SEFTON BUBBLE

CROSBY

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Crosby is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport and Formby and west of Netherton. At the 2001 UK census, Crosby had a population of 51,789. 

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In Crosby, there is also Great Crosby, Little Crosby, Blundellsands, Waterloo, Seaforth and Thornton. Great Crosby was a small village of Viking origin until the arrival of the railway in the 1840s. The village grew rapidly during the late 19th and early 20th century and merged with a number of distinct areas with their own character, to form the Great Crosby urban district.

 

These areas included:

• Crosby Village, the main area for shopping, pubs and restaurants

• Blundellsands, a middle class residential area close to the seafront

• Brighton-le-Sands

• Thornton, a residential area of semi-detached and detached housing which dates mainly from the 1930's.

 

The Great Crosby urban district annexed Little Crosby in 1932. In 1937, the district was combined with the Waterloo with Seaforth urban district to form the municipal borough of Crosby which was, in turn, absorbed into the new Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on 1 April 1974. These boundary changes defined the town of Crosby in its modern borders and shrank down the modern area of Great Crosby from the old urban district, making it an area of the modern town of Crosby which today is a separate area of Crosby to Blundellsands, Brighton-le-Sands, and Thornton.

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Crosby also has an award winning beach that is now the permanent home to ‘Another Place’, the sculpture by internationally acclaimed artist, Antony Gormley.

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The beach has been awarded the Quality Coast Award by Keep Britain Tidy. The QCA award tells visitors that the standards of beach management are of the highest quality in the UK. Visitors can walk along Crosby Beach and the Coastal Path and take in views of the sea, the Wirral and North Wales.

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Access to this strip of coast is good with four train stations and car parks at Crosby Marine Lake, Mariners Road and Hall Road.

The 22 mile Sefton Coastal Path starts here and a section of the national cycle path network runs the length of the Park. Please take note of beach safety flags and signage. Lifeguard cover all year round.

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Crosby Coastal Park and Crosby Beach is managed by Sefton Coast and Countryside Service.

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Great Crosby has four fee-paying schools (Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, St Mary's College and Streatham House School), a number of state schools (including Sacred Heart Catholic College) and parks facing the sea.

 

In nearby Waterloo there is a cinema, the Plaza Community Cinema, which is run by volunteers. In the past, Crosby had five cinemas: the Corona, and the Regent were in the northern part of the district. The Corona, almost opposite the Library, in College Road, was part of the Gaumont chain, and after merging with the Rank Organisation became a second-run house, as Rank already had taken over the Plaza in Waterloo, which became an Odeon and had the first run policy. The Corona played the Bill Hayley film 'Rock Around The Clock' just before the cinema closed in 1957 and demolished before the end of that decade. Waterloo had two independent cinemas, the Queens on South Road and the Winter Gardens in Church Road. The Queens closed in the late fifties, and the Winter Gardens closed nearly ten years later.

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Another cinema in the Great Crosby area, was the Regent on Liverpool Road at the junction of Endbutt Lane; it became part of the ABC group, and closed in 1967 to become a bingo hall, and has since become part of St. Mary's College. Land had been purchased in Crosby Village, across the road from the Crown Buildings, to be redeveloped into a Super Cinema. This never happened due to the onset of World War II. By the time building restrictions were lifted in the mid-1950s, cinema admissions were in decline. The land remained derelict until the 1960s when the Midland Bank and Satterthwaite's shop, amongst others, were built on the site.

Above the College Road shops, from the Corona Cinema to the corner with Brompton Avenue, was the Corona Ballroom, mostly used for ballroom dancing. The entrance to the ballroom was in Brompton Avenue. Another musical venue was St. Lukes Church Hall on Liverpool Road, where regular Saturday night dances were held.

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Alexandra Hall, situated at the junction of Mersey Road, College Road and Coronation Road was originally the Town Hall for the Crosby Urban District Council. When the Great Crosby and Waterloo with Seaforth Urban Districts were merged into the Borough of Crosby, the council offices were transferred to Waterloo Town Hall. The frontage of the red brick Alexandra Hall had an ironwork and glass canopy, which was removed in the late 1950s because of rust erosion. Alexandra Hall played host to The Beatles, before they became superstars. The Crosby Flower Show and local drama groups used the Main Hall upstairs each year. In the 1970s the building was converted into Law Courts, and survived to the Millennium. In 2004 the building was demolished and replaced by residential apartments.

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A private park, known locally as the 'Key Park', consists of 60 acres (240,000 m2) of unspoilt land in Warren Road, Blundellsands. Members pay a subscription, and are given a key.

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Set in the Moor Park area, close to the heart of the old village, is the Northern Club, a multi-sporting club.

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In College Road is the ground and club house for Marine Football Club. Also worthy of note is Waterloo R.F.C., with their ground in St. Anthony's Road.

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Famous residents of Crosby have included:

• Titanic Captain Edward Smith

• Sociologist and Broadcaster Laurie Taylor

• Academic, Writer and Egyptologist Thomas Eric Peet

• Composer Simon Rattle

• Writer Helen Forrester

• Broadcaster Kenny Everett

• TV Presenter Anne Robinson

• Mezzo Soprano Danielle Louise Thomas

• Footballer Kenny Dalglish

• Footballer Steve McManaman

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Post town is LIVERPOOL

Postcode district is L23

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LITTLE CROSBY

Little Crosby has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights. The village is perhaps the oldest extant Roman Catholic village in England, the squires being the notable recusant Blundell family.

 

The village character has changed little from a 17th-century description that "it had not a beggar, ... an alehouse ...  a Protestant in it...". In 2009 Protestants reside in the village as old values change – Protestant inhabitants however must be "vetted" by the local Squire before occupation of one of the 50 or so dwellings. In 1986 a senior member of the hamlet was quoted in the Liverpool Echo as saying "Protestants are discouraged from settling in our village".

 

Notable attractions are:

• The Courtyard café

• Crosby Hall Educational Trust (CHET) an educational, residential centre for children and young people.

• The Well Barn, an attractive courtyard which has various small shops and businesses including a jewellery shop, florist, conservationist restorer and furniture makers

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The village is dominated by the St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, inspired by Augustus Pugin. Opposite the church is St. Mary's Roman Catholic School, a single storey 1960s building. The first school for the village was established by the Squire, William Blundell, at Boundary Cottage in 1843, next to the brook that then ran between Great Crosby and Little Crosby. In 1859 the school moved to a new building next to the presbytery of the church, opposite the current site. The current school building replaced that in 1964. The school takes pupils from the village and neighbouring villages of Hightown and Ince Blundell

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BLUNDELLSANDS

 

The area is served by Blundellsands & Crosby and Hall Road railway stations. Its shoreline, the northern part of Crosby Beach, includes parts of the popular exhibit, Another Place, designed by the sculptor Antony Gormley. Several of the Gormley statues are accessible from the Burbo Bank car park. The area is generally considered to be very affluent with many local celebrities, footballers, politicians, businessmen and wealthy people in general making up the vast majority of residents calling this their home.

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Blundellsands was named in honour of the famous Blundell family of Little Crosby, Catholic recusants during the English Reformation, who owned the land upon which the area was built, beginning in the 1870s. Thomas Mellard Reade (1832-1909) architect laying out the Blundellsands estate in 1868. He was also a civil engineer, and geologist and worked at Liverpool University.

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WATERLOO

 

Waterloo is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton. Along with Seaforth the two localities make up the Sefton Ward of Church. The area is bordered by Crosby to the north, Seaforth to the south, the Rimrose Valley country park to the east, and to the west the Crosby Beach and Crosby Coastal Park.

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Waterloo was historically part of Lancashire and originally an area of Crosby, named Crosby Seabank. At that time it consisted mostly of cottages, the beach front, sand-hills and fields. The area grew in popularity with wealthy visitors from Liverpool prompting the planning and construction of a large hotel in the Georgian style to be named the Crosby Seabank Hotel. The grand opening coincided with 18 June 1816, the first anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and was named the Royal Waterloo Hotel in honour of the event. Gradually, as population increased and the area became an identifiable location it became known as Waterloo, with several streets taking the name of names associated with the battle cementing the association.

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Some of the buildings in Waterloo such as the Grade II Listed Potters Barn park buildings are replicas of those found in Waterloo, Belgium.

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Crosby Beach begins in Waterloo at the Crosby Marine Park and stretches 3 miles up to Hightown and is the location of Antony Gormley's Another Place. Waterloo is home to The Plaza Community Cinema, an award-winning volunteer ran cinema and host of local community public events.

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The Marina is a stretch of fields and protected natural wildlife area near the Marina Lake. The area begins adjacent to the Royal Seaforth Dock. A path runs through the Marina toward the sand dunes of Crosby Beach, it is the main route taken by foot to get to the beach, beginning at the top of South Road, Waterloo. The Marina has a café (Waterloo Place opened in 2015) and the Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre (opened in early 2010). The Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre offers a bar and bistro, a fitness suite, accommodation and suites for hire.

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Waterloo is a residential suburb of predominately Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian villas, mews and terraces, facing the sea. The South Road offers shops and restaurants. A series of public gardens - built as a job creation scheme during the 1930's Great Depression run adjacent to the esplanade that abuts the marina leading to the coast and beach.

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THORNTON

 

The Parish Council consists of seven councillors, who are all local residents. They meet every other month at St. Frideswydes Church. Notice of these meetings are displayed on the village notice board by the post office and on the small notice board on the railing surrounding the stocks.

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There are three schools in Thornton: St William Of York RC Primary School, Holy Family Catholic High School and Thornton College, which is an annexe of Hugh Baird College. In 2003, Cherie Blair QC, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, officially came to Thornton to open Holy Family's new Sixth Form building.

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There are two churches in Thornton: The King's Church, Drummond Road [3] and St William Of York RC Church, St William Road. St Frideswydes C of E Church, formerly on Water Street, was demolished in 2012 and merged with All Saints C of E Church at the north end of Great Crosby.

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Thornton also has two historical public houses dating back to the early 19th century called the Nags Head, which is situated opposite Water Street, and the Grapes Hotel.

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Thornton has set of stocks located at the junction of Green Lane & Water Street. These, along with the local sundial, can be dated back to the late 18th century and are Grade II listed monuments. There is another Grade II listed monument located in Back Lane called Brooms Cross. This is a wayside cross which lies on what was the old bridleway that ran from Hightown / Ince Blundell to Sefton Parish Church, St. Helens. It was here that funeral processions would come to rest and have refreshments before continuing to the church. Unfortunately this monument, which was restored to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year of 1977, has become the target of vandals.

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