AN open-top bus tour highlighting the charms of Southport proved a far from smooth ride for the man filming it for Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council.
The year was 1976 and Southport Theatre’s then technical manager, Don Sykes, had been selected to make Wish You Were Here – a ‘movie postcard’ promoting the resort.
The passengers aboard the bus – most of whom were genuine tourists – were taken on a tour starting at Southport Pier and taking in sights including the Botanic Gardens and Rotten Row.
“It was a stop-start journey,� remembered Mr Sykes, who was chosen as filmmaker by Sefton’s tourism department because of his love of photography.
“The bus had to keep stopping and starting for me to get on and off it.�
Holidaymakers travel down Lord Street in a scene from ‘Wish You Were Here’, made for Sefton Tourism
For its stars, Wish You Were Here relied on some of the female workers at Southport Theatre, of which Mr Sykes was technical manager for 20 years.
It was distributed to film libraries around the country and has now been retrieved by the North West Film Archive for its Southport on Film compilation, which received its public premiere last night.
Attractions that have since vanished were included on the bus route, such as Peter Pan’s Playground on what is now Ocean Plaza, and the Model Village near where Morrisons now occupies.
Mr Sykes, who is married to Muriel and is a father of three and grandfather of 12, described Wish You Were Here as “a nice film� that “covered Southport as it was at that time.�
A film devotee since boyhood, Mr Sykes became Southport Theatre’s first technical manager on its opening in 1973, overseeing both screenings and live events.
Prior to coming to Southport he had worked at cinemas in Sheffield, Doncaster and Manchester.
Mr Sykes’s screen output also included a profile of an innovative new council housing estate in Marshside, plus footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee visit to Bootle in 1977 and the fiftieth anniversary of Southport Flower Show.
“I prefer Southport how it used to be,� he added.
“I like progress but it’s a shame Peter Pan’s Playground, the Floral Gardens and the Palace Theatre have all gone.�
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