Virtual Southport - information news photos golf hotels in Southport Lancashire Merseyside UK

Arts Centre spring/summer line-up

ed — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:30:20 +0000

Abigail’s Party (theatre) 7 & 8 May :: Lúnasa (folk music) 8 May :: Germain Greer (an audience with) 16 May :: Tango Nuevo (music & dance) 17 May :: Tha Tannahill Weavers (folk) 24 May :: John Williams & John Etheridge (music) 29 May :: Monica Vasconcelos (music) 30 May :: Jazz Idol - the final 30 May :: Bacalao (salasa) 31 May :: Wigan Jazz Club Big Band (music) 1 June :: Down To The Bone (music) 1 June :: Tam White & Mike Heron (music) 20 June :: Martin Taylor & Alison Burns (music) 4 July :: Andy Fairweather Low (music) 18 July :: The Specialists (music & comedy) 24 July :: Music in Space - Images in Time (music) 25 July :: Norland Wind (folk)
23 August

Southport Food & Drink Festival

ed — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:57:11 +0000

Chef and 2* Michelin restaurateur Michael Caines will open this year’s Southport Food and Drink Festival.

The Festival opening ceremony is at 2pm on 15 May 2008.
The festival runs for four days until 18 May.

Perennials By Design

ed — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:38:38 +0000

The extended cold spell means that the development of many flowers is quite late this year. So its a good opportunity to catch up with your planting.

Southport is blessed with having many garden centres and professional plant nurseries on the doorstep down the Tarleton By-pass. Nurseries don’t offer the cafés and objet d’art of the ‘garden centres’. But what they do offer is a vast range of professional knowledge and many plants that you won’t find in a garden centre.

The best nurseries of all are those that supply the trade and professional users. Although some have special ‘public open days’ usually they aren’t open to the public.

However Perennials By Design is a trade nursery that is also open for cash&carry sales to the public (no credit cards).
I called in on a quiet weekday afternoon. After telling them what sorts of things I was after, I was treated to a guided tour of several acres of plants, along with a rolling commentary of Latin names, planting conditions and flowering characteristics. I’m not suggesting that everyone is going to get this every time, it really will depend on how busy they are. But if you do have questions the depth of their help and knowledge is invaluable.

I came away with a barrow full of large mature plants, at seriously good prices.
You will find Perennials By Design at 151a Southport New Road (A565), PR4 6HX
(its on the right if you are travelling towards Preston)
Oh and if you do go, please mention you read this on Virtual Southport!!

photo: My purchase (yes I did pay full price for everything)… Viola, Hosta, Pullminatia, Dicentra, Centura Montana etc… and these are large 6 inch pots!

Ramada to operate Hotel

ed — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:45:58 +0000

LATEST NEWS: Neptune Developments have announced that the Ramada Plaza hotel chain has agreed a deal to operate the Floral Hall Waterfront hotel. The 133 room 4 star hotel is due to open in 2009. It’s expected to create 500 jobs .

link: fly-thru animation

New hotel Floral Hall complex

ed — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:07:58 +0000

Click [here] for a slideshow of the building work.

Progress on the new hotel and casino complex looks quite impressive from the lake side view. From the Promenade side things are not quite so flattering, but signs of what we might be getting are starting to emerge. The new buildings, the original Floral Hall and the 1970’s Southport Theatre are all being merged into one continuous frontage. However that means that the remaining vestiges of the original building will be last behind new walls. The good thing is that the new facade will also hide the horrendous 1970’s building too. Behind the scenes a new exhibition space is being created that will be utilised by conferences. Stanley’s will be moving in to run the casino facility, but we’re still waiting to hear any news about an operator for the hotel.

Wayfarers Arcade new look

ed — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:41:35 +0000

Wayfarers Arcade has been undergoing a face lift as well recently. The entire terrazzo floor has been replaced. It previous incarnation was rather dull and featureless. The original red theme has been kept, but this time as a feature border, with the main area being white and including several decorative features.

Above left: the newly marked entrance to the arcade.
Above right: Le Vie Francaise café, one of the arcade’s boutique businesses
Below: the central area of the arcade showing some of the new decorative features

Lord Street upgrade progress

ed — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:20:20 +0000

Seems like we’ve been living with the chaos and destruction for a long time. But now small parts of the new works are beginning to emerge. However no single section is entirely complete, giving the impression that the whole thing is a complete mess. At least the disruption to traffic is relatively minor, compared to other recent ‘improvement works’ which caused utter chaos for years.

Left: Gardens in front of Sainsburys
Right: The monument still shrouded, with new block paved roadway adjacent to the Post Office.

The new decorative paving reflects some of the style of the earlier 19th century paving.

Vincent Hotel nears opening

ed — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:05:44 +0000

Southport’s new boutique hotel, the Vincent, is finally looking close to opening. Just in time for the Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale. Built by the Adams family who own the Warehouse restaurant nearby, food is also going to be a feature of the hotel. Their “V-Deli” will open at 7am for breakfast, and continue all the way through to be an after dark trendy venue. Their range of finest foods will also be available to take-away.

[The Vincent is built on the site of the former ABC/Palace Cinema. The original building was designed by architect George E. Tonge and opened on 29 May 1911. For some pictures, follow this link ]

Spring

ed — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:50:59 +0000

Well it may have been the earliest Easter since 1913 and its still only teetering in the edge of 11 degrees C, but the Apple Blossom is out, the Tomatoes are trying to put a brave face on it, and the Rhubarb is going great guns!

Again

ed — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:55:30 +0000

Yes they’re at it again…

……the BRAVADOS will be playing at the ALBERT, London Street, on 29th February.