When women vented their fury on pier and Churchill

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 30, 2007 9:13 AM

THEY set fire to the pier, threw eggs in the street and heckled Winston Churchill, all in the fight for women’s right to the vote.
Born out of popular groups such as the Women’s Liberal Association (WLA), it was in 1909 during the lead up to the general election that activity amongst Southport suffragettes started radicalise.
Prior to that the WLA had been the middle ground between the National League for Opposing Women’s Suffrage (NLOWS) and the hardline Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), who adopted a mantra of “deeds not words”.
Being a gentile area with a conservative background, the NLOWS held the initial sway for Southport ladies, while the vote was just one of many other issues discussed at WLA meetings.
But with the arrival of the Pankhursts delivering speeches, the WSPU began to develop a foothold in the area prompting deep debate, reported the Visiter, of whether their actions were “unfeminine and wrong” or necessary to secure equal standing for women in society.
The most audacious schemes were led by Dora Marsden, who was pivotal in the plan to barrack the Liberal government, and their representative Winston Churchill, when he visited Southport electioneering.
Miss Marsden, a university graduate, Esther Eversley and a Miss Tolsen spent more than 15 hours hidden away in the roof of the majestic Winter Gardens, above the 2,500 seat auditorium, and waited for Churchill to show.

As he began his address, his wife was reported to wave at someone in the rafters, and soon cries of “votes for women” came raining down, forcing Churchill to pause.
The women were so high the stewards took some time to reach them and when they did, almost sent Dora Marsden rolling off the roof and into the history books as the movement’s first martyr.
Although Churchill was said to be sympathetic to the cause, his Liberal stewards were less pleased as they had spent the princely sum of £250 on security for the event.
While all this was happening a Miss Gawthorpe was being arrested on Coronation Walk for throwing eggs, while declaring: “The authorities are vexed at us outwitting them, but we shall do it wherever Mr Churchill and the cabinet ministers go.”
The women were charged but the case was dismissed in Southport public court, prompting much celebration and considerable admiration at their heroism.

In 1913, following a number of low level disturbances and property damage, the Southport suffragettes embarked on one of their most ambitious and destructive plans.
Arriving at 2am on July 8, they covered seats and other fixtures of Southport Pier with paraffin and set it alight.
Luckily for the pier, some fishermen and the nightwatchman John Howard spotted the blaze and promptly extinguished it with buckets of water, but not before £100 of damage had been caused.
Written on a nearby wall were the words: “This good work deserves votes.”

What happened to Dora Marsden? If you think you know, or if you have any images or information on the radical suffragette, contact LookBack on 01704 398225

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Resort's links with Churchill

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 23, 2007 10:00 AM

HE WAS the man who led Britain through the last world war and is famous for his cigars, but did Churchill pick up another trademark, his hat, when visiting Southport?
A poll conducted by the BBC named Sir Winston Churchill as our Greatest Briton, and certainly his characteristics and idiosyncracies are amongst the most enduring of any public figure.
From the walking cane to the smoking cigar, and the victory signal to his slightly stooped gait, his image is instantly recognisable to young and old even now, more than 40 years after his death.
And another famous feature of his clothing ensemble was the hat, slightly too small, sometimes just to one side.

In 1909, Churchill, then only a recently elected member of the Liberal Government, visited Southport as part of a tour of the north west to deliver a series of speeches on free trade.
While here, the man who would become Prime Minister stayed as a guest of one Baron de Forest at an address on Hesketh Road.
The period was blighted with political unrest, and the suffragettes were bringing a militant approach to establishing the vote for women.
At the time, only men had a say in public affairs, with women often banned from political meetings because they were considered to be emotional beings.

Churchill found himself hounded by the movement and his visit to Southport was no exception, as a Miss Dora Marsden succeeded in interrupting his speech by getting into the loft of the building in which it took place.
These encounters with various members of the campaign over his tour became the newsworthy items picked up, but Churchill later told a popular magazine that the Southport trip left a less well-known legacy.
He is said to have told the magazine that he was hurriedly leaving his Hesketh Road lodgings on one occasion and reached out for the first hat he could find.
It turned out to be a very small one, and, as he stepped out, his image was recorded for all time by a press photographer.

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Dad will be missed - Read Geoff Fairclough's Antarctic account in our February archives

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 22, 2007 9:26 AM

GEOFF Fairclough, former Southport resident and subject of a February LookBack article into his time on the South Georgia Islands near Antartica, has died.

The diesel electrical engineer will be “very sadly missed” by his wife, two children, six grandchildren and great-grandchild - born just seven months ago.

Geoff suffered from a condition called myodyspasia, a blood problem that demands monthly hospital appointments for transfusions, but is otherwise manageable.

Doctors have yet to determine the cause of death.

Aged 77, Geoff was said by son Andrew to be looking forward to a trip to the United States to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary with wife, Betty in August.

Following the funeral in Leyland on Wednesday, Andrew Fairclough told the Visiter: “He was always there and he’d do anything for us.

“He was the head of the family and I always looked up to him, I was really proud of him.

“He was honest as the day is long and would do anything for anyone.”

Geoff was born in Liverpool, but lived in Southport for 20 years from the 1970s through to the 1990s, when he moved to Leyland to be closer to his children.

At 22, he journeyed to the South Georgia Islands - final resting place of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton - and enjoyed several years there maintaining the generators and mixing with whalers and an American film crew.

The vast majority of his working life was spent in the employment of Southport firm Cooper Heat, for whom Andrew continues to work.

Geoff loved boats and fishing, and could often be found on Southport beach casting his line.

Andrew said: “He loved his boats and had one on the Marine Lake.

“I’ll always remember tipping it over one time, when I was about 14.

“He was stood there and I’d gone out with a friend.

“We were sailing along quite close to the jetty when it just capsized and dad had to drag us back to the side to bail us out!”

Andrew added: “He was a great dad to me and Jane, I couldn’t want for a better dad, and he’s going to be very sadly missed that’s for sure.”

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Getting around on horse, rocket and army truck

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 16, 2007 9:08 AM

THIS week LookBack hits the road for a vehicle-themed trawl through the Southport Visiter’s photographic archive.
Many of these snaps are a bit unusual and we’re sure there’s a great story behind them, so if you have any details or are even one of the stars featured then call LookBack on 01704 398225 or leave a message here at www.icsouthport.co.uk.

Ground control to Southport Hospital - this little girl is getting ready for lift-off. But what is the event and why the rocket-powered trolley?

These DIY guys certainly fancy themselves as action men. Hopefully they got ticked off for parking in a disabled bay! What was this strange visit all about?

This boy’s having a great time horsing around at Crossens Nursery’s summer fair, with the firm hand of the law keeping him safe. What are these two pale riders up to now?

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Society ensured the show would go on

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 9, 2007 8:58 AM

TWENTY years ago Southport Flower Show was on its knees, but was rescued from oblivion by a group that went on to become Southport Horticultural Society.
With losses reaching an estimated £25,000 a year, the event that has since become the biggest independent show of its kind in the United Kingdom was facing closure.

But Southport Horticultural Society members stepped up to the plate, enthusiastically provided volunteers and now they are set to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
And they’re far from being all about the annual August extravaganza, as the group has evolved to become a valuable social resource, organising trips abroad, alongside a competitive element that sees them entering gardens in shows throughout the country.

Tom Bradshaw, vice-president of the society for 11 years, told LookBack: “The show would have gone. It was a decision by the council and I can understand why they made it. Sefton is a very diverse district of Merseyside, from the extremes of the south to the north, and the south needed a lot of support.
“The council’s wisdom was that there was more need for that financial support in the southern end of Sefton than in saving a flower show that was costing £25,000 a year. So I can understand the reasons, but on the other hand it was the flagship tourism event of Southport and it had to be saved for the sake of the town.
“The town has grown quite dramatically in relation to other seaside resorts and the Flower Show has helped to keep it on the map.”

Since 1987 the society has gone from strength to strength and now numbers around 100 regular members who try and make their Thursday meetings at the Royal Clifton Hotel.
They have entered extravagant floats in Southport Carnival, enjoy “galloping gourmets” at members’ houses and even scooped Best in Show at Meols Hall in 2005.
But perhaps they’ll always be defined by the sterling work they put in to gift Southport a nationally-renowned attraction.
Tom added: “It’s gratifying to see that we’ve successfully saved the show. We were always optimistic and we had support, strength and commitment that was so great that anything less than what we’ve achieved would have disappointed.”

* Southport Horticultural Society will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with dinner at the Scarisbrick Hotel next Thursday (March 15). The society meets on the third Thursday of every month at the Royal Clifton Hotel. All are welcome, members go free and the fee is 50p for non-members.
* Southport Flower Show, supported by the Southport Visiter, will this year take place from August 16-19.

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In good hands for 20 years

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 9, 2007 8:55 AM

JUST two matrons have ensured the smooth running of Renacres Hospital, and as they prepare for their 20th anniversary celebrations LookBack checked in to see how times have changed.
In 1987, Renacres Hall near Halsall was a family home and farmhouse that had been identified by a team hoping to break into the healthcare market. They spotted the potential of the site in an area with a high demand for medical services, and soon Renacres Hall became Renacres Hall Hospital. And it was with this clean slate that Liz Proffitt began work as the first matron in the brand new facility, after years working in the National Health Service.
She said: “What struck me first was, working in the NHS, if anything broke down we just picked up the telephone and spoke to the works department who came along and mended it.
“Coming into private, because the company was only new, we mended it ourselves.
“When we first opened I was changing the light bulbs and fixing the lift – they soon got their act together but that’s what I found most different.”
Today, matrons are supported by a whole raft of health and safety regulations, as well as technical back up, but there was nothing like that in 1987.
The original farmhouse became offices, with patient and consulting rooms, and upon opening 26 beds were registered for use.

The first job for the hospital was to secure contracts with consultants to enable them to provide the services that still flourish today.
Current matron, Janet Hamnett said: “The types of procedures haven’t changed that much, the biggest change is in the way we look after patients. The length of stay was longer, for example, a joint replacement used to mean two weeks recovery and now its six days.
“For some gynaecological procedures where it used to be 10 days, now it’s five, which is all down to changes in technique.”
As the hospital has grown, so has the range of services it offers. And today, while continuing to provide acute care as a priority, the employment of a cosmetic surgery consultant has seen that side of the business flourish.
Janet added: “It’s not just the rich and famous. When we first opened it was people with private health insurance and people with plenty of money who could fund themselves, but that’s gradually changed.”
A barbecue will be held to celebrate the official anniversary of the opening in June, with a charity ball organised for later in the year.

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Back in time to Birkdale

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on March 2, 2007 9:05 AM

AFTER last week’s picture special on Ainsdale it seemed only fair to give Birkdale a moment in the LookBack spotlight.
Here we span the centuries to glance at the village from its embryonic stage when the thoroughfares were little more than paths beaten through the sand-dunes, to the settling in of civic institutions like the town hall.
Our oldest dated picture shows the Ash Tree Inn near Birkdale Common, and currently the site of the present Portland Hotel, on the corner of Bedford and Kew Road.

This painting is the handiwork of a Mr R Beattie and dates back to 1857, when the landlord was Mr Rimmer, son of the W Rimmer who kept the Cross Keys in King Street.
According to legend, its great attraction in the early days was Fiddler Harry, who had a farm two miles away on Bickerton Road and would frequently visit the Ash Tree to play for dancing parties.
Moving forward to 1903, and the impact and wealth generation of the industrial revolution have led Birkdale away from crumbling inns to a grand town hall.

Similar in style to Lord Street’s Arts Centre, the building was demolished to make way for shops, homes and the current Birkdale library, which still stands today in its place.
Birkdale Civic Society chairman, Ralph Gregson said: “It was demolished in the late 1960’s at a time when everything old was thought to be ugly, and Southport lost a lot of very impressive buildings.
“Birkdale’s Town Hall was originally home of the Birkdale Urban District Council, formed in the late 1880s.
“It continued to operate on behalf of the people of Birkdale through until 1912, when it amalgamated with Southport.
“The Town Hall remained there and was used as a library as well as various offices of Southport County Borough.
“It was then demolished and replaced with bland dwellings and shop fronts, something the residents of Birkdale still regret today.”
Moving into the commercial centre of the village in the early years of the Twentieth Century, three pictures show the famous verandas firmly established amid bustling market scenes.

While a curious image of HE Westerman’s Weld Road news stand reveals a timeless headline: “England Test Team Surprises”.

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