport to Liverpool was opened: the Cheshire Lines Committee's North Liverpool Extension Line from Liverpool Central to Southport Lord Street. The West Lancashire Railway sponsored the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway to provide a connection to the CLC line, joining it at Altcar and Hillhouse .In July 1897 both the West Lancashire and the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railways were absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y). On 1.5.1901 the L&Y completed a remodeling of the approach lines to Central to allow trains to divert onto the Manchester to Southport line and into Southport Chapel Street Station.
Sport
Southport is somewhat lesser known for its sporting prowess, but being surrounded by other North-West cities this is understandable. The eastern side of town towards Blowick and Kew is home to the "Sandgrounders" - Southport FC, a club with a long football league history and common FA Cup giantkillers, they play at Haig Avenue and currently find themselves in the Nationwide Conference league. Southport is also home to a rugby union club, Southport RUFC , who play at the Recreational Ground on Waterloo Road, Hillside.
The junior section of Southport RUFC are known as the Southport Sharks , have sides that range from 7 years old upwards. Nearby Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club is also a two time Ryder Cup venue and Hillside Golf Club hosts many major events as well as being a final open qualifying course.
Southport's location by the coast also lends itself to some more specialised sporting activities - Ainsdale Beach south of the town is popular for kite sports, including kite-surfing. The lake is home to the West Lancashire Yacht Club and Southport Sailing Club, both of which organise dinghy racing.
Tourism and Events
Southport Tourism's Official Site Southport Flower ShowSport
Southport FC Soutport RUFC Sandstormers (Southport RLFC) Southport & Birkdale Sports club Royal Birkdale Golf Club Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club Hillside Golf Club West Lancashire Yacht Club Southport Sailing ClubPolitics and Campaign Groups
Southport Conservatives Southport Labour Party Southport Liberal Democrats Southport Party Southport CARES for children, hospital campaign group Southport eco campaign groupEducation
Details of schools in SouthportMedia and Advertising
Southport's Unique Shopping Experience Southport Champion Southport Reporter Southport Visiter Southport Radio(Community Radio) Southport.gb.com
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