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Southport Open Top Tours
2015 Season
FOLLOWING on from the success of the
first 3 years' operation starting in 2012, the Merseyside Transport Trust (MTT)
is pleased to announce that it will once again be operating circular open top
tours of Southport during the holiday season of 2015. These tours will be
provided entirely by volunteers using historic vehicles.
Starting from the traditional location of Southport Pier, the tours will operate
as a free of charge circular service taking in the sights of Southport that have
on a tour that has proved a popular tourist attraction for many decades.
Ensuring that the tours continue operating has proved to be very popular with
Southport locals, families and tourists alike; since their first year extra
journeys have been added to cope with increased demand and popularity.
Picking up where Arriva left off in 2011, the tours are to be operated using
historic Leyland Atlanteans that have been operating these tours in past years
and are now in preservation; 1449 (GKA 449L) and 1551 (OLV 551M). After a leave
of absence during the 2013 season, 1551 went through an intensive rebuild and
has been restored to the livery it carried during the 1980s when it originally
operated the tour and is ready for its public once again. Ready for the 2014
season, 1449 has been treated to a front end repaint into yellow to commemorate
30 years since the Liverpool Garden festival in 1984; so here's your chance to
come out and ride the festival bus! A closed top vehicle will be substituted in
adverse weather conditions.
The tours take in such beautiful Southport attractions as the Marine Lake,
Marine Bridge, Royal Birkdale Golf Course, Hesketh Park, Lord Street Boulevard
and the Botanic Gardens.
The operation of the tours will commence on Sunday, 26 July 2015 and will operate
on every Sunday through to Sunday, 30 August 2015, also including August Bank
Holiday Monday, 31 August 2015. Departures are timetabled for 12:00, 13:00, 14:00
and 15:00 hours from Southport Pier, in front of the carousel.
For more information, please consult the MTT's
website.
If you did not know, the MTT is a registered charity based in
Burscough, Lancashire with a collection of historic vehicles from the Merseyside
area ranging from a 1946 AEC Regent II and 1949 Daimler CVA6 through to vehicles
from the MPTE and Merseybus eras, some which are in private ownership and on
loan to the MTT. The MTT holds many events during the year, including two
Running Days at Easter and in September which allow the general public and the
enthusiast community alike the chance to come and ride on the buses of their
past. The MTT is (and the tours are) managed and run entirely by unpaid
volunteers.
The open top tours have been a part of Southport's
history for many decades, latterly being operated by Arriva, but also its
predecessors Merseybus, Merseyside PTE and Southport Corporation before that.
CitySightseeing contractor ACE Travel operated a tour in Southport during the
2010 season but this wasn't repeated. Arriva operated its final tour season in
2011 using Leyland Atlantean 1449 (latterly 3980) before this vehicle passed
into preservation in early 2012. Atlanteans 1449 and 1551...
The 2 open top Atlanteans being used by the MTT on its tours had operated in
Southport for many years before being sold for preservation, both to members of
the MTT and now operating as part of the MTT's collection, being on long term
loan. Both Atlanteans have famously led double lives whilst in the Merseybus and
Arriva fleets, being regularly used as homecoming buses for Liverpool FC (1551)
and Everton FC (1449). 1551 went through a complete restoration during 2013 and
is ready to be released to its adoring public once again for the 2014 season
whereas 1449 has been transformed into a 1984 Liverpool Garden Festival bus to
celebrate the Festival's 30th Anniversary.
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New lease of life for St
Luke's Church
URGENT work to repair the crumbling
stonework of St Luke's Church in Liverpool is to get underway in September. The
£150k project; funded by Liverpool City Council and Heritage England; is the
1st step in safeguarding the future of the much-loved Liverpool landmark, also
known as the bombed-out Church.
The work will involve repairing and replacing heavy stonework, meaning the site
will be closed to protect public health and safety. It was postponed earlier
this year to allow the summer events programme to go ahead.
Meanwhile, a major consultation exercise is to get underway, asking people their
views on the role St Luke's should play in the life of the City. It follows a
commitment from Mayor Joe Anderson to keep it in public ownership and secure a
viable future for the building.
Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Cllr Malcom Kennedy, said:- "This is an
exciting phase in the history of Liverpool's famous bombed-out Church. We have a
great opportunity here to engage with the City to find out what they want to
happen at St Luke's, and to explore options for its future use and when St
Luke's re-opens in the new year it will be structurally sound and have a new
lease of life."
Ambrose Reynolds, who has been running St Luke's as a public space, said:-
"It has been more than a decade since I became involved in St Luke's re-opening
it to the public, it's been amazing to see the profound effect that it has on
all different kinds of people, both as a testament to history and its connection
to our present lives. St Luke's is a place for everyone and that is the essence
of the existing programme - to commemorate the past and celebrate the future. We
welcome this wonderful opportunity to preserve the Bombed Out Church for the
future wellbeing of the City and the people."
The consultation will be open to residents, community groups, existing Friends
of St Luke's and any other interested parties in the City. It will gauge views
on how the Bombed Out Church can be preserved as a living war memorial, the type
of events that should be held there and what further facilities or works should
be carried out.
The results of the consultation will be used as the basis for decisions to be
made in relation to the future of St Luke's Church and the Council will formally
invite expressions of interest. The successful party must be able to demonstrate
that they can offer a viable future for St Luke's which is in line with the
results of the public consultation.
Details of the consultation will be released in the near future.
Northern Rail Leads The Way
For Samaritans
SAMARITANS' volunteers from across the
North of England will be heading to their local train stations on Friday 24 July
to mark Talk to Us, the charity's annual awareness campaign. Volunteers from the
charity will have a presence at 28 railway stations to highlight to commuters
the value of talking through problems when life gets tough, and Samaritans'
round the clock service, for anyone struggling to cope.
The events have the backing of train operator Northern Rail, whose staff will be
welcoming Samaritans volunteers into their stations during the morning rush
hour. Network Rail and train operators First TransPennine Express and Virgin
Trains are also supporting events at their stations.
Bob Howe, Regional Marketing Officer for Samaritans in Yorkshire & Humberside
region said:- "Raising awareness of our service to the travelling public
in this way is really important, and having the opportunity to work in
partnership with Northern Rail across their network is really inspiring. We want
people to recognise the value of talking to us, about any issues that may be
troubling them. People can get in touch with Samaritans' service by phone, email
and text, as well as visiting a branch to speak to a volunteer face to face. We
are here round the clock, every single day of the year."
Lucy Kitching from Northern Rail, who has helped co-ordinate the events with
Samaritans, said:- "Northern Rail is proud to support Samaritans on 24
July with its national Talk to us events, as we did last year. We are keen to
work with Samaritans to encourage the local communities that we both serve to
think about their emotional health and wellbeing, as well as look out for the
wellbeing of others".
Samaritans answers more than 5 million calls for help a year from people of all
ages, backgrounds and circumstances. The charity's 21,200 volunteers deliver its
service at 201 branches across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
People up and down the country can get involved by simply texting:-
'SUPPORT' to
70080, to make a £4 donation which is the cost to the charity of answering one
call for help.
Help spread the word about #TalkToUs by following Samaritans on Twitter @samaritans
or
Facebook Visit Samaritans' interactive map to find
out about the different Talk to Us events happening across the UK and Ireland
can be found
online. |
