August 2009 Archives

EARLIER this month LookBack asked if anyone could explain the mysterious Cosy Cinema.
Southport cinema historian Don Geldard said: "Twice people have said to me that they went to a cinema called 'The Cosy' which they seemed to think was at the end of Lord Street, but there's no record anywhere.
"One man said to me he wanted to see Quo Vadis but he wasn't allowed to go and instead his aunt took him there to see Johnny Guitar starring Joan Crawford.
"But I've never, ever heard of 'The Cosy' yet another lady asked me if I'd ever been there."

Guy Mallinson and Ray Brundit both think they know the answer.
Mr Mallinson wrote: "I have lived in Southport for a very long time, and have never heard of a cinema which was officially called 'The Cosy'.
"However, I am almost certain that it was an affectionate name which was given to The Forum, which Mr Geldard will, of course, know about.
"I seem to recall my late mother saying it was so named. I also think (but am not certain) that the word 'Cosy' was used by the management at one time as an advertising aid."
That explanation echoes the memories of another of our readers', Mr Brundit.
He wrote: "Regarding your request for news of the comfy, cosy cinema: To my recollection it is the old 'Forum' on Lord Street (between 'The Palace' and 'Regal' cinema).
"The only other ones with nick names were the 'Colly' / 'Ranch House'.
"The 'Regent' was anything but comfy cosy with double hard wood seats on young bums - the times I was told off for fidgeting! Good for couples, I guess.
"But if you had to share with a smoker it would mean watery eyes as tobacco was hard to come by in war years and so some grew their own or smoked herbal mixtures.
"My favourite was always 'The Coliseum'. Even when you could sit in any seat, we all tried to get as near to the front row as possible because all the local wise guys sat there.
"It would start with the Pathe Gazzete (big cheers) war news (boo the enemy) before a main feature - happy days."

THE 50th season of brass band concerts in the Botanic Gardens will be celebrated with an incredible free concert.
Bands from Marshside, Banks, Hesketh Bank, Tarleton and Skelmersdale will perform a special show at the park's band lawn on Bank Holiday Monday (August 31).

Southport and District Brass Band Association (S&DBBA) has also enlisted former Army bandmaster Andrew Booth to conduct the event.
If wet, the show will take place at nearby St Cuthbert's Church.
The concert will also launch an appeal to build a new community bandstand in the park, to be used by youth, school and theatre groups, as well as brass bands.
S&DBBA secretary Christine Bradshaw said: "The 50th anniversary concert is an ideal opportunity to launch the project and monies raised on the day will be put towards the Bandstand Fund.
"Alongside this, it is very much about local bandsmen and women getting together to perform an entertaining concert with something in it for everyone - just remember to bring your flags!"
lA steering group is being set up to advance the bandstand project.Anyone requiring further information or wishing to join this project should contact 01704 220806.

IT all goes back to the 1920s, when Alderman Charles Aveling was the driving force behind setting up the show.

The British Empire Exhibition was being held in London the same year, 1924, and Southport offered something of an alternative for those unable to make their way to the capital.

It was also the beginning of the era of mass holidays in the years after the First World War, and that first show attracted 44,000 visitors.

"Happy is the flower show on which the sun shines," declared the Lord Mayor of neighbouring Liverpool at the first show.

Overall, the show was an immediate success, and from then onwards it became a summertime fixture in Southport.

Come the 1930s and Southport could lay claim to being the biggest flower show in the world. But it all came to a screeching halt in 1939 as war broke out across Europe. The slogan was "Dig for Victory" and there was little time for the luxuries of a flower show.

With the coming of peace it was possible to get the Flower Show moving once again. Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, agreed to continue as patron as she had done since 1935, and the first post-war show was held at Victoria Park in 1947.

The high point in attendance came in 1961 when 131,000 visited, but ultimately the show became a victim of its own success, straining the resources of organisers at Sefton Borough Council to the point where they felt they could no longer afford to stage it.

From 1986 onwards, a group of local businesses and gardeners came to the rescue by forming the Southport Flower Show Company. Within five years attendances topped 100,000 and the Show's future was given extra security when Sefton Council granted the Company a 60-year lease on the 34-acre show site in 1994 for a token rent of one bouquet.

This is now presented each year to the mayor/mayoress of Sefton on the first day of the show.

Current flower show chief executive David Jackson said that the show was much more than just a tourist attraction for the resort.

"The reason why Southport Flower Show is here in the first place is because of the area around Southport; Southport is very much of the area and you've only got to go to Banks and further towards Preston to see the number of nurseries and garden centres out there.

"it's not a marketing thing that's been created to bring in tourists, the show has grown up out of the town and surrounding area."

"When it was in dire straits in the 1980s it was the people and businesses of Southport who saved it, so I'm very proud to be a custodian of it."

LOOKBACK received this letter from reader Denis Brimble, of Birkdale, perhaps you can shed some light on his query.

"Could you use this photo in LookBack my wife says it is Southport. My Main interest is the Ford Capri in the water, maybe it will spark somebody's memory. Plus, did they have pny rides on the beach, as they don't look like donkeys."

AS the hovercraft celebrates its golden anniversary, LookBack takes an opportunity to rediscover the days when Southport had its own electric craft.

The Great British invention was once a fixture of Southport Summers, and a real hit with daytrippers and tourists.

First launched in 1973, Southport's first hovercraft lasted only a year, but its successor proved to have more staying power, operating into the early 1990s.

Connecting Southport to Blackpool, 11 miles north of the resort, the craft used to zip between the two holiday hotspots in about 20 mintues, weather permitting.

Unfortunately the weather often wasn't permitting and passengers on the 14-seater craft would regularly find themselves enjoying rather longer in Blackpool than they'd bargained for, before being bussed back to Southport.

Retired director of tourism, Phil King remembers riding in the craft to attend a civic engagement.

Phil said: "It was very good, we had a civic visit by hovercraft to Blackpool. It took the Mayor and Mayoress of the day to Squires Gate where we were met by my counterpart and taken along the promenade.

"It was another of the attractions to the resort and there were hovercraft anoraks who used to enjoy it and came from all parts of the country.

"Families liked it too, it was a unique form of transport and you had excellent views across the Ribble.

"Another of its attractions was that you saw Southport from another angle, one day we went out on the sandbank and actually stood on it looking back at the town."

Eventually the weather got the better of the hovercraft link and the service was axed.

Since then various parties have expressed an interest in resurrecting the much-loved transport link, but to no avail.

Hovercraft Rental revealed plans to bring the craft back in 2007 after bringing the vehicle back to Southport beach for the resort's airshow.

They planned to begin a service based in Southport, taking daytrippers south towards Liverpool, but the project never made it off the drawing board.

Meanwhile Peter Walton at Freckleton-based Walton Coaches has been exploring the idea of a reintroduction of the Southport to Blackpool craft for some time.

He said: "The one I've got at the moment is too small, it's not fit for purpose."

Peter claims that a bigger craft will be able to deal with inclement weather conditions and provide a reliable service.

"The dream's still there," he told LookBack.

"I went to Thailand last year to look at one which was no good, we've found another one that we're interested in, but it's in Canada at the moment and I've not had a chance to get over there yet."

FILM historian Don Geldard is hoping that one of our LookBack readers can help to shed light on the two cinemas missing from his picture archive.

Mr Geldard, who gives talks on the history of Southport's cinemas, told LookBack that despite giving lectures on the subject for the past four years pictures of two of the resort's cinemas still elude him.

He said: "The first is Bedford on Bedford Road in Birkdale which opened in 1929 and closed in 1959.

"It was purpose built at the time with shops at the front; now it's a car repair shop but it's still got the same roof over it.

"The other is The Queen's cinema which was known locally as Tivoli or "The Tiv" which was on Devonshire Road in Hyde Park.

"The building is still there; it was built in 1912 and closed in 1957.

"If anyone has a photo tucked away in the album I'd like to take a look at it."

And there's another movie mystery that Mr Geldard hasn't been able to get to the bottom of.

He said: "Twice people have said to me that they went to a cinema called the "Cosy" which they seemed to think it was at the end of Lord Street, but there's no record anywhere.

"One man said to me he wanted to see Quo Vadis but he wasn't allowed to go and instead his aunt took him there to see Johnny Guitar starring Joan Crawford.

"But I've never, ever heard of "The Cosy" yet another lady asked me if I'd ever been there."

Quo Vadis was released in 1953, which dates the cinema to that year. Get in touch with LookBack if you've got any clues.

THE OLDEST sports in club in Southport will next week commemorate 150 years of cricket in the town.

Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club began life in 1859 as Southport Cricket Club, and over the years has amalgamated with Birkdale Cricket Club and Southport Alexandra Cricket Club.

Leading up to the anniversary celebrations, LookBack has dipped into the Visiter archive to find the very first match report printed in 1859.

On July 2 the newly-formed Southport Cricket Club, which later became Southport and Birkdale CC, met Preston.

The Visiter reported: "On Saturday last the match between the Southport and Preston Cricket Clubs took place on the Southport Ground on York Road, Birkdale Park.

"The members of the Southport XI have practised with assiduity and are well worthy of the cause and came to the ground in good spirits, notwithstanding the high reputation that had reached them of their protagonists which was confirmed by the short preliminary practice in which they indulged previously to the commencement of the game.

"The ground was in excellent order, and the weather in every respect favourable until the time fixed for striking the wickets, 5.30pm, when a smart shower fell.

"Tents were provided for the visitors, who attended in large numbers in and around the ground. The Southport party won the toss and elected to send the Prestonians to the wickets first.

"Preston scored 120 to which Southport's reply was 87 all out. At the conclusion of the game the players and several friends adjourned to The Park Hotel, where Mr and Mrs Marchbank had prepared a sumptuous repast, abundant and varied enough to establish a name for catering for this new establishment and its young occupants.

"After dining as only cricketers know how, Mr W B Leeming proposed the usual preliminary loyal toast to 'The Army and Navy' and Captain Heywood responded.

"The toast was honoured in a manner which showed that cricketing is not prejudicial to the players lungs, and does not interfere with their 'vocal abilities'."

Since that day the club has continued to go from strength to strength.

Thanks to long-serving club secretary Ken Porter, the highs and lows of the club's 150-year history have been carefully chronicled in a series of bulging scrapbooks now entrusted to local history enthusiast Michael Graham.

And it is from one of those volumes that we take our picture.

And now Mr Graham is calling on LookBack readers to take a close look at the shot and see if they can name the mystery man. Another query that has cropped up as the club compiles a book about its history is the exact location of the club's first ground in Birkdale - if you can help get in touch with LookBack.