Well, here we are in another month and on the edge of autumn. The weather’s become far more mixed with heavy rain and thunderstorms (at least here in Southport) and the nights are drawing in. There’s no doubt the seasons are changing…
This bank holiday weekend saw the annual Southport airshow. It’s a popular event but as with many outdoor events it’s at the mercy of the weather – and the weather wasn’t particularly kind. After weeks of sunshine there was rain and even thunder and lightning – all of which plays havoc with an airshows plans, especially when you have precious and historic vintage aircraft meant to take part. I managed to attend both days with the Saturday providing the best and most consistent weather. Sunday was more of a bust. The day started off with glorious sunshine but as the time came for the ariel displays to begin the clouds rolled in. They made for some very dull photo’s. But a couple of acts provided their own contrasts. Like this…
The Red Arrows making a stunning contrast against grim skies. This little helicopter provided its own firework show which really lit up the sky.
Bank holiday Monday was much like the traditional UK event we’ve come to expect. It chucked it down with rain during the morning, which (surprise, surprise) seemed to keep a lot of people at home, including me. But then I had plenty to do with picture editing and planning for my tour around Europe which is drawing closer. A chunk of today was spent arranging travel insurance. I’ve now reached that age where some companies take the pee. Fortunately, I’ve managed to get an annual policy that’s flexible enough that I can extend the length of time away if I need it.
So, on to September – and France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Switzerland and Italy – here I come…
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Apologies for the lack of blogs recently. A combination of being busy with other things and the muse not being about me has led to the drought. Not that there’s an actual drought back here in Southport as the weather has very much turned to wet! Here’s how the skies looked this morning during my walk into town!
I’ve been back in Southport since last weekend, when I had chance to attend a fun night at the Settle Inn which is in Botanic Gardens. Billed as an ‘alternative night’ the 3 DJs involved played some classic music from the 70s-90s. I bumped into many old friends, from one of my former London flat mates from the 1980s to people I grew up with whom I’ve not seen for 40-odd years. Talk about memory lane! As it was a ‘night off’ I didn’t take the camera with me, which I kinda regret as it would have been lovely to document the evening – and the people, as the passing of time has meant there’s quite a few faces from those days who’re no longer around. Maybe another time, if there is one?
Now I’m sheltering in the Atkinson library on Lord St, researching and booking next month’s adventure either side of working at Innotrans in Berlin. With an Interrail ticket booked it’s now a case of planning routes via train and ferry that will take me in a broad loop around Europe to take in several countries I’ve never visited before. Exciting! One of today’s little tasks has been to buy a new small suitcase to take with me. Whilst not being constrained by airline baggage regulations I don’t want to be towing a suitcase the size of a caravan, so I’ve cut my cloth. Travel insurance is next on the list, although I’ve mixed feelings about finding out that the best place place I can go for that now is SAGA!
Back in Southport it seems time is accelerating. A couple of days ago I spotted this, then today I was in a shop called ‘Home Bargains’ where they’re already selling Xmas decorations! Give it another month and there’ll be Easter eggs in the shops.
Much as the rain is welcome, it couldn’t have come at a more awkward time. This bank holiday weekend it’s the Southport airshow. No more clear blue skies for that as the forecast is for a very mixed couple of days. Ho hum…
Even so, some people are continuing to do their best to brighten up the town. In an era when so many people seem to spend their time spreading doom and gloom on the internet it’s great to see that others are more bothered about raising a smile with their work.
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Finally, after weeks of dry and scorching weather there’s been been a respite. The weekend has brought cooler weather, cloud cover and even some rain, although not yet in the quantities that will make a huge difference. Yesterday I was grateful for the canopies that line Lord St as they provided shelter from drizzle and bouts of heavier rain than swept the town during the afternoon. We were treated to petrichor, that wonderful odour of damp rocks and soil after a downpour. I’d almost forgotten what it smelled like. Sadly, the heavier rain that was meant to arrive overnight failed to materialise, although this morning the ground and windows betrayed the fact at least some water fell from the sky.
As I walked into town this afternoon I was hit by several brief showers, with the rain being blown into my face by the heavy gusts of wind we’ve experiencing today. They didn’t last for long. Next thing I knew the sun was out cracking the flags again – not what was expected at all.
Whilst I was in town I stopped in a pub to raise a glass to my old man. The Guest House was his regular. It was also a pub I learned how to drink in at the age of 16 as I was vouched for and was taught how to behave in mixed company. Something that just isn’t possible now.
Cheers Dad…Funny how the Guest House reminds me of my local in Halifax, the Big 6.
I had another park bench exercise set in today’s programme which meant leaving town for the long walk up to Blowick. Wouldn’t you know it – just as soon as I started my routine the rain arrived, leaving me soaked, as I was buggered if I was going to let it interfere with my set. Of course, as soon as I’d finished the skies cleared again! On the bright side, this rain has made a real difference to the park and the young trees that I’ve been trying to help save. The grass is starting to recover already and the majority of the trees look a lot less stressed.
How quickly grass recovers. If only trees did.
Tomorrow I’m on the move again in more ways than one. I’ll be heading back to my sisters as the friend I’ve been staying with no longer needs the pleasure of my company. That’s not a bad thing, honestly! Plus, I’ll be visiting Preston with my eldest brother, who’s invited me along for a day out, so expect some different adventures – and pictures.
In the meantime, here’s a few other shots from today…
I passed these two crashed (and seemingly abandoned) cars on Eastbank St bridge this morning. Looks like someone’s been having fun.Looking out to sea across the Marine lake earlier. Rain? What rain?
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I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Blowick/Meols Cop area of Southport recently. It’s and area I grew up in because until I started primary school my week was spent with my maternal grandmother so that my parents could concentrate on their business and my two older brothers as there was an age gap between them and I. ‘Nanna’ lived in Cobden Rd, in sight and smell of the gasworks and the railways out to Wigan. I could glimpse steam engines pass by if I ran upstairs to her back bedroom, where i could catch glimpses of them through the gaps in the houses. Ironically, my sister now lives just the other side of the railway, although you’re hard-pressed to see anything due the the tree cover that hides the line nowadays.
‘Nanna’ was always taking us for walks, so I got to explore a lot of the local area. one area that fascinated me was the old Meols Cop car sheds, where the Liverpool-Southport electric trains were maintained. The adjacent line to Preston had already closed, having finished in 1964, but coal trains still ran up the line to Hesketh park station and the sheds remained open until 1969.
Here’s a link to the ‘disused stations’ website which tells you all about the car sheds and surrounding railways and includes some fascinating old photographs.
The area’s very different today. You’d be forgiven for not knowing such a hive of railway activity had even existed. Now the area’s woodland and the site of a school.
I have a personal link and memories to the electric car sheds, which is through the old ‘Steamport, Southport‘ museum which once occupied the old locomotive depot adjacent to Southport station. As a very young teenager way back in the early 1970s I was one of the founding members. One of the first major tasks was to secure the loco shed. It had never been fitted with doors, but the closure of the electric car sheds presented us with the opportunity to acquire some. BR gave us permission to salvage stuff from the car shed, which included the large wooden doors. The only problem was how to move them. Now, this was in the early days of railway preservation, when ingenuity and muscle power could make things happen which modern Health and Safety simply wouldn’t allow.
So, one Sunday morning a band of us turned up on site at Meols Cop. One chap had brought a gas-axe, and soon a couple of the doors had been cut down. I can’t remember the exact method, but it was ‘inventive’. But how to transport the doors? We didn’t have a vehicle big enough? What we did have was one of the old iron-wheeled station trollies that used to be used on most LMS stations for moving parcels. We managed to load one of the doors onto it and pushed and pulled it through the streets of Southport back to Ste½amport. The iron wheels of the trolley left some interesting trails on the tarmac roads as we passed.As you can imagine, the whole process involved a lot of sweat, scatching of heads – and a fair bit of invective. I may have learned a few new words that day! Plus, Southport may be flat, but the most direct route involved a fair few railway bridges. Crazy, but fun! Such was railway preservation in those days.
Eventually, the doors were fitted to Steamport, giving us a secure shed. They were still there when the shed became derelict once more – as this January 2000 picture shows.
Here’s a few modern day pictures of the area around the car shed, taken this past week.
A pair of Class 150s heading to Wigan pass the site of Meols Cop Junction which trailed off to the right. The area behind was full of sidings with the car sheds behind. 769424 passes over what used to be Hawkshead St Junction which led off to the left. This was the line to Preston, with the car sheds in middle.The Northen junction towards Preston? The footbridge over the railway was replaced decades ago. This is the view from the footpath now.
Sadly, I don’t have any photographs from those long-gone days, which is a shame. But I’m sure that some exist, somewhere…
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I’ve had a busy few days here in Southport, flitting between my sister’s and an old friend, whom I’m currently keeping company so that she’s not alone in the house at night. Of course, this means I’m keeping getting my steps in (over 30k covered today).
Having spent the early morning editing pictures and sorting out emails I had an appointment in town. Should have gone to Specsavers? I certainly had – and today it was time to pick up my new glasses. They’re not dissimilar in design to my old ones but the prescription is weaker. One thing I’d never realised is that – as you get older, you don’t always become more short-sighted. This is the second time I’ve had an eye-test and prescription that is milder than the last. the real bonus for me is that my ‘old’ glasses were knackered due to the photochromatic reaction breaking down. It was like looking through badly cleaned windows. Hardly a great thing for someone who’s a photographer and spends a lot of time outdoors and in sunny climbs. Let’s just hope these ones last longer than my last pair.
Having got my new ‘bins’ I spent time shopping before heading to my sisters where I swapped food for water. Why? Because for the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to keep some young saplings in the local park alive. They’ve only recently been planted and have got terribly stressed during this hot weather. I go to the park to use the gym equipment there, so watering the trees is no big chore. Besides, carrying 8 liters of water per trip just adds to the exercise.
Having sweated over bench presses and trees I returned to Anne’s to cook a chicken Korma which was split between the two households. back at my current residence the two of us shared it before sitting down to reminisce in two very different ways I’ve known ‘P’ since the 1980s when we all frequented the same pub in Southport and partied at her and her husband’s house. What was of no significance all those years ago was that she was raised in Rishworth, West Yorkshire. Now that I’ve been living down the road in Halifax for the past 16 years and can share Yorkshire memories adds a whole new dimension to our conversations!
Tomorrow looks like another family orientated day, but for now I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures.
I don’t often publish pictures of myself but here’s me and my new glasses in all their glory. Yeah, I know – the flowers behind are far more attractive! Staying alive…This is the row of saplings I’m trying to get through the drought. Fortunately, we have rain forecast for the weekend. It can’t come soon enough.
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Another week ends and another chapter begins. My time in Marshside is over. Anne and Steve have returned from their break in Croatia so I’m moving again as I go from cat sitting to people sitting (long story). Right now I’m back at my sisters, helping out with a few chores before my next adventure.
the weather here in Southport has remained wall to wall sunshine, which is lovely if you enjoy the outdoors and getting a tan. It’s also been fabulous for the golf and the Open has been in town all week. Oddly, despite the numbers of people it draws in, the place has never felt overrun, Far from it. Whilst I’ve avoided Hillside and the areas around the Royal Birkdale course, if you went North of the town centre to places like Churchtown you’d have no idea anything special was happening.
Now the golf is over, although it’ll take a few days for the logistics to wind down and everything to be cleared away. Who won? I’ve no idea!
My day’s been taken up by caring for some recently planted trees on a local park which are feeling the stress from a lack of water. The park contains some exercise machines that I’ve been using several times a week, so I’ve taken to carrying bottles of water with me to give the trees some liquid relief. I’m not sure all are going to survive, but I’m doing my best.
The trees I’m trying to keep alive.
Apart from that I’ve been continuing my perambulations around town, watching what’s going on. Southport seems to be undergoing somewhat of a cultural revival, with all sort of events being staged. Today it was the turn of the old bandstand on Lord St. It’s been restored and the past couple of Sundays have seen various music events laid on.
A great group of schoolkids playing a mix of rock and folk. Sadly, I didn’t catch their name.
In fact – thinking about it – Southport’s has a lot of live music going on, and all of it for free. On Saturday there were craft stalls and a music stage outside the old market hall.
Then there’s the Northern end of Lord St, which is popular with buskers, and you can often catch acts outside this bar in the backstreets.
This spell of dry and sunny weather’s predicted to last until next weekend, so let’s enjoy it whilst we can. I’ve a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, but I’m hoping to get a trip away from the seaside later in the week, let’s see…
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My feline alarm clock failed this morning as the cat chorus demanding food slept on after 06:00, leaving me to have a blissful extra hour in bed. Maybe they’re feeling the heat too? That extra time was much needed as my AI coach was warning me that I’ve been doing too much on too little sleep, so I’ve had chance to make up for it.
Having fed said moggies I adjourned to the kitchen for coffee and a catch-up with the world via my laptop before knuckling down to work. It’s been a productive day. I’ve cleared more of my backlog of pictures that need editing and loading onto my Zenfolio website – and written an article for RAIL magazine. On top of that I’ve explored the marshes – and walked into Southport, despite the beating sun and heat. The town centre’s busy today as the 154th golf open at Royal Birkdale is starting to get into full swing. Sorry, no pun intended! Visitors are flocking in, but thankfully a certain orange American is absent – he’s too busy bombing Iran and this level of golf is way out of his league.
To add to the fun we have England playing Argentina in the football world cup, which is adding more trade for the pubs and bars in the town centre. I’ve eschewed all that and walked home for another quiet night in after clocking up another 25k steps. Instead of getting worked up about sport I’m continuing to work on clearing my backlog of pictures to edit – which includes today’s picture. Here’s another beach picture, but this isn’t Southport. This is the Cumbrian coast on the way to Ravenglass when I was doing 3 peaks by rail last month.
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After the fun of photographing orangemen’s day on Saturday I relocated to a different district of Southport. A place called Marshside, which is on the coast North of the town centre. There’s a clue in the name! I’m presently cat-sitting for my sister’s partner Steve, whilst he and Anne enjoy a week in Croatia. I’m now looking after Hubble, Toil and Blackjack, three cats with very different characters. My time here will allow me to crack on with some work as there’s really not a lot to do around here other than enjoy the walks, views across the marshes to the sea and watch the abundant birdlife as the area’s an RSPB reserve. It takes over an hour from here to walk the three miles into town along the coast road, but it’s a lovely walk – and flat so very different to home in West Yorkshire. Here you can see for miles with nothing to obstruct your view. In a clear day Blackpool Tower and the ‘big dipper’ at the fairground are easily visible across the Ribble estuary. A simple out and back walk gets me more than my daily quota of steps. Add in a bit of shopping and you’re talking 25-30k steps (12-15 miles). The weather here is still hot and sunny, but being by the sea we have a cool breeze which takes the edge off things. Here’s a few pictures from the past couple of days. to give you a flavour.
Whilst I’ve been here I’ve been catching up with picture editing, adding dozens of new images to my Zenfolio picture website. You can find out which galleries they’ve been added to by following this link.
The coastal road looking towards Southport with a pier a speck in the distance. In the 1960s we helped build this road. In those days it was done piecemeal. people were allowed to dump whatever hardcore they had they wanted to get rid of on the site and a council bulldozer levelled it and gradually extended the embankment along the route, getting the road built on the cheap!Looking across the Ribble estuary with Blackpool Tower prominent. But don’t be fooled. The town you can see is actually Lytham St Annes. The coast curves which means you can’t actually see Blackpool itself. The sleeping Southport pier, the 2nd longest in the UK. Work has started to reopen it to the public once again. See link. There’s still a lot of old chimney pots in Southport, which give an interesting clue as to a building’s history and age. These are on the North end of Lord St. Odin’s teeth! when the hell was Valhalla built by the Mogul Emperors?
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Why? Becasue today the Orange lodges parade in Southport instead of the traditional 12th of July as the 12th is a Sunday and they’re not allowed to march.
What’s this all about I hear you ask? well, Southport is one of the last towns that allow the Protestant Orange order to hold marches. The history is complicated, but here’s an explanation.
Now, ignoring politics and religion, I remember watching these parades since I was a kid. They were always a feature of summer in Southport. That said, I haven’t seen one since the early 1980s before I moved to London. I always meant to come back and photograph one, but stuff always got in the way. Today, I got that chance.
They’re a lot smaller than I remember. Back in the 1970s special trains would arrive from Glasgow, carrying pipe band and all manner of supporters. The rail network would be packed with supporters arriving from Manchester and especially Liverpool.
Now it all seems a bit more sedate and a lot smaller. My local pub (the Old Ship Inn) would host one of those Scottish pipe bands, who would turn up and pipe outside before requesting admittance from Monica, the landlady. after which they’d be hosted in a room upstairs whilst the pub would be swamped with their supporters. I’d volunteer as a glass collector, and a jolly (and pissed) time was had by all.
Today’s procession mostly arrived by coach, and there’s no pipe bands, sadly. But I’ll hang around in town until they leave later in order to get picture. Here’s the first few,
It’s 11:00…I always remember the leader of these bands performing amazing stunts with their staffs as they were thrown high in the air and caught – sometimes behind their backs.
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Today my time here has taken a slightly different turn as my Sister and her partner have booked a weeok away in Croatia, which means cat-sitting is required. Not at my sisters (there’s cover here) but at Steve’s as he has three moggies which he brought back with him from Saudi Arabia. So, I’m moving into Marshside for a week.
It’s a very differenoljt part of Southport to where my sister lives. This part of town was a late Victorian/early Edwardian extensiojn. Marshside ki are still seeniip as a o typejkimjm of people to ordinary Sandgrounders (the nickname for people from Southport).
Having a place to mkkjpkopopyself (well, if you don’t count the cats) will allow me to finish a load of work I need to do, including a couple of articles for RAIL magazine. As Marshside is pretty isolated, I’ll still have the opportunity to get plenty of steps inip too.
Here’s a few pictures that illustrate the area. I walked there from the centre of town, which was interesting as I discovered things I never knew, like thkje fact Southport once boasted an aerodrome!
The Southport aerodrome existed from 1910-1966, closing when I was a child, but I’d never heard of it. It was only when I was walking to Steve’s that I passed this history board that I discovered its existence. Here’s more about the history of the site. The Marshside fog bell. In 1869 seven men out shrimping got lost in fog and drowned. The community raised fund to build this fog bell so that the tragedy would never repeat itself. You can read more about it here. An old fishermen’s cottage in Churchtown. Tiny, aren’t they?
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 