DECADES before the launch of Southport Air Show, aviation displays would draw crowds in the town.
One place that plane-spotters would gather in the 1930s was a mere stone’s throw from the Birkdale home of Evelyn Marshall. Now 86, Evelyn remembers as a schoolgirl joining spectators on the field off Stamford Road, where Christ The King School now stands.
“We used to go up the garden, and jump over and into the field to see what was going on,� she told LookBack.
“There were planes flying up and down and around. Rich people would pay to have flights in them but we could never afford it.�

Evelyn Hall (now Marshall) aged 12, standing by a biplane on Stamford Road field. Accompanying her is Jackie Wright (left) and Robert Cross, who were both Stamford Road neighbours of hers in the 1930s

It was not just the biplanes that attracted gatherings on the Stamford Road field, said Evelyn, who was Evelyn Hall until she married Fred Mardon in 1942.
She remembers people flocking to see the daring stunts of showmen such as ‘Professor’ Bert Powsey – the Southport high diver who was famed for his “dive of flames� routine.
Born in Kent in 1866, Powsey came to Southport in 1908 and was a lifeguard at the Sea Bathing Lake until seven years before his death in 1956.

The cyclist statue on Southport Pier that commemorates stunt-man ‘Professor’ Bert Powsey

One of a number of pier-diving ‘professors’, Powsey was still jumping aged 73 and reportedly never had a single accident during his career.
He would thrill the throng by diving with both his hands and feet tied, or strapped inside a burning sack.
On some occasions he would douse his clothes and the water with petrol, set both alight and then dive into the flaming waves below.
His “dive of flames� routine took him to 18 countries during a tour of North Africa and Europe in 1926.

‘Professor’ Bert Powsey, here sponsored by Bovril, performed his dare-devil dives on the field where now stands Christ the King School

The air shows held in Birkdale are just one of Evelyn’s many anecdotes from a life spent in the district.
Her ancestor Richard Hall was the town’s first coal merchant and was based on Bury Road – where also stood the infants school she attended.
“He used to deliver coal in wheelbarrows, and then by horse and cart,� Evelyn said.
She also has family ties to Herefordshire, the county where her mother, Elizabeth Weaver, hailed from.
It was Elizabeth’s family that first bred the white-faced Hereford cow, which has developed into the world’s premier beef breed.

Evelyn Marshall with part of her giant clock collection at her home in Birkdale

After leaving Linaker Street school at the age of 14, Evelyn went to work in Charles Blackshaw’s drapery located on the corner of Eastbank Street and Wesley Street.
She said: “It sold ladies’, men’s and children’s clothes.� The shop hours were these: 9am to 7pm on Monday to Thursday, 9am to 8pm on Friday and 9am to 9pm on Saturday.
“After I finished work on a Saturday night I used to go out dancing at the Floral Hall until 1am.
“In those days there were no buses or trams at that time so I had to walk from The Promenade back to Stamford Road on my own.�
Another nightspot Evelyn has fond memories of is the long-gone Garrick Theatre on Lord Street.
As a young woman she achieved at the Garrick what most only experience when playing a game of Monopoly – she won second prize in a modelling contest!
Tragically, her first husband Fred died aged only 27 from war injuries he suffered aboard the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Gleaner.
Before retiring aged 63, Evelyn, a grandmother of seven, also worked in the town at Marks & Spencer, as a clerk dealing with population statistics at Smedley Hydro, and as an usherette at the old Regal Cinema in Lord Street.
Recent years have seen the Eastbourne Road resident featured twice in the Visiter.
In 2006, we told how she was re-united with her pet tortoise Toby – who she has had for more than 20 years – after he went missing for five days. We also reported on her love of timepieces and her the spectacular collection of 400 clocks and 65 watches she keeps at her home.
Evelyn said: “It all started with one clock and then just grew. When the Salvation Army shop on Shakespeare Street get any interesting or unusual clocks they put them aside for me.�

DO you have any more information about the festivities that took place on Stamford Road? Is there a long-lost event you would like LookBack readers to know about? Call Robert Alcock on 01704-398287, email robert.alcock@southportvisiter.co.uk or leave your memories below.

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit