February 2010 Archives

A SOUTHPORT baker is hanging up his apron after 55 years.
Claude Verité from Churchtown came to the seaside resort as a young man.
Born in 1943 in Beauvais, a town north of Paris in France, Claude began an apprenticeship at a pâtisserie at the tender age of 13.

Here, he learned the skills and secrets to baking the best bread and perfect pastries.
He told the Visiter: "I was very young when I started working.
"We made bread, confectionery, ice-cream - everything."
Claude said that after five years his boss decided to send him to England.
"I worked in Belgium and Germany for a short time.
"Then there was a job at a bakery in Southport, so I came here."
So in 1961 at the age of 18, Claude began working at Mellor's Bakery on Lord Street.
"It was very hard moving to a new place because I didn't speak English - I still can't now!
"I had difficulty but I grew to love Southport.

"It was very hard work- getting up at 4am and finished at 9 at night.
"Then I got called to France to do my National Service, I was there for a year and a half.
"All I wanted was to come back to Southport, when I did I decided to go out on my own."
Claude left his job as manager of Mellors and in 1976 he opened his own shop in Churchtown - Claude's Pâtisserie was born.
"I did everything, bread, cakes and I had a little café upstairs."
In 2003, after almost 30 years, Claude decided to sell his patisserie but the new owners wanted to keep his name above the door.
"I started working in the bakery at Sainbury's in 2006.
"I love it there, we do very good bread which is made from scratch everyday.
"I will be sad to go but I will keep busy at my son's place."
Claude has four children, Nicole, Marc, Stefanie and Christian.
Both daughters are in catering and Marc has his own restaurant in Birkdale Village - Bistro Verité.
Marc, former head chef at the Warehouse in Southport, said: "I got my passion for food from my dad. He was a huge influence on what I'm doing now and although he's retired he's said he will pop in to help me out."
Claude added: "I will come and go as I please, I've got lots of time on my hands."
Jamie Bryce, admin manager at Sainbury's said: "Claude has been a great employee and will be sadly missed.
"We are sorry to see him go. He's always friendly and very good with the customers."

A RARE rail poster advertising a day out to Southport was among a treasure trove of unwanted souvenirs which could make a staggering £1m at auction.
The poster was set for the bin until British Rail worker Malcolm Guest asked the company for the unique collection of memorabilia.
The art deco image by Italian artist Fortunino Matania features swimmers at our resort's long-demolished lido and has been dated at "around 1937" by auctioneer experts.
Another poster of the same image was auctioned for almost £8,000 in 2006 and Malcolm's collection could now sell for an estimated £1m.
The piece - among thousands of rare posters, paintings and artefacts - shows our town as one the most exclusive places to visit in the country.
Joanna Jones, arts and cultural services manager for
Sefton museums and galleries, said: "Matania was trained as an illustrator and was very good with details which you can see in the poster which is called Sea Bathing lake. The bathing lake, which was pulled down in the 90s, was very popular at the time because it was a real sun trap.
"The poster shows Southport as a fashionable resort and the bathers are seen as fashionable by the costumes they are wearing.
"It shows Southport as a glamorous and elegant place would have entice people to visit from around the country."
Tourism posters appeared around Britain's train stations in the 1920s and '30s as the four biggest rail companies competed for business.
Auctioneers were stunned by the scale of the archive they found after Malcolm died in North Yorks aged 66 last year.
Rail historian Dr Richard Furness said: "In the offices there were all these artefacts that BR was about to destroy.
"Malcolm asked for them and made probably the best private collection of rail memorabilia ever seen."

FAMOUS TV critic and author Brian Viner grew up in Southport and spent his childhood here in the 1970s.
Since leaving the resort Brian has become one of Britain's best-loved columnists, writing for the Mail on Sunday and The Independent.
The self-confessed 70s affecionado and ex-KGV student recently penned "Nice to See It, To See It Nice: The 1970s in front of the telly" which charts his love affair with the decade's sitcoms, chat shows and dramas.

Speaking about Southport at that time Brian told LookBack: "It was a great place to grow up, I was born at the end of 1961 and the 70s totally coincided with my formative years from nine to 19."
Brian, who often returns to Southport, said that although the resort is now very different he still enjoys visiting.
He said: "It's changed somewhat, although it has become a bit more of a satellite of Liverpool since the 70s.
"In the early 70s it wasn't a part of Merseyside, it had very much its own identity, but it's still a lovely place I think.
"It had its own sort of livery a cream and red and the buses and lampposts were all painted in the council colours and that's all changed."
These days the blue and yellow of Sefton Council is a more familiar sight in the town.
"It was very much part of Lancashire; even if the true Lancastrians didn't consider it as such, we did.
"From 1974 we had to start calling ourselves Merseysiders."
Talking of the town's shops and cafes of his youth Brian said: "Older readers will remember Marshall & Snelgrove and the cafe with the waitresses in pinnys, and silver service and three tiered cake stands which has all changed.
"Then there was the old Victoria Baths at the top of Nevill Street which is where all my generation and generations before learnt to swim.
"In the 70s they hadn't been changed much since the 1930s!
"The open air swimming pool was very much from the 1930s too, everybody flocked to it on the few hot days in the Summer."
In his recent book Brian recalls growing up on Lynton Road at the time of discovering Abba on Top of the Pops.
He wrote: "Until the former Playboy Bunny Debbie Harry burst onto the scene and into my dreams sometime in 1978, the blonde one from Abba was my idea of unblemished beauty, and as the nearest thing to her in Lynton Road, Millicent Earnshaw struck me as pretty gorgeous too."
Celebrities pepper Brian's memories.
He said: "The Floral Hall in those days used to attract quite seriously big stars: I'm sure I remember my parents saw Jack Jones, Shirely Bassey and Neil Diamond - people like that came to Southport."
And on Lord Street a whole world of stars of the silver screen waited to be discovered by Brian and his classmates.
"There were three cinemas where a whole generation of us grew up falling in love with the cinema," he said.
"And Saturday morning cinema that was an institution - it was just a question of whether you were going to meet your friends at the ABC or Palace or Odeon."
Brian also fell in love with the then exotic delicacy avocado in the 1970s.
He said: "The Boulevard cafe was the poshest restaurant in Southport.
"That's where I discovered the 'avocado pear' - we said things in full in the 1970s.
"In 1975 it was served in a little bespoke white dish on its own with a vinaigrette and I thought it was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted!"
Brian also writes about The Boulevard in his book.
"The Boulevard was a strictly limited treat. As a consequence, what a treat it was!" he wrote.
"In my Letts diary there is the following entry for Thursday 6 February 1975: 'Mum and dad came home at 6.30. Mum tired, so went to Boulevard. Missed Persuaders but didn't mind that much. Brill meal!!!! Went to bed at 9.45.'
"That I was reasonably happy to forsake the Persuaders - one of my favourite shows, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis as amateur sleuths Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Sinclair and Danny Wilde, shows how inexpressibly devoted I was to The Boulevard."
Brian also remembers eating at the Berni Inn, or the Fox and Goose as it was then known. "I don't remember there being a single Indian restaurant in 1970s Southport, and there were only a couple of Chinese restaurants," he wrote.
And while on the subject of food Brian reminisces over our much-loved and lost 1970s confectionery recalling the delights of the Golden Cup, the Texan Bar and the Summit.
Signing off sadly with: "Maybe, paradoxically given the food revolution that has convulsed Britain since the Black Forest gateau years, there simply aren't as many treats to be had these days. The Marshall & Snellgrove cafe in Southport to which I was sometimes taken, had silver teapots, silver milk jugs and silver sugar bowls wielded by waitresses in black frilly aprons."
"Nice to See It, To See It Nice: The 1970s in front of the telly" by Brian Viner is now available in paperback

"IT WAS quite a good time to be a teenager," says Sir Ron Watson of growing up in the Southport in the 1960s.
Recalling watching the Beatles for 12p, Sir Ron describes a time when the Mersey Sound was blossomed in the town.
"We used to spend our afternoons in the Great Wall on Lord Street, there was a lot going on," he said.
"There were the people who were trailblazers, the people who wore Cuban heels bought when they were in Paris and no-one had ever seen that kind of thing.
"They did wonders for the corduroy because everyone started wearing black corduroy suits!"

A RIOT of colour and Summer fun, these vibrant pictures are taken from a holiday guide to Southport published in 1968.
The brochure was found among the possessions of Birkdale historian Dr John Turner by his widow Jannette after his death.

Dr Turner, who in his retirement became well known for his research into local and circus history, was a prominent member of the Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society.
Jannette told LookBack: "I thought it was rather too nice to throw it out or give it to a charity shop."
The beautifully produced guide shows Southport in it's best light.
One passage boasts: "Large areas are reserved for children and pedestrians only and the access to the sand hills makes available many of acres of sheltered picnicking.
"On Mondays a special area outside the pier is set aside for children's' sports and on Thursday it's used for children's' sand modelling competitions."

Adding: "The air field provides pleasure flights from the beach at economic rates."
Packed with beauty queens, bathing lakes and panoramas of "beautiful and bracing Southport" the brochure gives us an insight into holidaying in the 1960s.
No doubt some of readers will recognise the adorable Southport Rosebud of 1967 who must now be in her 40s.
Let LookBack know if you can name her - we'd love to hear about the contest!
Jannette revisited the tradition herself.
"I was the over 60s carnival queen for the 200 years of Southport celebrations," she said.
"It was nice to bring that tradition back to life again."
Ralph Gregson worked for the council's dedicated "tourism and attractions" department in the 1950s, but remembers the 60s well.

He said: "First of all tourism and attractions had its own department in the Cambridge Arcade and during that period its own committee on the council too. Nowadays it's linked up with leisure services."
Ralph remembers the time as the peak of the town's tourist industry.
He said: "Southport enjoyed a very healthy Summer holiday trade of staying visitors.
"The town had very good weeks for holiday makers, at various times too.
"Visitors from different regions would arrive for Wake Week.
"They would fill Bath Street and King Street, but then everything changed in the 1970s and 1980s."

TOM Jones was at the peak of his fame, fresh from the hitting the top of the charts with "It's Not Unusual" when he came to Southport.
Tevor Blackham played bass in the that band that supported the Welsh superstar when he played the Kingsway in 1965.
Trevor told LookBack: "We did the Tom Jones show.

"The band was called The Rennicks and there were five of us.
"It was just a normal kind of thing at that time - we used to see the Beatles regularly because we were all playing in the same clubs."
Speaking of Jones' meteoric rise to fame Trevor said: "He had just had his number one with 'It's Not Unusual' - Tommy had started out as 'Tom Jones, and the Esquires' but he had an orchestra in the studio and he couldn't represent that live, so he became 'Tom Jones'.
"He just came up here the once and played the Kingsway when it was on three floors; the music, the casino and the cabaret on the ground floor.
"While we were there the Tiller Girls from the London Palladium were performing.
"The troupe used to split up in the Summer and tour around the circuit, you see."
The music scene in Southport, as with Merseyside, thrived in the sixties.
Trevor, who joined The Rennicks at the age of 16, playing with them for seven years, remembers seeing the same faces on the circuit.
"The Searchers, Gerry Marsden and The Beatles - we would all just meet up in the KD (The Kardomah) in Liverpool - it was a big coffee house.
"Then you'd see each other in the clubs."
Trevor remembers sharing the stage with his childhood friend, and long-serving Emmerdale actor, Clive Hornby (Jack Sugden in the soap) who died in 2008.
Clive played drums in another band called the The Dennisons.
They were well-known in Merseyside, but despite being tipped as the next Beatles, the band didn't set the charts on fire, although LookBack readers might remember their records such as 'Come On Be My Girl', 'Walkin' The Dog' and 'You Don't Know What Love Is'.
The bands on the scene all got to know one another - and the tricks of the trade.
"They used to put three bands on the night; you used to get £7.50 for playing the top spot in the middle of the set, or £5 for doing the first or last.
"But no-one wanted to play the top spot, because then you could only do one gig a night, whereas if you did the first spot, you had time to get to another club - so you'd make £10, rather than £7.50," said Trevor.
The resort's nightlife has changed a bit since then.
"The clubs weren't late and most of the clubs in Southport didn't have a liquor license," he said.
"It was a lot quieter late at night.
"But it was still a busy time - we were out seven nights a week working."
Wendy Wright also appeared on stage at the Kingsway, during the late 1960s.
She also remembers the club as a buzzing mecca to the stars.
The bunny girl shared the limelight with A-listers like Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Norman Wisdom, Larry Grayson and Tom O'Connor.
Wendy said: "I had been a dancer all my life and I've danced all over.
"I was chosen as a Bluebell Girl and I used to do the Summer seasons.
"Norman Wisdom was my favourite, he was a lovely man, such a quiet, gentle, man.
"In 1968 Southport was just thriving - if only cabaret would come back!
"Everyone would be beautifully dressed up, the ladies in their furs."
With crowds arriving each week to be entertained the Kingsway bunny girls had a hectic schedule.
"We used to learn the routines on the Sunday for the rest of the week - a new routine every week.
"The choreographer was brought in from Manchester and sometimes we swapped over with their dancers."
Performing in panto with Tom O'Connor is another of Wendy's special memories.
"He played Buttons in Cinderella in Southport, and we're still good friends."
Wendy also did panto with Morecambe and Wise in Liverpool as the understudy to the female lead.
"I did all the rehearsals with them," she said.
"It was a lot of fun - it was always ad lib with them!"
After 40 years Wendy's fans still stop her in the street in Southport.
"People recognise you because they have such strong memories of the time," she said.

CHILD of the 50s Graham Campbell, 69, recalls growing up in the resort.
He said: "Most of life then was connected to the church and the youth clubs.
"I was a member of All Souls and Ronnie Fearn was in charge and from that came the dramatic club.
"Alcohol in those days only came later - we used to walk up Lord Street and go to the coffee bars. We'd go to Uncle Macs, Andy's and El Caba.
"Boot lace ties came in in the late 50s with the teddy boys and Elvis was starting.
"All the locals started skiffle groups with washboards - it was cheap."

CELEBRITIES brought a touch of post-war glamour to Southport in the 1950s.
The LookBack archives show that the resort was graced with a royal visit from HRH Princess Margaret in 1954.
This lovely photograph shows an expectant crowd lining the streets of Southport - perhaps you recognise some of those young faces?
Or maybe you were there that day and presented flowers to the princess?
Let LookBack know your stories.

Film star Richard Attenborough arrived in the resort to visit the flower show in 1950, fresh from playing a trademark spiv in the British movie, MorningDeparture.
Accompanied by his glamorous actress wife Sheila Sim, only two years later the pair would co-star in the West End's longest running theatre production, The Mousetrap.
Our third and final picture shows a St Luke's Church outing.
Wrapped up warm this excitable gang are pictured in 1950 - who do you recognise?

DAN Dare is a name to resonate with any 1950s schoolboy.
The classic comic book hero was created here in Southport by Frank Hampson and featured in The Eagle.
At its peak the popular comic - the brainchild of Southport vicar Marcus Morris - sold more than three quarters of a million copies a week.

In 1958 to purchase a copy would require pocket money of 4 1/2d.
Mr Hampson, moved to Southport as a baby, created Dare in 1950 for an Eagle strip called "Pilot Of The Future".
He studied at Southport School of Arts and Crafts.
The Eagle was designed and illustrated from its home in the Churchtown studios, where it was based in the Old Bakery.
Mr Hampson left the comic in 1959 after a new editor objected to the high cost of his studio system.
The publication is credited with setting the bar for British comics in their 1950s heyday.
The Eagle's success became such a badge of pride for the resort that a statue to the courageous comic book hero and several exhibitions in Southport and Churchtown have been created to celebrate the resort's illustrious illustrated past.
But a tourist trail which charts the development of The Eagle is yet to take off.
In April the International Eagle Society will land in Southport to celebrate the comic's 60th anniversary.
Fan Peter Dyer will be there.
He said: "It was ahead of its time. It was in colour which was quite unusual then."

LET us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good," said Harold Macmillan in 1957.
Our second LookBack special focuses on an altogether more optimistic decade - the 1950s.
For many the era will be remembered fondly for a series of iconic national events: Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the Festival of Britain, Roger Bannister running a mile in less than four minutes and, of course, the much-longed for end to wartime food rationing in 1954.

With the end of the war, Southport could return to what it knew best: Delighting holiday makers, cinema goers and garden lovers.
That said, the resort's most famous landmark, the pier, came under threat on June 2, 1959 when a fire caused £50,000 worth of damage to the structure.
The model yacht pond and Peter Pan Pool provided the water to extinguish the fire once pier attendant Tommy Lowe raised the alarm at 6pm after he noticed a burning smell.

One newspaper report read: "When the glass roof of the amusement arcade collapsed with a roar a good deal of the burning timber and splinters of glass fell into the sea below.
"Flames and sparks leapt hundreds of feet into the air and crimson tinted smoke belched across the sands and the Marine Lake."
And although the war was over, reminders of those years remained - as this charming picture of Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots running for their Spitfires in 1950 shows.