Sunday, February 18, 2007

 
A view from the pier...

We set out for the massive car boot sale on farm land just north of Burscough, but they were still on winter break so we headed across to Southport. There are lots of memorials in memory of different disasters where lifeboat crew lost their lives. The RNLI took the lifeboat away from the town in 1925 but in the 1980s local people raised money for an independent lifeboat station.

The pier was reopened in 2002 after extensive restoration work. It's nothing like its former glory but they've done a great job and rather than have sad shops and amusement arcades dotted all along there's just one cafe, arcade and visitor centre at the end. You could see out to Blackpool today.

What has really spoilt it though is when you look back from the start of the pier they've built ugly retail sheds. So rather than gaze at the splendour of the Victorian frontage all you can see is JJB, Premier Bowl, Matalan, McDonald's and Pizza Hut. What is it with town planners? An empty space and 'let's throw up a retail park.' The proverbial blot on the landscape.

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