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Garrick Parade, Lord Street, SOUTHPORT, PR8 1RN

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.

The Henry Segrave is a Wetherspoon pub.

According to the Theatres Trust http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/1987-garrick-southport it was "built on the site of the Opera House and said to be George Tonge's finest design. A massive building in red brick with stone dressings in what was described, loosely, as Italian Renaissance style, but actually a splendid Art Deco invention. Frontages to Lord Street and Kingsway are linked by a curved corner with skyscraper-like ornamental pilasters. Many tall windows with shouldered heads. The Lord Street entrance was originally surmounted by a high canopy with an open colonnade above at first floor which served as a promenade. The now modified foyer had a domed ceiling and niches in Egyptian style. Spectacular Art Deco auditorium has a rounded proscenium with a vast splayed anti-proscenium almost engulfing the four boxes on either side. ... The interior remains intact, save for modifications for bingo and alterations to the foyer. The stage is about 12m (c.40ft) deep with a 12m proscenium opening". More information about its history and its use as a Bingo Hall can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20090427092645/http://playingbingo.co.uk/bingo-history-folklore/03-southport-garrick-history-1.shtml

The rear of the Mecca Bingo Hall (formerly the Garrick Theatre Image) from Morrisons car park.

Opened in 1884 by the Cheshire Lines Committee as the terminus of its Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway, this station closed in 1952. View north at the frontage. After some years as a bus station, the train shed behind was demolished and the site had become a supermarket when this image was taken. Sometime later, the metal canopies were removed -see Image for a 2022 image from the same camera position. For more information, see http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/southport_lord_street/index.shtml

The view from my room on the 4th floor of Southport Travelodge. I watched the sun set over the sea, despite the houses in between. The flare or light on the right seemed to be a permanent fixture.

Opened in 1884 by the Cheshire Lines Committee as the terminus of its Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway, this station closed in 1952. View north at the frontage. After some years as a bus station, the train shed behind was demolished and the site had become a supermarket when this image was taken. See Image for an earlier image from the same camera position. Only the clock tower and some floor tiling within it now survive. For more details, see http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/southport_lord_street/index.shtml