Christmas adventure 2010: Southport by train.

It has become a bit of a Christmas tradition for Steve W and myself to plan a train journey. In the past two years we have been to Blaenau Ffestiniog and Shrewsbury - during the year we do other trips too. Most people can't understand the pleasure of spending the day on a train, but we seem to enjoy it. Today turned out to be a great bargain as we only paid £4 for our tickets which allowed us to travel all day on the Merseyrail network. So having driven to Hooton we set off for Southport. I have only been to Southport by bike  and that was in a state of exhaustion, so I had only a vague idea of what the place would be like. Southport turned out to be very pleasant indeed. The sea front is watched over by an excellent statue of Victoria:

Like Monarchs in  Elizabethan times, Victoria in Southport is holding a globe in her hands to symbolise British imperial power and influence.

The highlight in Southport is the very long board-walk. It is so long that a tram service runs the whole length; we bravely walked. At the end of the pier is an amusement arcade full of games from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. You can exchange your modern 10p for an old penny and play away. I particularly liked the peep shows like this:

I can confirm that the Butler did not see very much!

This screaming Jack tar (not Bethan) was rather annoying.

I spent the rest of the journey trying to do impressions of Alfred Hitchcock. The first on the pier in Southport also gives some idea of length of the boardwalk (and the need for me to diet in 2011).

The second 'Hitch' was taken on the waterfront in Liverpool in the gloaming. The whole waterfront area is hugely impressive; the new Museum is due to open in 2011 so I will be there again soon.

This was taken around 4pm with the light fading fast; a mist on the river added to the atmosphere.

The final part of the day was the 'ferry across the mersey'. After the arctic winter of recent weeks, today was mild and calm;we were able to stand on deck as the ferry plied across the water.

That ended our Christmas adventure for 2010. The next plan is to take the Wrexham and Shropshire railway into London. Thank you to Steve and Bethan for a memorable day.