Blackpool V Southport

[silverbirch]

Of course Blackpool has great attractions like
a wide sandy beach (when the tides out )
Blackpool Tower, the shops... the arcades, the
Pleasurebeach etc...

but watching a movie
........"Whats good for the Goose" .... recently
you see that Southport has got the space.....
acres and acres of space between the hotels and
the sea... enough for gardens, parks, lakes,
even the pleasurebeach is down there on the sea shore.

Contrast that with Blackpool... you have
the hotels, a busy main road... the tramlines,
the prom then the beach.

Theres not much room for parks, lakes etc.
By some stroke of luck... maybe in the original planning ?
the hotels in Southport were kept well back...
the result ... lots of space.
Maybe its the fact that Southport have the flower show
too that results in those marvellous gardens and parks.

.... here's a shot of the gardens from the Norman Wisdom movie

at least it was going to be a pic... but
the forum won't allow me to post a pic here
(I'm a memb of 100s of forums
this has never happened before
...............ah well... )

[Pete]

Sorry you couldn't post an image. There is a minimum post count, I cant remember the count but its either 15 or 20. You should be able to post an image in the Gallery and then link to it in a post, that should work for the time being.
The Gallery is http://www.blackpoolweb.com/forum/photoplog/index.php

Hope that helps.

As for Southport, I would love to know a bit more history. I wonder if it was constructed as we know it today or if the huge lake is a result of the sea moving ever further out. I have been too Southport on many occasions and have nerver seen the tide in. I aways wondered why the pier was so long when most of it wasnyt over the sea :-)

Blackpool is getting slightly better for open spaces on the Prom. The six new headlands are nearing completion, well about 4 of them are. They are huge areas about the size of a football pitch. This year one is going to be a sports pitch. Basically about 40cm of sand and volleyball nets, football goals, and netball/basketball hoops. If it is a success it could be a permenant feature.
I have also put 2 and 2 together and I am guessing that Karting 2000 will move from Starr Gate where the new tram depot is to the new space between the Waterpark and South Pier.
So thats another headland with a use, the one opposite the Tower will be an outdoor venue for 10,000 people, plus a wedding chappel!!!!!

[silverbirch]

i uploaded the pic and got the codes
in the usu way
I posted but I think it said something like
you have to make 12 posts before we allow you to
post pics.... crazy really !

[Pete]

Originally Posted by silverbirch

i uploaded the pic and got the codes
in the usu way
I posted but I think it said something like
you have to make 12 posts before we allow you to
post pics.... crazy really !

Sorry about that, it's to stop the spammers. I get about 10 spammers each day try and register, I think its because its a .com domain. It's difficult to weed them all out at registration stage so the no images or links until 12 posts stops them posting rubbish as most will give up or get pointed out to me before they cause too much damage.
You should be OK soon

[willowthewhisp]

I think Southport is the way it is because the sea has moved out. I remember when I was at school being told that the Southport shoreline is a sedimentary shoreline meaning it gets more stuff dumped and more land area ends up being reclaimed from the sea. I don't know if that means that when the hotels were built they were nearer the sea but I do remember my old Geography teacher telling me that Lord Street was once the prom.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by willowthewhisp

I think Southport is the way it is because the sea has moved out. I remember when I was at school being told that the Southport shoreline is a sedimentary shoreline meaning it gets more stuff dumped and more land area ends up being reclaimed from the sea. I don't know if that means that when the hotels were built they were nearer the sea but I do remember my old Geography teacher telling me that Lord Street was once the prom.

Cool, I have always wondered why the Pier started about a mile from the sea I will see if I can find any photos of Southport when Lord street was the prom, that would be interesting to see.

[Pete]

willowthewhisp you are correct, Southport shoreline has changed vastly. I found some info:

Early Development
Southport’s seafront was the catalyst for its early development as a seaside resort in the late
18th and early 19th centuries. The fashion for the sea air and the common belief in its healthgiving
properties attracted early visitors to the area. The opening of the Leeds-Liverpool
canal c1777 was no doubt important in giving Southport an early advantage over potential
rivals. The earliest visitors to Southport would reside in Churchtown, as at that stage very few
buildings had been erected near the coast. Soon entrepreneurs began to construct hotels
and guesthouses in the area of Lord Street West and Lord Street to receive paying guests
looking to take the sea air.
The position of sandhills and the marshy dune slack largely determined the form of early
development in Southport. At this time the sea was known to occasionally wash inland,
reaching Lord Street and there was unsurprisingly a reluctance to develop closer to the
seafront. The success of the resort led to proposals to construct a sea wall and promenade in
order to further improve the prospects of the area, work was begun in 1835 on the first phase
which stretched 400 yards from Coronation Walk to Nevill Street. A second phase to this
project saw the promenade extended northwards from Nevill Street towards Seabank Road
and the Royal Victoria Baths were built and opened in 1838. The newly acquired protection
from the sea led to further building projects on the Promenade.

The rest of the article is here:
http://www.sefton.gov.uk/PDF/ER_2.2_...ersion%202.pdf

[silverbirch]

Very interesting... they must have built the hotels
at the point of the very highest spring tides leaving
a whole lot of land area free
I read that Britain is tipping on its axis with
the east coast getting the worst of it ... cliffs
and houses falling into the sea
Whilst areas like Southport seem to be expanding
into the North Sea............
but watch out for those spring tides !

Funny though, with Blackpool not so far away to the north
why are nt they experiencing something similar ?

[Pete]

Originally Posted by silverbirch

Funny though, with Blackpool not so far away to the north
why are nt they experiencing something similar ?

Blackpool sort of is experiencing it. In that if you go to the South at Lytham then look at the Ribble estury. That is silting up quite badly, so much so that even in South Lytham/ St Annes ( I never know were one ends and other begins) just after the boating lake there is 'grass' growing on the beach!!!

I think that if you could see Blackpool in 100 years it would be a fair walk to the actual sea from the current prom.

[willowthewhisp]

That grass seems to be quite prevalent in a lot of places. There are patches of it in Morecambe and Grange-over-Sands no longer has any sands. The promenade there overlooks a field now! It is quite definitely a bone fide field with sheep grazing on it!

[grannyclaret]

Is that what happened to New Brighton?,,I remember going there when i was a kid

[Christian1985]

Funny you should mention New Brighton I was up there a few weeks ago out for a drive. I had a wander along their promenade and it is a really nice little town. The only trouble is it seems to have suffered a massive decline definitely not a major tourist resort anymore. But a very nice walk I definitely recommend it. I hear also it does have some regeneration plans in the works but for some reason locals keep objecting for some unknown reason.

[silverbirch]

talking of Grange over sands... it was there, or somewhere
near that I stopped and walked down to the beach.
It was a lovely day in July and lots of people and children
on the beach.....but there were also sheep everywhere grazing on the sea weed and whatever... plus
sheep droppings everywhere
I thought.... haven t the farmers got enough land ?
Britain is covered in sheep... do they have to put them out
on the beach too !
It was crazy, Imeant to write and complain to the
council but I did nt.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by grannyclaret

Is that what happened to New Brighton?,,I remember going there when i was a kid

New Brighton is alive and kicking - no grass insight! I grew up about 2 miles outside New Brighton
It did get very run down in the late 80's but now its getting better each time I visit. My Mum lives in Wallasey so only up the road.

Part of the reason New Brighton died was actually, believe it or not due to Disney!!!!!
In the mid/early 80's Disney were looking at sites to put Euro Disney. One of the places they looked at was the Promenade between Wallasey and New Brighton! The reasons were huge open spaces on promenade at Harrison Drive, Motorway very close, railway lines very close, and parking site at Bidston were old steel works were ( now Tescos).
So how does this lead to a decline in New Brighton? Well one chap ( I cant remember his name) bought up each shop in Victoria road which was the location of the main tourist shops, cafes and arcades. He then just left them derelict!! So the rest of Victoria road went in decline as so many shops were derelict. It was just a spiral of decline.
Plus they took away the last section of the pier in the late 70's. Also the outdoor swimming pool was destroyed by a storm in the late 80's and this brought a lot of locals to the area in Summer.
So although it wasn't entirely Disneys fault they didnt build euro Disney in New Brighton/Wallasey.

Now the boating lake has a car park next to it, the Floral Pavillion has been completely rebuilt, the bowling alley has also been rebuilt. Most of Victoria road is now newish houses. The prom has been redone, it does still have a few derelict building but it is improving.

I could go on for days on New Brighton, I had many many happy memories of teenage evenings out there.

[silverbirch]

yes I was in New Brighton around 88 and it seemed to
be falling into rack and ruin.
Its probably a bit like Ryhl... great potential and space to
develope but the council just have n't got a clue !

In the 60s New Brighton was a big attraction... the excitement of the ferry ride etc..
for people in Manchester and L'pool it was the
quickest way to the beach...
(probably even had donkeys back then too !)

[Pete]

It had donkeys in the late 70's, I remember riding on them
I can just remember a short pier as well.
I left in 87 but visited every couple of weeks as the beer was much cheaper than in London