Surfing the net to find
Continuing our series in which Geoff Wright takes a look at the history of Southport and nearby areas
OH, the joy of “trawling the net” looking for pictures and snippets of old Southport – I really must get a life!
However, for those who like to spend half their life weaving through the web, here is my concluding feature on finding some sites and pages of interest
No, the Southport Visiter Nostalgia internet page is not the only site where you can find some lovely goodies, there are others who have our seaside town’s history, heritage, and nostalgic offerings at heart.
The new page The Southport Of Yesterday rocketed its way through the 2,000 and 3,000 mark, and now already has the 4,000 membership tally in its sights.
Meanwhile, the Southport Yesteryear page made a brief comeback for the time being due to illness.
After just two months the town centre’s newest attraction, Southport Walks, led by Tony Kletz, has already been liked by 76 people.
Tony’s autumn season has kicked off with fascinating nostalgic strolls at 2pm every Sunday and Tuesday until the end of October.
His Facebook page also includes some local history scenes, and the group is now suitable for group-society outing marketing for the spring.
The Big Two are not alone out there in the small world of nostalgic offerings you can dis- cover from the comfort of your PC or laptop.
Another very strong page is songwriter Martin Berwick’s Old Southport Pictures and Railways which has 3,694 subscribing history buffs; this excellent research facility shares the love of Southport’s heritage, providing a good long list of interesting websites.
The Southport By The Sea page is fun, and it does have one or two good nostalgic images, but needs more, while the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust (Southport Lifeboat) Facebook page has had 1,558 likes. For some fabulous history pages, visit www.southport-lifeboat.co.uk.
The Facebook page Ainsdale includes events and news, but is very responsive with a healthy following of 2,678 with nearly 1,000 photographs on their page, many of them with great nostalgic value.
The ancient Birkdale, which was truly established in 1850, is represented by the Birkdale Village page, always open and strongly supported by 4,418, many of them business people, who discuss events – or what time everyone is meeting but with hundreds of old photographs, borrowed from other pages.
The Palace Hotel, Birkdale page for fans of the historic and spooky establishment demol- ished in 1969, has more than two dozen interesting pictures and maps.
The Memories Of Southport Slide Park/Swing Park/Peter Pan’s Playground has 62 members, but desperately needs more photographs.
As I go to print, I’m hoping to have become the 100th member of the Southport Sea Bathing Lake/Open Air Pool and Outdoor Paddling Pool page – any prize going for the longest name? I would have bet my bottom dollar this site would have had more members, and more pictures!
My favourite historic/sporty page is, by far, Southport Motor Club 1902-1939 beach racing page, run by Martyn Griffiths; it has 56 members but most surely deserves far more, as the photographs are absolutely wonderful!
Martyn has also produced excellent online pages on other