Orange Lodge

THOUSANDS of Orange Lodge marchers took part in their annual parade through Southport.

More than 5,000 marchers from an estimated 125 lodges in Liverpool, Manchester, London, Sunderland, Birmingham, Scotland and elsewhere in the UK gathered in Liverpool at 8am on July 12.

After congregating in Liverpool city centre, they met at St George’s Hall to board buses to Southport.

They were joined by thousands more Orange Lodge supporters, who made their way to Southport by train and on dozens of buses and coaches.

Shortly after 11am, they formed up in Derby Road by the rail station, before parading to the Cenotaph, then on to Pleasureland via Nevill Street and the Promenade, returning at about 5.30pm.

There was a heavy police presence in Southport throughout the day, but the event passed off without major incident.

Marchers and supporters packed into and outside bars in areas includ- ing Lord Street, Nevill Street, Coronation Walk and West Street.

Nick Evans, 33, a doorman of Leo’s Bar, said: “This is the busiest day in Southport, bringing a lot of money into the area.

“It is brilliant, it also brings people from all over the country to Southport, which presents the opportunity to them to see how great the town is.”

Hasan Akdeniz, 30, manager of Southport Food Centre, said: “It has not been as busy as previous years for us, maybe it is because it is a weekday.

“The event is great though, it is great for the town and Southport and bringing so many people into the town may mean that they will return.”

The weather stayed fine for the parade, with blue skies throughout.

Police briefly closed Hoghton Street at approximately 7pm after an incident, but there were no arrests made and no-one was taken to hospital.

The parade celebrated the 327th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne when the Protestant King William III of Orange was victorious over his Catholic rival King James II at the River Boyne in 1690.