The Awful Shame

[said]

Which magazine has published it's finding on the Best Beaches in the UK.

Along with Fleetwood and Blackpool, Southport is almost BOTTOM of the list. As if that is not shame enough - we have been awarded the same points as NEW BRIGHTON. Southport Beach needs some urgent help!

[Alikado]

Which magazine has published it's finding on the Best Beaches in the UK.

Along with Fleetwood and Blackpool, Southport is almost BOTTOM of the list. As if that is not shame enough - we have been awarded the same points as NEW BRIGHTON. Southport Beach needs some urgent help!

There is nothing wrong with Southport Beach, the changes that have occurred are natural if anything it is in better condition than it was 40 years ago it is certainly cleaner and so is the water.

[donkey22]

The biggest improvement they could make to Southport beach is stop turning it into a car park every Summer. Same for Ainsdale beach too.

[seivad]

Which magazine has published it's finding on the Best Beaches in the UK.

Along with Fleetwood and Blackpool, Southport is almost BOTTOM of the list. As if that is not shame enough - we have been awarded the same points as NEW BRIGHTON. Southport Beach needs some urgent help!

More misinformation from you. Which reported the 'Best Seaside Towns' in the UK. From a survey of 4,000 visitors, the rankings were based on several factors, which included the quality of the beach, plus local attractions, scenery, peace and quiet and value for money.

[Toodles McGinty]

Which magazine has published it's finding on the Best Beaches in the UK.

Along with Fleetwood and Blackpool, Southport is almost BOTTOM of the list. As if that is not shame enough - we have been awarded the same points as NEW BRIGHTON. Southport Beach needs some urgent help!

I think the biggest criticism I'd have of the beach (in town anyway) is, apart from the encroaching grasses to the north of the pier, it's pretty much featureless.

Not anyone's fault, not the council or anyone else, it's just how our part of the coast is. Yes, miles of sand perfect for car parking, but none of the interesting bits such as rock pools. I think I'd import lots of massive boulders and rocks to let marine environments bloom. There's an interesting collection of old tat that builds up near the sluice gates now and again, but nothing for a kid, with a little net, going crabbing or some such.

I'm not a marine environmentalist, so someone more knowledgeable can come along and explain how that might upset the ecology of the place. I just remember that when I was a kid, the beaches that had such features were far more interesting. Even those that had placed tons and tons of concrete chunks to bolster sea defences had all sorts of curious creatures living in between. Quite a few in North Wales, as I recall.

So that's my criticism: it's just a bit dull. Clean enough in the main.

[said]

There is nothing wrong with Southport Beach, the changes that have occurred are natural if anything it is in better condition than it was 40 years ago it is certainly cleaner and so is the water.

Oh, right! Then I was mistaken when I watched a child digging with a spade on the beach last year, she had just dug through an inch of golden sand when she was into black filthy, fetid slime. Yet many years ago, I took children on the beach and they built huge sand castles of golden sand. I thought dog walkers were also banned on the beach at this time of the year?

Beautiful beach where you have to tread in others footsteps to walk along an almost single line to get to the water so you don't get bogged down. I must have some form of dementia - but I could have sworn they had motor cycle races on the solid ground of the beach, and my memory tells me that there were pleasure rides given in an aircraft which used to land on the beach - if they tried that now the damned thing would topple over in the mud.

Liverpool - the name comes from 'muddy pool' - has been dredging the Mersey and digging out for a new dock to accept deep hulled ocean going liners and coincidentally the tidal water direction flows from Liverpool into Southport. Completely natural of course.

The water cleaner? Only if you ignore the huge numbers of jelly fish and lumps of soft dark brown don't wan't to know debris on the beach, washed up by our sterilised sea water.

Huge clumps of marram grass, clinging to deep mud - moving sludge forming quicksands - oh, yes! Wonderful!

[said]

More misinformation from you. Which reported the 'Best Seaside Towns' in the UK. From a survey of 4,000 visitors, the rankings were based on several factors, which included the quality of the beach, plus local attractions, scenery, peace and quiet and value for money.

Absolutely! In which case you have just made Southport sound a whole lot worse because it has failed in far more than just the beach.

[seivad]

Absolutely! In which case you have just made Southport sound a whole lot worse because it has failed in far more than just the beach.

It's pretty difficult to offer peace and quiet in a busy town, or stunning scenery in a resort on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. Some local attractions and value for money are the only factors that may be within the town's control.

[Alikado]

Absolutely! In which case you have just made Southport sound a whole lot worse because it has failed in far more than just the beach.

None of the factors are to do with the Council, it is all to do with the local businesses and residents.

[sandGroundZero]

In the 18^th century canals enabled adventurous idle rich to visit South Hawes (i.e. sand hills) for the dunes and sea-bathing. What became Lord Street started out as rudimentary guest houses on either side of a dune slack.

Southport mid-19^th century

In the 19^th century railways made the area accessible to the well-heeled transforming Southport into a comparatively healthy town wherein commuters to Manchester and Liverpool could raise their families.
At its zenith (in the late 19^th, early 20^th century) Southport would have been an elegant magnet for discerning visitors. As the turbulent 20^th century progressed, the character of our town changed again. Elite elegance gave way to popular amusements.

Meanwhile, the sea had receded from the seafront hotels and the dunes became golf courses and pleasant residential neighbourhoods. The dynamic but delicate dune ecology became overridden by development and the patterns of sand depositions changed (as they do)!

Forum posts that call for a return to the past are pure nostalgia. Imagining that the damage wrought by large-scale human occupation on the coastal dunes can be easily reversed are deluded.

[jamyramy]

southport beach for last hundred years used to be as diverse an enviroment and amenity as could be!all n unson with bio diversitys needs .a vast varience of human and wildlifes needs.oh those days when you could at end of days toils just take that sunsets walks unrestricted by parking zoned an fee,the selected picnic spot on sunny days ,that first driving lesson,those dates to have first time union ,and dates to impress with southports dinings select nights out ,the enjoyment of sandracing ,bikes and sails ,planes and hovercrafts.to towns benifit.now just a boundry had and fee had nogo zone!

[said]

It is pure laziness to say the beach cannot be made into a tourist attraction once again. Imagine all those Spanish beaches being left unattended - there would be no tourists! The sandy Spanish beaches are raked and cleaned every morning and the sand is constantly being replenished. It would not take much to improve Southport beach, a few tons of sand, some boulder and a few groynes out facing the tide line. Less cost than the Indoor Market?

[said]

None of the factors are to do with the Council, it is all to do with the local businesses and residents.

So local businesses and residents were responsible for the closure of so many of Southport's attractions, were they?

Many years ago, another resort in the UK did exactly the same. It closed all its attractions and tourists stopped going. Crime increased substantially, there was no employment, people took little pride in themselves or their property. The resort looked a complete dump.

The local council changed and a new council brought back far more amenities, parks and gardens were cleaned up and made to look attractive, the beaches were cleaned and more beach accessories were provided. Tourists slowly began returning, more shops opened up and investment poured in. Today - that beach is among the top ten and enjoys a thriving tourist trade.

Someone says it is nostalgia! Way no! It is good business!

[donkey22]

So local businesses and residents were responsible for the closure of so many of Southport's attractions, were they?

Many years ago, another resort in the UK did exactly the same. It closed all its attractions and tourists stopped going. Crime increased substantially, there was no employment, people took little pride in themselves or their property. The resort looked a complete dump.

The local council changed and a new council brought back far more amenities, parks and gardens were cleaned up and made to look attractive, the beaches were cleaned and more beach accessories were provided. Tourists slowly began returning, more shops opened up and investment poured in. Today - that beach is among the top ten and enjoys a thriving tourist trade.

Someone says it is nostalgia! Way no! It is good business!

Which town?

[said]

Which town?

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/192...de-properties/