Blowick

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Blowick
Blowick.jpg
The view down Peel Street, looking towards the gas holder on 19 September 2008
Peel Street 283.JPG
The same view on 26 December 2009
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Blowick
Location in Southport
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Blowick
Location within Merseyside
OS grid reference SD357163
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SOUTHPORT
Postcode district PR8
Dialling code 01704
Police Merseyside
Fire Merseyside
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Merseyside
53°38′24″N2°58′23″W / 53.63999°N 2.97307°W / 53.63999; -2.97307 Coordinates: 53°38′24″N2°58′23″W / 53.63999°N 2.97307°W / 53.63999; -2.97307

Blowick is a suburb on the east side of the town of Southport, Merseyside, England.

Contents

History and etymology

Blowick is part of the ancient parish of North Meols and was formerly a detached settlement, on the northern fringe of what is now Southport.

The name derives from the Old Norse name Bla Vik meaning "dark bay" as it was located at the end of a large inlet on the ancient lake of Martin Mere called "The Wyke" which ended roughly at Crowland Street and drained into the Old Pool. There are historically two Blowicks: Higher Blowick, situated around what is now the junction of Everard Road and Southbank Road, and Lower Blowick (Butts Lane, Norwood Road, etc.), which is the area around what locals tend to refer to now as simply Blowick. The countryside on which the nearby Kew Housing Estate is built on what was known as Blowick Moss, and a local road on the estate is known as Blowick Moss Lane.

Landmarks

The Southport gas holder on Crowland Street was the tallest building on the Southport skyline, visible from as far afield as Blackpool and Parbold. The largest tower was decommissioned in January 2008, due to an environmental risk posed by the storage of oil within it. In September 2008, National Grid announced that two of the three gas towers would be dismantled by August 2009, with the fate of the smallest tower remaining uncertain. The news has met with mixed reactions from local residents, though the gas holder was voted one of the North West's biggest eyesores in a competition run by the BBC. [1]

The Thatch & Thistle is a modern thatched public house on Norwood Road built on the site of the original Blowick pub. Known for a time as The Thatch Inn, the pub closed on 21 August 2008 after Cains Brewery went into administration, but reopened the following day under new management. [2]

Haig Avenue football stadium, the home of National League North team Southport F.C., is also located in Blowick.

The Southport Bus Depot is situated on Canning Road in Blowick and is a Victorian building with lavish architecture for a storage building and even has a clock built into the wall.

Education

The area has a secondary school Meols Cop High School and a sixth form college King George V College. The former was previously a secondary modern school and the latter a grammar school.

Transport

Blowick is served by Meols Cop railway station on Northern's Manchester to Southport Line. The station opened in 1887, originally as part of the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway. In years gone by, Blowick had a further two railway stations: Butts Lane Halt (closed 1938), also on the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway, and Blowick railway station (closed 1939) on the Manchester and Southport Railway. [3]

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Meols Cop Human settlement in England

Meols Cop is a small area within the Blowick suburb, in the coastal town of Southport, Merseyside in north-western England. It is not a suburb or ward in its own right. It is not to be confused with Meols on the Wirral Peninsula. The two can be differentiated by pronunciation — Meols Cop is pronounced Meels, but Meols, Wirral is pronounced Mells.

Shirdley Hill railway station

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Heathey Lane Halt railway station

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New Cut Lane Halt was a railway station between Shirdley Hill and Halsall in Lancashire. The station opened in July 1906 as a halt on the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway, and consisted of simple cinder based platforms at track level. It was situated to the south of the roadbridge on New Cut Lane, to which it was connected by wooden steps. The station closed to passengers on 26 September 1938 and the tracks were lifted shortly after the line closed in 1952.

Kew Gardens railway station (Merseyside)

Kew Gardens was a railway station at Kew on the edge of Southport, Merseyside, England, situated north of the A570 between Meols Cop Road and Foul Lane.

Butts Lane Halt railway station

Butts Lane Halt was a railway station in the Blowick suburb of Southport, Merseyside.

Plex Moss Lane Halt railway station

Plex Moss Lane Halt was a railway station between Halsall and Barton in Lancashire. The station opened in July 1906 as a halt on the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway, and consisted of simple cinder based platforms at track level which required steps to be lowered from the coach for passenger access. It was situated to the south of the road bridge on Plex Moss Lane, to which it was connected by wooden steps. The station closed to passengers on 26 September 1938 and the tracks were lifted shortly after the line closed in 1952.

Blowick railway station

Blowick railway station was on the Manchester and Southport Railway in the Blowick suburb of Southport, Merseyside. Situated on a level crossing on Meols Cop Road (B5276), the station opened as Cop End in early 1871, and was renamed Blowick on 1 October 1871. The station closed on 25 September 1939, and this section of the line closed on 14 June 1965, forcing trains to divert through Meols Cop on a section of the old Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway.

References

  1. Siddle, John (12 September 2008). "Blowick's famous gasometer is to be demolished". Southport Visiter. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. Alcock, Robert (29 August 2008). "Thatch Inn bounces back from Cains crisis with new name and big changes". Southport Visiter. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  3. Gell, Rob (1986). An Illustrated Survey of Railway Stations Between Southport & Liverpool 1848-1986. Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN   0-947562-04-4.