Results tagged “history” from Southport Visiter - Look Back

After my plea for 50s and 60s memories Penny Powell wrote in with her account of the time.
She said: "Born in 1950 I remember attending a little nursey school in the grounds of Botanic Gardens, doing water play outside in the balmy sunshine what a lovely setting that was.
"Then going on to pre school at Emmanuel and having a daily dose of cod liver oil and this fowl tasting concentrated orange juice yuck! After Emmanuel we started Churchtown Primary. Every season there was a new thing to do in the playground.
"Whip and top, skipping, playing with two balls against the school walls, we played with marbles and my favourite," jacks". From hop scotch to hide and seek we always had great "playtimes". I even enjoyed the school meals.
"All the children had to eat them, no packed lunches. We would have a main course mutton,shepherds pie and hot pots and then a desert jam roly poly or steamed syrup pudding and custard, pink blancmonge or crunch.
"The summers were hot and the winters were cold. No central heating, coal fires and ice on the inside of our windows. We all had to wear gabadeen macs and berets!!
"The teachers were strict and made sure that we held a pen correctly, spoke proper english and even made us all stand and sit correctly. You would feel the cane if you mis-behaved.
"On to Secondary school where the girls were taught Mother and Child welfare care, domestic science and sewing, we were even taught to ballroom dance.
"Sadly we girls were ill-prepared for the corporate world, we were only ever expected to marry, have children and be house-keepers.
"We were never encouraged to sit GCE's how sad was that. In the mid 60's everything changed The Beatles were on the scene wow. What a great time that was.

"We would head for the outdoor pool with massive transistor radios, the smell of ambre-solaire almost knocking you out, sunbathing for hours in the hot long summer days and eyeing up the young bronzed life guards mmmm!
"We would smother ourselves in oil and fry oh dear if we knew then what we know now, think we had an ozone layer then. Late 60's we go and see all the live bands at the Floral Hall, screaming at The Hollies and Manfred Mann.
"I remember meeting Paul Jones afterwards, chasing their car to the Royal Hotel where they were staying and getting their autographs. We would go dance the night away on Friday and Saturday nights at the old Palace Hotel and The Kingsway watching the Cabaret first then up to the Starlight Room where ex Radio Caroline DJ's would play great music all night. We felt perfectly safe going into town at night there was never any trouble, everyone just wanted to have a good time.
"They were really great times growing up in such an era. The first generation to feel really free. Carnaby Street dictating the fashion yet no one seemed to suffer with anorexia or bolimia. We all just got on with things and enjoyed ourselves.
"If you left your job you would just be able to get another job.The boys were made to do apprenterships so most of them ended up with a trade, would it be so bad to take ideas from the 50's and 60's???
"Safe happy and healthy times I am so glad I do not have to grow with the pressures that the youth of today have to put up with. Sorry no photos not many of us owned cameras in those days."

LOOKBACK this week opens the Visiter photo album to share these pictures with our readers.
This selection of charming images from the newspaper archives may be familiar to many people - some of you may even be pictured!
For example our first photograph, taken in on June 8, 1977 shows Hesketh Bank beauties 16-year-old Claire Flaherty, Kim Gough (14) and Tina Radcliffe (15) celebrating the 1977 jubilee.
But who are the other 10 members of the Hesketh Bank Youth Club in the background?
If you know, or were there on the day, get in touch with LookBack and we'll share it with our readers.

Our next picture shows Southport from an unconventional angle.

Our photographer scaled the dizzying heights of the Traumatizer to get this vertigo-inducing snapshot of Pleasureland, looking towards Lord Street.
Since the picture was taken, one or two things have changed - the swimming pool is shown before it changed its name to Dunes and extended to include Splashworld.
Behind it sits the supermarket Safeway, which has now become Morrisons.
On the horizon the gasometer, which disappeared from our town this year, can just be made out.
Rail enthusiasts and proud Sandgrounders alike will enjoy our third photograph.
This view will be familiar to any Southport commuter, but once again things have changed - Chapel Street in the background is almost unrecognisable.
The train has drawn a crowd, but we don't know why and the photograph is undated.
Can you shed any light on the Sandgrounder? Did you ever travel on it when it chugged to and from Southport?
Let LookBack know and we'll try to find out more about why our photographer was dispatched to take this picture.

Our fourth and final photograph is even more of a mystery. No information regarding this group remains in the Visiter archives.
Can you name the vicar in the front row, or any of the other members of the group?
We don't know why they have assembled to have this picture taken, although judging by the trophy at the centre of the shot a prize-giving ceremony of some kind has taken place.
If you know what the prize was for, or who the winner was, get in touch!

"SOUTHPORT Football Club v Blackburn, The Rookery, Roe Lane, Southport; crowd of 4,000 expected." Who would have believed that this headline, from August, 1872, would have related to a rugby match and not football?
Today, with the club enjoying thriving senior and local sections, Southport RUFC director of rugby JOHN PORTER looks back on the club's proud history - and forward to a bright future.
IN the later part of 1872, Dr George Coombe, of Southport Infirmary, was the inspiration behind the formation of what was originally known as Southport Football Club, or as we now know it be, Southport Rugby Football Club.
It was formed with the intention of "improving the physical development of our young townsmen". Its first President was the then Mayor of the town, Samuel Swire.
The first games (Southport v Blackburn is the first officially recorded match) were a type of a free for all with teams of 20 or more taking the field, no referee and a multitude of ways to score points. The club though was experiencing some excellent victories and was attracting crowds of 4,000 or more, not bad when international games attracted only a couple of thousand more.
Ten years later, the now famous "Southport Olympic" were playing in their present day colours of red, black and amber and had moved from their original home of Roe Lane (the Rookery) to Mornington Ground, with teams now down to the official 15 and referees now in evidence!
The early 1900s saw great difficulty for the club as the breakaway of rugby league clubs gathered pace. Under the presidency of Sir George Pilkington, the club was reformed and played home games at Victoria Park. In 1913 the club changed its name to Southport Rugby Union Football Club and with it came a great change in fortune, as the team were undefeated throughout the whole season.
The following year saw the start of World War I with 11 players ultimately losing their lives as they went to answer the call to arms.
But the club was determined to carry on and by 1922 the playing staff had grown to 75 with the first XV regularly playing in front of 1,000 spectators. In 1927 the club moved to their present home of Waterloo Road and defeated local rival Preston Grasshoppers 16-0 in their inaugural home fixture.
The 1950s saw many players supplied by King George V School, which led to an amalgamation with the "Old Georgians", represented by former KGV school players.
Around this time the club acquired two more pitches "over the wall", and produced five teams on a regular basis.
In 1966 the club underwent major refurbishment and continued with mixed success on the field. The later years have proved to be difficult ones, the major contributing factor being the closure of the King George V Grammar School and with it the once endless supply of players.
It was in 1964 that I played my first game for Southport on a wet and windy October day in Widnes. I never touched the ball other than in the warm up, but I remember being so proud of wearing the red, black and amber jersey. It was at this time that I could remember the club running seven, yes seven teams - the first, second, third and fourth teams plus the Sandgrounders, Barbarians and Vagabonds.
During the 1970s and 1980s Southport enjoyed success both on and off the field and it was during this period that the Colts team won the Lancashire Cup.
These days, anyone who drives past Waterloo Road playing fields on a Sunday morning will see numerous children ranging from seven years old through to 16.
They will be training or playing a match and to see the pure enjoyment of the free spirit they portray is a pleasure indeed.
The club is now reaping their rewards from the "minis initiative" which started a number of years ago with a number of players coming through to press the senior players for their positions.
Southport is looking healthier than it has done for a while, and as recent as 2006-07 the club won a league title, doing so in tremendous style losing only two games all season.
This coming season will see the re-emergence of a Colts team. This team will be for the under 17 age group and will recruit from the local colleges such as KGV and Southport College plus local schools who extend their leaving age to cater for A-level students.
Under the generous sponsorship of Bernard O'Malley of Nationwide Produce, the club's funds are looking extremely healthy.
A number of projects to improve the facilities are in the pipeline, these include female changing rooms, gymnasium and improved catering and bar amenities.
All coaches, who are qualified and CRB checked, devote their time to our young players in order to introduce both enjoyment and discipline into their lives. The future is well and truly in the hands of these people both on and off the playing field.
The senior side has worked extremely hard during the pre season and look forward to a good campaign, with strength in depth as strong as it has been for a number of years. The link between the past, present and future is key to us moving forward.
Not only does the club provide the sporting opportunity, it also offers the social aspect for supporters, parents and friends alike.
After 137 years the future for Southport RFC is looking as bright as it has done for a number of years.
So, what are you waiting for? Why not come on down to support your local side at Waterloo Road, where there is adequate car parking for over 100 cars.
There is a game every Saturday, for full details please check with the Southport Visiter every Friday.
DO you have any memories or photographs of playing for Southport RUFC over the years?
Please e-mail us at: visiternews@southportvisiter.co.uk or write to: LookBack, Southport Visiter, 26-32 Tulketh St, Southport PR8 1BT.

ALMOST 50 years ago, Helen Connolly discovered an old diary buried amongst items in preparation for a jumble sale.
What looked like an battered homework book for children was actually a journal, penned when 20 young girls fled from the Nazis in 1938.
Amongst the pages were accounts of fond memories that the girls had all shared while growing up together in Southport.

After years of apprehension about what to do with the diary, Helen decided to donate it to the Manchester Jewish Museum.
The remarkable story was then told in a Yorkshire TV documentary, in which she re-enacted the moment she recovered it, and also featured in the emotional reunion which saw nine of the girls meeting for the first time since going their separate ways.
It was that initial discovery by Helen that eventually led to the reunion.
Reminiscing of the shock at finding such a priceless memoir, Helen told LookBack: "I couldn't believe it when I found out what it was, it could've easily made it into the rubbish bin when it looked like such a tatty old thing.
"I was very concerned about doing anything with the diary at first, I wasn't sure if it should be publicised as it's such a sensitive and emotional issue."
Helen found herself wondering what happened to the girls after their stay in Southport.
She later discovered that a few of them moved on to a hostel in Manchester, while some moved to places such as Austria, Israel, Vancouver, New York and Brazil.
A couple of the girls who stayed in England ended up with high-flying careers for organisations such as the BBC and the Commonwealth of Nations.
But the thought of the girls being reunited again was the driving force behind Helen's decision to reveal the diary.
And the occasion dissolved any doubts that she originally had: "I have absolutely no regrets now as it was amazing to see all the girls together.
"It was the first time after so many years and they all really enjoyed being in the company of eachother again. They were very thankful to me and even bought me flowers and a card."

THIS week Prince Harry turned 25 and inherited £9m from his late mother Princess Diana.
Perhaps it was the mention of her name in the news that prompted one LookBack reader to think back to the day that the princess came to visit Southport.
These cheeky monkeys lined up to catch a glimpse of the royal as she met the crowds in Southport 19 years ago.
They'd gathered to see the princess as she paid one of her three visits to the resort, in 1990.

LookBack reader Pat Grant said: "I went out to see her, I lived in the house next door to the home she visited on Oxford Road.
"You know the way she was, she didn't just walk around the house, she went into the gardens and there were all the neighbours leaning over the wall.
"She came over and chatted to us and we shook her hand. She asked 'have you lived here long?'
"There was an Indian lady in a sari and she asked her what part of India she was from - she was just very relaxed and friendly."
Back outside on the road wellwishers lined the pavements.
Mrs Grant said: "All the children from the private school were there.
"She didn't just leave, she went over and chatted to them - they were very excited. I was just snapping away with my camera."
Do you recognise any of the blazer wearing boys and girls?
Let Lookback know by E-mailing us at visiternews@southportvisiter.cop.uk, or writing to: Southport Visiter, 26-32 Tulketh St, Southport PR8 1BT.