A seaside town in the upper corner of Merseyside is filled with little secrets and peculiar facts.
Southport is well known for its Victorian heritage and playing host to the Flower Show and the amazing airshow. The town spurs a plethora of nostalgic memories for some but there are a few things even people who have lived their for decades might not know..
Having a booming population of almost 100,000 people, the town is a hotbed for tourism come the summer months, and in winter the town comes together for the Christmas period. With so much history and quirky features, the ECHO has put together a list of some of our favourite facts about the town.
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Let us know your favourite little-known fact about Southport in the comment section below.
Southport Pier was used to shoot down Nazi bombers
During the Second World War, the pier was closed to the public so that searchlights could be installed in an attempt to destroy enemy aircraft on their way to Liverpool and other industrial towns of the north.
After the War, it re-opened but was soon in need of further investment as the supply of direct current electricity to the town was stopped.
This action effectively meant that the tramway could not operate. So as not to suffer a similar problem in the future it was agreed that the system would be replaced with a diesel alternative, and the new service opened to the public on May 27, 1950.
Southport Town Hall was nearly demolished
Architect John Poulson presented his plans for the rebuilding of Southport town centre in September 1964.
They included demolishing the 100-year-old Southport Town Hall along with Broadbents, The Atkinson Art Gallery and Library, the Cambridge Hall and various shops that got in the way - in their place, a new shopping precinct would have been built.
At the time, the Southport Visiter reported that the "imaginative blueprint for Southport's future" was supported by the Lib-Lab town council of the early 1960s, but was swept away as soon as the Conservatives came into power in 1965.
Lord Street used to have its own train station
Southport Lord Street railway station opened on 1 September 1884, and was the terminus of the Southport and Cheshire Lines Extension Railway.
Although it closed to passengers in 1952, it remained in use for goods for another six months.
Ribble Buses took over the station until the 1990s and the frontage of the building was retained despite the demolition of the trainshed. To this day, the clock tower still shows "SCLER" below the clock itself, making reference to its former role.
The Morrisons superstore was built in the space behind the infamous front, with Travelodge, Anytime Fitness and Papa Johns occupying the former building itself.
The road no one owns
The council don't want it and neither do the residents.
The unadopted road, Knob Hall Lane in Southport, has been the subject of an ongoing row over who should look after it for many years.
Built in the 1830s by the Hesketh family as part of their estate, ever since a ‘breach’ of agreement between the family and Southport corporation in the 1930s, there has been much back and forth over who should look after the road.
At times work was carried out by Sefton Council as part of a “keep safe” policy and over the years there were various unsuccessful negotiations between the local council and homeowners over getting the road adopted
This would mean “substantial payments” by residents who own homes along the street, which requires up to £500,000 of maintenance work to get it into “adoptable” condition.
After local councillors queried the situation, which has left residents “weaving between craters” a review was carried out into its legal status.
A forgotten shopping street could be lying untouched below Southport
This is the mystery of Nevill Street, raised in the 1900s to cover a bustling 19th Century highway in Southport, with theories that its shops' fronts and cobbles are preserved below.
Today, Nevill Street is home to a mixture of vendors including fish and chip shops, sweet confectioners and amusement arcades, each lining the road as it leads toward the pier. But the area featured a declining underpass leading down to Southport’s sandy shore.
Positioned alongside, set forward from the commercial terrace above, were rows of subterranean shops, pubs and various purveyors whose properties often provided a backdrop to an array of eager cab-drivers awaiting passing custom.
Lord Street was the inspiration for the beautiful boulevards of Paris
...well, maybe.
Lord Street is supposedly the inspiration for the beautiful streets of Paris, with it believed that Napoleon's nephew, Cherles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, visited the town from London in 1838. At the time the town was a luxury bathing resort.
The prince is said to have fallen head over heels for the grand Lord Street, in the centre of the town. The street itself is believed to have been one of the first boulevards in the world.
Once he was crowned Emperor Napoleon III around a decade later, he is rumoured to have ordered his architect, Georges-Eugène Haussmann (Baron Haussmann), to replicate the luxurious and spacious seaside boulevard in the industrial Parisian streets. And these are rumours people from Southport proudly explain to others.
There are a LOT of churches
Southport is home to a lot of churches with the town centre having almost 10.
The town is claimed to have had as many as 70 churches at one point, one kind or another, with them all believed to have been well attended back in their day.
The idea of Southport being filled to the brim with religious buildings could jokingly be reinforced by the inclusion of Churchtown - although some would argue the village predates Southport.
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