There's very little not to like about Southport, but the sky is one of its best features. Perhaps that's not so surprising in a town that faces westwards over a flat coastline. This photo was taken at the end of the pier on a misty Winter's day. It's well known, I think, that the sea rarely comes in at Southport, so it always has a feeling of tranquillity.
No wonder the highlight of the year's events is the Air Show, something that took place just after we arrived in September. The planes do their flypast over the beach, where visitors pay to be within earshot of a commentary. But they can be seen from any point along the Promenade, and from Lord Street as they circle back over the town.
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Even inland skies are impressive, as in the photo below, showing the war memorial in Lord Street at dusk. The setting sun lights the edge of a massive cumulus cloud, so it looks like a bolt of lightning and reflections in wet pavements add a touch of glamour to the atmosphere.
When we came last September we were lucky enough to find a flat that overlooked the Marine Lake , on the Promenade. The rent's too high for us to live in such a splendid building for long, but for a while it's a chance to view amazing sunsets.
Built around 1860 as a hospital and convalescent home for workers affected by the cotton famine created by the American Civil War, the building became an NHS hospital and was converted into flats in the 1990s. The photo below was taken from the opposite side of the Promenade, when the clouds rolling in from the North West created a light that deepened the redness of the Victorian brickwork.
On the same Winter evening, clouds that mostly turn pink and gold at sunset float high above the glow in dark, ghostly shapes. The photo below looks over the Marine Lake from the carpark of the Lakeside Inn, which claims to be the smallest pub in England. An old pleasure steamer is permantly moored there, which always makes think of the Hollywood film Showboat, set on the Mississippi.
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