Southport (Lord Street) station

Image: © Dr Neil Clifton Taken: 21 Mar 2009

When the Southport and Cheshire Lines Extension Railway built its terminus in 1884, it did so on a grandiose scale, determined to outdo the rival Lancashire & Yorkshire terminus at Chapel Street. Not only was the SCELR station to be on Lord Street (the premier shopping street of the town) but it would have an overall glazed roof, five platforms, and an imposing frontage with a clock tower. However, the LYR had more routes than the SCELR, and Lord Street remained as not much more than an expensive curiosity, its finest hour coming in 1941 when the LYR line was temporarily disabled by enemy action. After 1948, British Railways took a long and unsentimental look at Lord Street and in 1952 decided to close it. The station became a bus station, retaining its overall roof and little altered except for levelling of the platform area. Then in 1987 the bus station in its turn was closed, the overall roof demolished, and a Morrison's store built on the space. However, at the same time, the frontage was restored and remains intact today.

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