Look Backtag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://6422008-11-13T17:59:48ZTaking a LookBack on Southport through the ages. If you recognise any faces or are familiar with any of the places, share your memories right here...
Movable Type Enterprise 4.21-enRemembrance tribute to Corporal Michael Gilyeattag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1048182008-11-14T09:05:11Z2008-11-13T17:59:48ZWHILE many associate Remembrance Sunday with the world wars, one Southport family was at the service to pay tribute to a young soldier who was killed last year. Corporal Michael Gilyeat, from the Royal Military Police, died with American and...Laura Jones
Mike, who is now secretary of Birkdale Golf Club, said: "I always go to the Remembrance Sunday service because I've lost friends in the army.
"But this year was a really poignant day for me as this was the first year that Mike's name was on the memorial.
"The Mayor invited us to come along this year and lay the wreath. It was a very proud day as I was very proud of Michael."
Corporal Mike Gilyeat was born in Hanover in Germany and came to Southport when his parents settled there.
He had previously served in Iraq and Northern Ireland.]]>
Polish servicemen honoured on armistice day tag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1048212008-11-14T09:04:11Z2008-11-13T18:04:23ZPOLISH families remembered their own war dead as well as British servicemen and women on Remembrance Sunday. The Southport Anglo-Polish Society and the Polish Combatants Association gathered at the war memorial on Lord Street on Remembrance Sunday and laid wreaths....Laura Jones
Society members went to an Armistice Day service in Formby on Tuesday to pay tribute to six Polish airmen who died while serving at Woodvale air station.
Beata Kowalska, the society's treasurer, said: "On Remembrance Sunday we feel it is important to remember British and Polish soldiers who fought in World War Two.
"My father Stanislav Sobolewski, who was in the Polish cadet force during World War Two, died earlier this year so the ceremony was particularly poignant for us.
"He used to lay a wreath every year as chairman of the Polish Combatants Association. Our daughter Ligia laid a wreath in his memory."]]>
Southport Remembrance paradetag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1048222008-11-14T09:03:11Z2008-11-13T17:54:08ZBy MICHAEL BYRNE LARGE crowds gathered to pay tribute to Southport servicemen and women who lost their lives serving their country. Hundreds of people attended the town's Remembrance Sunday parades in Southport and Ainsdale. In Southport veterans lined up on...Laura Jones
Southport MP John Pugh was among the dignitaries in attendance along with the Mayor of Sefton Cllr Paul Tweed and Graham Haywood, Sefton Council chief executive.
British Legion members were at the parade along with members of the Normandy and Dunkirk veterans associations along with Royal Naval Association.
They were joined by young sea and army cadets while the Salvation Army band played the music.
The Last Post and Reveille was played and a two minute silence was observed in silent tribute to fallen comrades.
Rev John Burgess, formerly vicar at St Phillip's Church in Scarisbrick New Road, Southport, and Father Phillip Gregory, from Holy Family Church also attended.
Graham Marten, Royal British Legion Southport branch chairman, said: "It was a very moving service. The people of Southport always give good support to the Remembrance Sunday Service and I was very pleased to see so many people at the memorial.
"We also had a good turnout for the two minutes silence on Armistice Day itself in Southport."
Children helped make the Ainsdale service extra special by putting crosses on the memorial as their tribute.
The choir from St John's CE Church in Ainsdale sang at the service, which was conducted by St John's vicar Rev Graham Birch.
Eric Lewis, Royal British Legion Southport branch president, said: "The service was excellent and I was really pleased to so many children at the memorial."]]>
Armistice Day Time Team special to feature Southport buildertag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1031712008-11-07T09:07:22Z2008-11-06T14:20:23ZARCHEOLOGIST Gary Andrews will appear on the Channel 4 show 'The Lost Dugout: A Time Team Special'. The programme has been scheduled to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day and will follow the team as they uncover the...Laura Jones
The 47-year-old Churchtown builder brought his health and safety and engineering know-how to the project, fronted by Tony Robinson.
"He's a nice enough guy, but this was something new for him," said Gary.
"It's modern archeology, really, because you're going back just 90 years."
Gary and other experts were the first people to enter the French tunnels since fighting ended in 1918.
As veterans and their families prepare to mark 90 years since the guns fell silent at 11am on November 11, 1918, the Time Team documentary will serve as a stark reminder of the harrowing and hellish conditions of that truly horrendous conflict.
Gary said: "Few people have been down there and it's an honour to go, but to be in the first group entering since the war, and to not know what you're going to find is nerve-wracking.
"Coming across an unexploded bomb is an emotive thing and that's when you think about how daunting and frightening it is."
Since filming for Channel 4, Gary has become involved with an even more emotively charged project - working with Glasgow University and the Australian army to find the final resting place of 400 Allied troops.
He took part in a dig at Fromelles where bodies of almost 400 Allied troops were found in a mass grave.
The men died during a mission in North East France in July, 1916 in the first battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front.
The Australian War Memorial describes the battle as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history" because more than 5,000 troops were killed, injured or captured there.
Speaking of the sight of contorted bodies that met the team as they excavated the site, Gary said: "It was emotional and you do connect with it - I get a tingle down my spine now just talking about it."
A special team of forensic archeologists were brought in to start the process of identifying the bodies of the fallen.
"They are amazing people," he said.
"They've worked on the Twin Towers and the Jersey children's home."
Gary expects to return to the French battlefield again to continue the work started by the Glasgow University team.
The Lost Dugout: A Time Team Special will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday evening (November 10).]]>
Southport WW1 heroes rememberedtag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1031762008-11-07T09:06:22Z2008-11-06T14:31:58ZTHERE may not be any First World War veterans left in Southport as the resort prepares to mark the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day, but the town has not forgotten its heroes. Last year LookBack reported on Paul Edwards's amazing...Laura Jones
THERE may not be any First World War veterans left in Southport as the resort prepares to mark the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day, but the town has not forgotten its heroes.
Last year LookBack reported on Paul Edwards's amazing discovery of a pair of medals belonging to Private Frank Webb.
Despite their best efforts, the Royal British Legion and Mr Edwards were unable to restore the medals to Pte Webb's family, and so his Allied Victory Medal and the British War Medal were donated to the Royal Logistics Corps Museum at Deepcut barracks in Surrey.
Since the medals arrived at the museum, curators say that no enquiries have been made about them by possible relatives.
In a plea to find the family of Pte Webb on the 90th anniversary of the war Eric Lewis, president of the Royal British Legion, said: "I would be personally very happy to have been involved with restoring them to the family."
Pte Webb was not the only Southport serviceman to acquit himself with honour during the First World War - Captain Harold Ackroyd, Private R. George Masters and Commander Percy Thompson Dean were all awarded the Victoria Cross for their acts of bravery.
Their fearless acts are recounted in the 1923 Book of Remembrance, with tributes paid to the men "utterly regardless of danger" on the Western Front, France and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
Cricket historian's Southport call for helptag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1031812008-11-07T09:05:22Z2008-11-07T09:33:49ZBy JOHN SIDDLE AFTER spending hours in libraries across the North West, a local cricket enthusiast is on the verge of assembling the complete playing history of one of the town's oldest sides. Dave Addison, treasurer of New Victoria Cricket...Laura Jones
Dave said: "I doubt I will ever get all of them but if I can be satisfied that I have done all I can, that'll do. The big problems are when we have played another team in Southport, because if the Visiter hasn't carried the result then it's unlikely to be in the public domain.
"The last fifteen years have been covered by our own scorebooks but there are big gaps in the 1970s and early 1980s.
"I'm just hopeful a reader out there will have records of our matches stored away in a scorebook that's hidden away at home."
Dave spent two years researching the club's history and published a book earlier this year to raise club funds.
The book reveals that, although becoming New Victoria in 1952, the club's roots go back before World War II to teams such as Blowick Wesleyans and Blowick Methodists. Blowick were reformed as Victoria Methodists in 1946 and changed their name to New Victoria in 1952.
Dave said: "The book has sold well and it has been well received by cricketers and cricket lovers far and wide.
"I never thought that when I moved to Southport I'd end up spending most of my time in libraries researching the history of an amateur cricket club, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it."
The club fields two senior teams in the Southport & District Amateur League from their home in Crossens. On various week nights the club runs a number of junior teams, including under 11s, 13s, 15s and 18s.
Dave added: "New Victoria certainly has a future indicated by committed seniors, the thriving junior section and attractive ventures, such as our tour to Bulgaria last year."
To order the book or for more information on the club, contact David Addison on 01704-546293.]]>
Songs censored by the BBCtag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1018162008-10-31T10:20:52Z2008-10-31T12:51:55ZBy LAURA JONES NOEL Coward, The Beverley Sisters, George Formby and George Melly - these are just some of the acts banned by the BBC which feature in a new collection by Ainsdale historian Spencer Leigh. After months of research...Laura Jones
So what gave him the idea?
He said: "I go down to look at the BBC archives from time to time because all the correspondence before 1980 is open to inspection.
"I was working on a book about Liverpool entertainers and the BBC, and I thought that one day it would be very interesting to see correspondence about all the Liverpool artists that had been banned, and that led to this."
The collection pulls together all 75 songs that were deemed too scandalous, corrupting or scurrilous to broadcast.
And more than a few of the risque line-up hail from Liverpool, including Lita Rosa and Arthur Askey, but Southport comes out looking squeaky clean.
"I don't think Marc Almond had any censorship problems," Spencer laughs.
With This Record is Not to be Broadcast receiving critical acclaim from trendy music magazine Mojo, the Ainsdale historian, who hosts a Radio Merseyside show, has found a younger fan base.
"It's very nice - it shows that people like the history of the music," says Spencer.
"I think that people who read magazines like Mojo are interested in the background of the music anyway."
And the glamour of being banned by the Beeb has probably lent the collection some street cred too.
He says: "It's an issue that goes back almost to the beginning of recording.
"I think it's an interesting subject because of instances like Frankie Goes to Hollywood in the more recent past.
"Nearly every artist has got into trouble at some stage."
And as for his favourite song, that would be Noel Coward's Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans.
"It's a wonderful, sarcastic piece - and the BBC had great problems with that," says Spencer.
"They were worried in case people took it seriously."]]>
Southport's WW2 Jewish refugeestag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1018192008-10-31T10:18:52Z2008-10-31T09:59:05ZBy LAURA JONES THEY arrived in Southport never to see their parents again as Europe slid towards war. For the 20 Jewish girls who fled the Nazis in 1938 this town should have been a dark, traumatic place that they...Laura Jones
Mrs Livingstone's daughter, Nan Bloom, remembers meeting the girls when she was just eight years old.
She said: "My mother went to Harris House almost everyday.
"She had to overcome a lot to do what she did, because other Jewish families were worried that by bringing the girls to Southport anti-Semitism would spread here.
"In fact it was just the opposite, people were supportive, and I'm incredibly proud of her work."
Ever keen to help, the Livingstone family opened their own home to Lottie.
"She was absolutely sweet," said Nan.
"Lottie came over earlier than the others and she must have been 12 or 13 years old which is very grown up when you're eight!
"The others at Harris House seemed happy, or if not happy then not desperately traumatised."
Remembering the reunion, which brought the girls back together after more than 40 years, Nan said: "My mother was very delighted and very touched by it."]]>
Pleasureland reunion in picturestag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://642.1018212008-10-31T10:17:52Z2008-10-31T10:15:20ZBy LAURA JONES PLEASURELAND employees came together again for the first time since the theme park's 2006 closure to relive their time at Southport's much-loved theme park. Dozens of former fair-ground workers descended on Capilla Bar in Southport to reminisce...Laura Jones
Chris Booker who worked at Pleasureland for almost a decade said: "It was a late night!
"There were people there I'd not seen since the park closed - I didn't recognise some of them, and had no idea who they were when they started talking to me. I did get a bit of stick from a few for passing on embarrassing photos to the Visiter!"
Last week's Southport Visiter "Look Back" featured snapshots of staff in the 1990s.
"About five or six people saw the paper and came along," said Chris. "It was a really good night - it was nice to hear how everyone's getting on."
One notable absence was
Stewart Lamont - the reunion's organiser was struck down by a bug and had to stay in bed.
Luckily, Stewart won't have to wait long for the next
Pleasureland reunion - Chris and the gang have already pencilled in another for December 12 this year.
]]>
Retro toys top the Christmas list!tag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.589522008-10-24T08:59:41Z2008-10-24T09:33:11Z By LAURA JONES GIRLS and boys in Southport will be going 'Back To The Future' when they come to compile their Christmas lists this year. Retail commentators are predicting that 2008 toy sales will reflect the trend for all...Laura Jones
By LAURA JONES
GIRLS and boys in Southport will be going 'Back To The Future' when they come to compile their Christmas lists this year.
Retail commentators are predicting that 2008 toy sales will reflect the trend for all things nostalgic as parents put on their rose tinted specs before they hit the high street.
The craze for all things retro has seen D&J Toys in Southport stock up on Doctor Who goodies and Rubik's Cubes as '70s and '80s toys look set to top the "most wanted" charts come December.
David McDonnell, who runs the Tulketh Street shop, has seen such interest in the nostalgic toys and games that he's stocking toys from '80s TV favourite, Transformers.
His shelves are also heaving under Sylvanian Families as the treehouse toys from the '80s and '90s make a surprise comeback.
A dad himself, Mr McDonnell thinks that the reason mums and dads are still buying toys that they recognise from their own childhood is because it helps them to play and bond with their kids.
He said: "If they're familiar with the toys then I think parents might play more with their kids.
"Transformers are doing really well at the moment and so are the Sylvanian Families.
"The Christmas season has definitely already started - people are coming in buying gifts and getting ideas and inspiration.
"I don't think the credit crunch is affecting us."
Meanwhile around the corner at The Cherry Tree, Alison Buckingham is stocking up on the traditional favourite, the dolls' house, ready for the Christmas rush.
It's one aspect of the housing market that's certainly not suffering from the credit crunch, she said: "Dolls' houses are always popular at Christmas time.
"I think more than ever families want to invest in something that will last for years."
Do you still have a dolls house, or have you passed it onto your children? Were you beaten by the Rubik's Cube, or did you prefer Transformers? Tell us whether you think toys were better then or now below.]]>
Pleasurebeach reunion tag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.589312008-10-24T08:00:22Z2008-10-23T16:06:53ZPLEASURELAND might have closed its doors two years ago, but its party spirit still lives on! Tonight, Pleasureland employees of the past are reuniting to reminisce about the thrills and spills of working at the Southport theme park. Over the...Laura Jones
"It could be a bit surreal," Mark readily admits.
"I always remember working in the marketing department and answering the phone to one of the members of Black Lace!
"We had one of the Grumbleweeds from the TV show come along to film - I've still got a copy of his video Coaster Crazy somewhere."
Mark, who is now an IT specialist with Geek Squad, worked at the theme park for around 10 years.
Stewart also did a fair bit of celeb spotting in his years at Pleasureland.
He said: "There were always Brookside actors around - I think they even filmed there at one point.
"Comedian Jack Dee came down and had a bumble around one day, too."
For Chris Booker, who worked at Pleasureland for almost a decade, it's the student sense of mischief he misses the most.
"I remember one end of season party where I ended up doing a Pet Shop Boys song, and five big guys - real macho guys - dressing up in drag and miming the Spice Girls in the circus tent.
"There were loads of big nights out - some of us went on an end of season golf trip to Bridlington but forgot to take our clubs, so we ended up in a pub!"
With most of the staff aged between 17 and 24 more than a few holiday romances blossomed beside the rollercoasters - and some of them are still going strong today.
"There were quite a few couples who met there," said Chris, who is now the manager of the Ocean Plaza bowling alley.
"Nikki Scott and Colin Bond both worked at Pleasureland and they've got a daughter together, and so did Kathy Kershaw and Andrew Start who are parents now too.
"Gemma and Dave Torrance married in 2005 and have three kids, Kev Brown and Judy Carr got engaged last weekend, Dominic Strange and Jane Sharrock are engaged and Paul Faraday and Claire Sharrock are still together, too!"
But while most of the staff were young student workers who came and went, Bernie Gittens, Pleasureland's painter and handyman, was part of the furniture.
"Bernie looked after the cats.
"There were so many of them - they never had names and they were wild.
"Bernie must have been there 40 years - everyone who ever worked there will have known Bernie."
The Pleasureland reunion is tonight (Friday October 24) at Capilla Bar, Waverley Street, Southport from 8pm. ]]>
Remember when?tag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.589382008-10-24T07:58:00Z2008-10-23T16:28:52ZLiverpool band Black, fronted by vocalist Colin Vearncombe (pictured), filmed part of their monochrome video for the classic single 'Wonderful Life' on the Looping Star rollercoaster at Pleasureland back in 1987. Do you remember where the stylish ballad came in...Laura Jones
Comedians from all over the UK are descending on the town for Southport Comedy Week, but Southport's own Lee Mack is more than a match for them.
The Stanley High School pupil has gone on to host a Radio 2 show and star in BBC One sitcom "Not Going Out" since leaving Southport.
Did you go to Stanley High with Lee? Or were you the clown in your class? Share your stories with the Visiter below.
]]>
Year 1845 mapped out in Southporttag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.584392008-10-17T08:00:00Z2008-10-17T09:25:54ZBy JOHN SIDDLE TAKE a look at Southport 163 years ago - a small, refined village that was about to surrender to the commercial, tourist town it is today. A newly-released hand-drawn map, based on Ordnance Survey documents of 1845,...Digital Editor
The historic map, on sale at the Tourist Information Centre, documents the town just three years before the first rail lines would signal a mass influx from across the North West.
The dunes lining the famous Southport Sands had been tamed and the town was beginning to expand beyond the elegant Lord Street.
Hamlets such as 'Little London' and 'The Trap' were prospering whilst the town's reputation as 'spa town' was spreading.
But just 15 years later, Southport was expanding at such a rate that its small provinces would be lost to the annals of history.
From a small village of 7,774 in 1841, Southport had 18,076 people in 1871, 32,191 in 1881 and 48,046 at the turn of the 20th century.
Visiter reporter John Siddle and local historian Matthew Tinker look back at a town on the verge of a transformation, pinpointing what little remains of 1845 and what now stands in its place.
The maps are available from local bookshops and the TIC from £9.50.
1: WELLINGTON TERRACE
Built in 1817 and still lived in today, these are the oldest buildings on Lord Street. The cottage-like fronts are understood to be deceptively roomy inside.
In 1820, the terrace was mentioned in a description of Southport in Longman's Guide To All The Watering & Sea-Bathing Places, which read: "Southport... dates its origin within the last 40 years; at present it forms a considerable village, comprising numerous neat cottages... those elevated on an embankment called Wellington Terrace are very handsome."
2: LITTLE LONDON & THE ANCHOR INN
Although not mentioned in parish registers until the 18th century, 'Londehay' appears as early as 1489 and is now the Rose Hill area of Southport, by Forest Road bridge. Here, merchants from London came to collect the fleeces of wool from North Meols.
At the heart of the hamlet stands The Anchor Inn, now The Blue Anchor pub, where legend has it that pallbearers once stopped to rest when transporting the dead along Little London Lane - from what is now High Park to Duke Street cemetery, then called The Trap. A 6ft slab, three metres off the ground, which once stood outside the pub, is said to have been used by the pallbearers to lay the dead upon while they refreshed themselves.
3, 4, 5: SETTLEMENTS AROUND SOUTHPORT
The names of the old settlements changed in the mid 1860s to 1870s, as the town of Southport spread its environs and swallowed it up.
Railway Terrace became Railway Street, Snuttering Lane became St Luke's Road, Gorsey Lane and Trap Lane were replaced by Windsor Road, Boundary Road, Cemetery Road and others.
By 1880, Little London was not being referred to as this name and began to be known as St Luke's.
6: BELMONT CASTLE
This imposing, extravagant building on the Birkdale border was built in the 1820s by Robert Holt, a "man of spirit and enterprise", just years before his death. Described as a "elegant castellated edifice", Belmost Castle stood until 1890 when it was pulled down.
7: THE NILE RIVER
Contrary to popular belief, the river was never anything more than a series of tribulets and streams, and was little more than a brook.
When the so-called river vanished beneath the surface, notions of its grandeur became vastly inflated. In 1928, one correspondent in Manchester City News wrote: "The river was navigable... an elderly friend informed me... that her father used to sail up the River Nile to an inn.. and have glorious shrimp teas there."
In fact, Francis Bailey says in A History Of Southport: "The Nile was never navigable and was simply a stream one was able to jump across."
The 'river' was perhaps named the Nile in 1798 following Nelson's victory in Egypt that year.
8, 9: RICHMOND HILL & ROSE HILL COTTAGES:
In 1845, the town centre site now occupied by civic buildings, such as the library, arts centre and town hall, were two banks of terraced houses known as Richmond Hill and Rose Hill Cottages.
The Rose Hill buildings were eventually demolished to make way for Cambridge Hall in 1872, now effectively the Arts Centre, and in 1881 saw the building of the Atkinson Art Gallery on the spot of Richmond Hill.
10: VICTORIA BATHS
The historic Turkish baths which now stand opposite the soon-to-open Ramada Plaza Hotel was actually preceded by an even earlier version which overlooked the sea in 1839 until around 1860. ]]>
Never Gonna Give Up on Rick Astleytag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.584412008-10-17T07:58:24Z2008-10-17T09:06:05Z 1980s chart star Rick Astley will compete with American pop princess Britney Spears and Irish rock legends U2 for the title of 'Best Act Ever' at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool on November 6. Southport Visiter reporter...Digital Editor
1980s chart star Rick Astley will compete with American pop princess Britney Spears and Irish rock legends U2 for the title of 'Best Act Ever' at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool on November 6.
Southport Visiter reporter Gemma Jaleel has had the pleasure of meeting the Newton-le-Willows man himself - have you? Did you buy the Never Gonna Give You Up smash-hit single back in 1987, or did you prefer another act in the famous Stock, Aitken & Waterman stable?
Share you memories with the Southport Visiter.
Do you have an Astley story of your own? Let us know below.]]>
Blue Peter turns 50tag:lookback.merseyblogs.co.uk,2008://176.584422008-10-17T07:47:21Z2008-10-17T09:27:17Z BLUE PETER is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week with presenters past and present enjoying tea at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty The Queen. Did you watch the popular BBC TV show? Were you ever a winner of a...Digital Editor
BLUE PETER is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week with presenters past and present enjoying tea at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty The Queen.
Did you watch the popular BBC TV show? Were you ever a winner of a coveted Blue Peter Badge?
Share your memories with the Southport Visiter by posting below.]]>
The 47-year-old Churchtown builder brought his health and safety and engineering know-how to the project, fronted by Tony Robinson.
"He's a nice enough guy, but this was something new for him," said Gary.
"It's modern archeology, really, because you're going back just 90 years."
Gary and other experts were the first people to enter the French tunnels since fighting ended in 1918.
As veterans and their families prepare to mark 90 years since the guns fell silent at 11am on November 11, 1918, the Time Team documentary will serve as a stark reminder of the harrowing and hellish conditions of that truly horrendous conflict.
Gary said: "Few people have been down there and it's an honour to go, but to be in the first group entering since the war, and to not know what you're going to find is nerve-wracking.
"Coming across an unexploded bomb is an emotive thing and that's when you think about how daunting and frightening it is."
Since filming for Channel 4, Gary has become involved with an even more emotively charged project - working with Glasgow University and the Australian army to find the final resting place of 400 Allied troops.
He took part in a dig at Fromelles where bodies of almost 400 Allied troops were found in a mass grave.
The men died during a mission in North East France in July, 1916 in the first battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front.
The Australian War Memorial describes the battle as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history" because more than 5,000 troops were killed, injured or captured there.
Speaking of the sight of contorted bodies that met the team as they excavated the site, Gary said: "It was emotional and you do connect with it - I get a tingle down my spine now just talking about it."
A special team of forensic archeologists were brought in to start the process of identifying the bodies of the fallen.
"They are amazing people," he said.
"They've worked on the Twin Towers and the Jersey children's home."
Gary expects to return to the French battlefield again to continue the work started by the Glasgow University team.
The Lost Dugout: A Time Team Special will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday evening (November 10).]]>
Dave said: "I doubt I will ever get all of them but if I can be satisfied that I have done all I can, that'll do. The big problems are when we have played another team in Southport, because if the Visiter hasn't carried the result then it's unlikely to be in the public domain.
"The last fifteen years have been covered by our own scorebooks but there are big gaps in the 1970s and early 1980s.
"I'm just hopeful a reader out there will have records of our matches stored away in a scorebook that's hidden away at home."
Dave spent two years researching the club's history and published a book earlier this year to raise club funds.
The book reveals that, although becoming New Victoria in 1952, the club's roots go back before World War II to teams such as Blowick Wesleyans and Blowick Methodists. Blowick were reformed as Victoria Methodists in 1946 and changed their name to New Victoria in 1952.
Dave said: "The book has sold well and it has been well received by cricketers and cricket lovers far and wide.
"I never thought that when I moved to Southport I'd end up spending most of my time in libraries researching the history of an amateur cricket club, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it."
The club fields two senior teams in the Southport & District Amateur League from their home in Crossens. On various week nights the club runs a number of junior teams, including under 11s, 13s, 15s and 18s.
Dave added: "New Victoria certainly has a future indicated by committed seniors, the thriving junior section and attractive ventures, such as our tour to Bulgaria last year."
To order the book or for more information on the club, contact David Addison on 01704-546293.]]>
So what gave him the idea?
He said: "I go down to look at the BBC archives from time to time because all the correspondence before 1980 is open to inspection.
"I was working on a book about Liverpool entertainers and the BBC, and I thought that one day it would be very interesting to see correspondence about all the Liverpool artists that had been banned, and that led to this."
The collection pulls together all 75 songs that were deemed too scandalous, corrupting or scurrilous to broadcast.
Mrs Livingstone's daughter, Nan Bloom, remembers meeting the girls when she was just eight years old.
She said: "My mother went to Harris House almost everyday.
"She had to overcome a lot to do what she did, because other Jewish families were worried that by bringing the girls to Southport anti-Semitism would spread here.
"In fact it was just the opposite, people were supportive, and I'm incredibly proud of her work."
Ever keen to help, the Livingstone family opened their own home to Lottie.
"She was absolutely sweet," said Nan.
"Lottie came over earlier than the others and she must have been 12 or 13 years old which is very grown up when you're eight!
"The others at Harris House seemed happy, or if not happy then not desperately traumatised."
Remembering the reunion, which brought the girls back together after more than 40 years, Nan said: "My mother was very delighted and very touched by it."]]>
Chris Booker who worked at Pleasureland for almost a decade said: "It was a late night!
"There were people there I'd not seen since the park closed - I didn't recognise some of them, and had no idea who they were when they started talking to me. I did get a bit of stick from a few for passing on embarrassing photos to the Visiter!"
By LAURA JONES
GIRLS and boys in Southport will be going 'Back To The Future' when they come to compile their Christmas lists this year.
Retail commentators are predicting that 2008 toy sales will reflect the trend for all things nostalgic as parents put on their rose tinted specs before they hit the high street.
The craze for all things retro has seen D&J Toys in Southport stock up on Doctor Who goodies and Rubik's Cubes as '70s and '80s toys look set to top the "most wanted" charts come December.
David McDonnell, who runs the Tulketh Street shop, has seen such interest in the nostalgic toys and games that he's stocking toys from '80s TV favourite, Transformers.
His shelves are also heaving under Sylvanian Families as the treehouse toys from the '80s and '90s make a surprise comeback.
A dad himself, Mr McDonnell thinks that the reason mums and dads are still buying toys that they recognise from their own childhood is because it helps them to play and bond with their kids.
He said: "If they're familiar with the toys then I think parents might play more with their kids.
"Transformers are doing really well at the moment and so are the Sylvanian Families.
"The Christmas season has definitely already started - people are coming in buying gifts and getting ideas and inspiration.
"I don't think the credit crunch is affecting us."
"It could be a bit surreal," Mark readily admits.
"I always remember working in the marketing department and answering the phone to one of the members of Black Lace!
"We had one of the Grumbleweeds from the TV show come along to film - I've still got a copy of his video Coaster Crazy somewhere."
Mark, who is now an IT specialist with Geek Squad, worked at the theme park for around 10 years.
Stewart also did a fair bit of celeb spotting in his years at Pleasureland.
He said: "There were always Brookside actors around - I think they even filmed there at one point.
"Comedian Jack Dee came down and had a bumble around one day, too."
For Chris Booker, who worked at Pleasureland for almost a decade, it's the student sense of mischief he misses the most.
Comedians from all over the UK are descending on the town for Southport Comedy Week, but Southport's own Lee Mack is more than a match for them.
The Stanley High School pupil has gone on to host a Radio 2 show and star in BBC One sitcom "Not Going Out" since leaving Southport.
Did you go to Stanley High with Lee? Or were you the clown in your class? Share your stories with the Visiter below.
The historic map, on sale at the Tourist Information Centre, documents the town just three years before the first rail lines would signal a mass influx from across the North West.
The dunes lining the famous Southport Sands had been tamed and the town was beginning to expand beyond the elegant Lord Street.
Hamlets such as 'Little London' and 'The Trap' were prospering whilst the town's reputation as 'spa town' was spreading.
But just 15 years later, Southport was expanding at such a rate that its small provinces would be lost to the annals of history.
From a small village of 7,774 in 1841, Southport had 18,076 people in 1871, 32,191 in 1881 and 48,046 at the turn of the 20th century.
Visiter reporter John Siddle and local historian Matthew Tinker look back at a town on the verge of a transformation, pinpointing what little remains of 1845 and what now stands in its place.
The maps are available from local bookshops and the TIC from £9.50.
1: WELLINGTON TERRACE
Built in 1817 and still lived in today, these are the oldest buildings on Lord Street. The cottage-like fronts are understood to be deceptively roomy inside.
In 1820, the terrace was mentioned in a description of Southport in Longman's Guide To All The Watering & Sea-Bathing Places, which read: "Southport... dates its origin within the last 40 years; at present it forms a considerable village, comprising numerous neat cottages... those elevated on an embankment called Wellington Terrace are very handsome."
2: LITTLE LONDON & THE ANCHOR INN
Although not mentioned in parish registers until the 18th century, 'Londehay' appears as early as 1489 and is now the Rose Hill area of Southport, by Forest Road bridge. Here, merchants from London came to collect the fleeces of wool from North Meols.
At the heart of the hamlet stands The Anchor Inn, now The Blue Anchor pub, where legend has it that pallbearers once stopped to rest when transporting the dead along Little London Lane - from what is now High Park to Duke Street cemetery, then called The Trap. A 6ft slab, three metres off the ground, which once stood outside the pub, is said to have been used by the pallbearers to lay the dead upon while they refreshed themselves.
3, 4, 5: SETTLEMENTS AROUND SOUTHPORT
The names of the old settlements changed in the mid 1860s to 1870s, as the town of Southport spread its environs and swallowed it up.
Railway Terrace became Railway Street, Snuttering Lane became St Luke's Road, Gorsey Lane and Trap Lane were replaced by Windsor Road, Boundary Road, Cemetery Road and others.
By 1880, Little London was not being referred to as this name and began to be known as St Luke's.
6: BELMONT CASTLE
This imposing, extravagant building on the Birkdale border was built in the 1820s by Robert Holt, a "man of spirit and enterprise", just years before his death. Described as a "elegant castellated edifice", Belmost Castle stood until 1890 when it was pulled down.
1980s chart star Rick Astley will compete with American pop princess Britney Spears and Irish rock legends U2 for the title of 'Best Act Ever' at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool on November 6.
Southport Visiter reporter Gemma Jaleel has had the pleasure of meeting the Newton-le-Willows man himself - have you? Did you buy the Never Gonna Give You Up smash-hit single back in 1987, or did you prefer another act in the famous Stock, Aitken & Waterman stable?
Share you memories with the Southport Visiter.
Do you have an Astley story of your own? Let us know below.]]>
BLUE PETER is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week with presenters past and present enjoying tea at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty The Queen.
Did you watch the popular BBC TV show? Were you ever a winner of a coveted Blue Peter Badge?
Share your memories with the Southport Visiter by posting below.]]>