Day 63: Southport, Liverpool and the Wirral

Leaving Harrogate I saw strange white structures on the skyline

On closer inspection they turned out to be this. MOD perhaps or a giant golf ball installation? 

Back on the coast and Southport was a breath of fresh air.

Breath of fresh air literally as it was blowing a gale in spite of a bit of sunshine.

Southport felt like a summer town with canopied shops, pavement cafes and wide tree lined streets.

It is also a family seaside resort but to my mind far nicer than Blackpool and not overpriced. This carousel was just £1.50 a ride.

There was so much on the promenade for people to see and do...

There is a pier – just the one – a wooden walkway and about a mile long. It starts on the edge of the shopping centre and goes out over all the beach attractions and towards the sea.

It has a dotto train/tram affair that will take you to the end and back for £2.50.

Like so many seaside towns I have visited in the north of Britain, the beaches were wide, sandy and deserted because there was such a strong, cold wind blowing. It was hard to stand up on the pier.

Again like other resorts, the sea here goes out so far you can’t see it. The lifeboat is a jeep sitting on the sand.

Liverpool is much more like London. You can’t do Liverpool in just a few hours. You can’t afford to. I parked for 1 hour and 19 minutes and it cost me £6.50. That said it is a vibrant and busy city with Georgian and modern architecture

I concentrated on the Waterfront today where I saw the iconic Liver Building

and equally iconic QE2. It is Cunard’s 100^th birthday and she is here as part of the celebrations. 

So were these drummers

Being enjoyed by this motley collection of dubious ‘nuns.’

Another Merseyside icon is the ‘ferry across the Mersey’ of the 1960’s pop song...

...as well as lots of other interesting varieties of water craft.

Lots of tourist attractions are centred on the Waterfront. There are all the free museums

And homage to the Fab four – the Beatles

Like Glasgow, Liverpool needs to be explored and would be a great place to experience over a long weekend. Sadly today this taste was all I had time for as Gloria and I needed to take the Mersey tunnel for the Wirral where I stayed in a house that should not be part of the Airbnb stable. Enough said.