Southport: Lord Street, the Pier, and Lancashire's Seaside That Went Its Own Way
Southport was invented. In 1792, William Sutton built a bathing house among the sand dunes at what was then called South Hawes, and the resort grew from there. Unlike Blackpool, which chased mass entertainment, Southport aimed higher. Lord Street, the main boulevard, was laid out with gardens down the centre, iron-and-glass canopied shopfronts on either side, and a width that prompted Napoleon III (who stayed in Southport during exile) to model parts of the Parisian boulevards on it. Whether the Napoleon story is true is debatable. Southport tells it anyway.
The pier, opened in 1860, extends 1,108 metres into the Irish Sea and is the second longest in the country. The beach itself is enormous and flat, with the sea often barely visible at low tide. The Marine Lake, an artificial saltwater lake built in 1887, compensates. Southport Pleasureland, the funfair that operated for over a century, closed in 2006, partially reopened, and has never quite recaptured its former pull. The town's population is around 93,000, making it the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton outside Bootle and Crosby. Southport sits at the northern tip of Merseyside, though many residents would rather identify with Lancashire.
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Southport was invented. In 1792, William Sutton built a bathing house among the sand dunes at what was then called South Hawes, and the resort grew from there. Unlike Blackpool, which chased mass entertainment, Southport aimed higher. Lord Street, the main boulevard, was laid out with gardens down the centre, iron-and-glass canopied shopfronts on either side, and a width that prompted Napoleon III (who stayed in Southport during exile) to model parts of the Parisian boulevards on it. Whether the Napoleon story is true is debatable. Southport tells it anyway.
The pier, opened in 1860, extends 1,108 metres into the Irish Sea and is the second longest in the country. The beach itself is enormous and flat, with the sea often barely visible at low tide. The Marine Lake, an artificial saltwater lake built in 1887, compensates. Southport Pleasureland, the funfair that operated for over a century, closed in 2006, partially reopened, and has never quite recaptured its former pull. The town's population is around 93,000, making it the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton outside Bootle and Crosby. Southport sits at the northern tip of Merseyside, though many residents would rather identify with Lancashire.
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