71-468: Australia Fair Shopping Centre is a dual-level regional shopping centre covering 59,540 square metres (640,900 sq ft) located in Southport , Gold Coast , Queensland . The centre also incorporates a five-level office tower comprising 5,824 square metres (62,690 sq ft) of office space, housing specialist services and commercial offices. 1984 Scarborough Fair was built incorporating
142-501: A Coles Supermarket and Kmart Store. 1990: Australia Fair opened on April 10, 1990, after a project that took more than a year and $ 300 million to complete. Upon completion, Australia Fair Shopping Centre boasted the largest concentration of specialty stores and was the only shopping centre in Australia to feature three supermarket chains: Woolworths , Coles , and Franklins . 1991: The 52,000 square metre shopping development
213-680: A national nature reserve and a Ramsar site. Local fauna include the natterjack toad and the sand lizard . Southport hosts events, including an annual air show on and over the beach, the largest independent flower show in the UK in Victoria Park , and the British Musical Fireworks Championship. The town is at the centre of England's "Golf Coast", and has hosted the Open Championship at
284-524: A channel to drain Martin Mere to the sea. From this point on, attempts at large-scale drainage of Martin Mere and other marshland continued until the 19th century, since when the water has been pumped away. This left behind a legacy of fine agricultural soil and created a booming farming industry. In the late 18th century, it was becoming fashionable for the well-to-do to desert inland spa towns and visit
355-406: A dependence on tourism the town is also home to businesses both in the private and public sector. Some manufacturing facilities were situated in the town, most notably Chewits were manufactured in the town from 1965 to 2006, only closing to move production to Slovakia . Manufacturing has diminished in the last few decades and only a few sites are still in production in the town today. Lord Street
426-596: A district of Lancashire: the final recommendations in 1991 "concluded that public opinion was more evenly divided than initially thought", and also that eastward transport links with Lancashire were poor compared to those southward to the Liverpool area. The government again directed the Local Government Commission for England to make a review in December 1996 (after it had finished the work on
497-422: A major refurbishment and restoration scheme. The park visitor facilities include a Cafe and Play Area which is situated on the east side of the park and also features a crazy golf, the play area was dramatically reduced due to the restoration project with a whole new play area created on one half and the other half was grassed over for a field for ball games. The park toilet facilities were also upgraded as part of
568-569: A month, until broken by J.G. Parry-Thomas . Southport elected their first ever Labour MP in the 2024 general election . On 29 July 2024, three girls aged 6, 7 and 9 were murdered in a stabbing incident , with eight children and two adults left injured. A violent riot the following day in response to the stabbings organised by far-right groups left 53 police officers injured, with eight sustaining serious injuries. Multiple police vehicles were burned and destroyed and shops were raided. In 2024 Southport elected its first ever Labour MP since
639-419: A near oval shape, possibly to the design of Joseph Paxton for whom Kemp had worked at Birkenhead Park . The layout cost of Hesketh Park was £12,000 and the park was officially opened in 1868. Various structures have been added to the park since it opened and some alterations have been made through the later 19th and 20th centuries, with the main alterations happening in 2007 when the park was restored as part of
710-489: A plaque in the vicinity, by the name of one street at the intersection, namely Duke Street, and by a hotel on Duke Street which bears the legacy name of Dukes Folly Hotel. Southport grew quickly in the 19th century as it gained a reputation for being a more refined seaside resort than its neighbour Blackpool . Southport had a head start compared to all the other places on the Lancashire coast because it had easy access to
781-529: A population 200. The population was scattered thinly across the region, and it was at the northeast end of Otergimele (present-day Crossens), where blown sand gave way to alluvial deposits from the River Ribble estuary, that a small concentration of people occurred. It was here that a primitive church might have been built, which gave the emerging village its name of Churchtown, the parish being North Meols (pronounced "meals"). A church called St Cuthbert's
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#1732793709598852-532: A railway connection. The resort increased during the Victorian era and contains examples of Victorian architecture and town planning . Lord Street was developed as a wide, tree-lined shopping street, and attractions such as Southport Pier , which is the second longest seaside pleasure pier in the British Isles , were constructed. A particular feature of the town is the extensive tree planting. This
923-479: A unitary authority, with Banks wishing to see it tied to Lancashire ceremonially , but Fearn wishing to see it remain, as a separate borough, in Merseyside. The commission noted that Southport would have a relatively low population for a unitary authority, even including Formby (89,300 or 114,700), and that it was worried about the viability of a south Sefton authority without Southport, and therefore recommended
994-577: Is governed by the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region , and the combined authority, which is responsible for areas of transport, trade and strategic governance of devolved powers in the town and wider Sefton Borough. Southport is located within the historic county of Lancashire , and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1866. It became a county borough independent of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1905, having reached
1065-733: Is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside , England. It lies on the West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea , approximately 17 miles (27 km) north of Liverpool and 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Preston . At the 2021 census , Southport had a population of 94,421, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England and
1136-527: Is a public park situated near the north end of Lord Street in the Victorian seaside town of Southport , Merseyside , England. It was designed as a public park in the mid-19th century by Edward Kemp, and was further developed in the 20th century. The land was donated by the Rev Charles Hesketh and has many Victorian features and landscape designs. The land Hesketh Park occupies was once (like
1207-611: Is also a memorial inside the Lifeboat house, now operated by the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust . Mexico was just one of many shipwrecks in the Southport area . From 1894 to 1912 Birkdale and the adjoining village of Ainsdale were separate from Southport and administered by Birkdale Urban District Council before becoming part of the county borough of Southport in 1912. This was a huge expansion of
1278-551: Is located on the corner of Nerang Street and Scarborough Street and provides tram connections to the Gold Coast University Hospital and south towards Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach . Southport Bus Station , one of the main bus stations in the city provides regular and high frequency services to Helensvale Station , Robina , Sea World / Main Beach and Biggera Waters . Southport Southport
1349-618: Is often called England's Golfing Capital because it is at the centre of England's Golf Coast. Royal Birkdale Golf Club is one of the clubs in the Open Championship rotation for both men and women. The club has hosted the men's championship ten times since 1954, most recently in July 2017, and has hosted the women's tournament five times, including 2010. Southport's other courses include the 9-hole Southport Old Links in High Park,
1420-466: Is situated behind the Conservatory. The Aviary once housed many exotic birds which included flamingos up until the late 1990s but due to neglect of the cages, the birds were removed. In 2007 as part of the park restoration project the damaged cages were removed, with the overgrown foliage and the remaining birds moved into the central remaining cages. There are future plans to restore the aviary but
1491-554: Is still at the centre of Churchtown. With a booming fishing industry, the area grew and hamlets became part of the parish of North Meols. From south to north, these villages were South Hawes, Haweside, Little London, Higher Blowick , Lower Blowick, Rowe-Lane, Churchtown, Marshside , Crossens , and Banks . As well as Churchtown, there were vicarages in Crossens and Banks. Parts of the parish were almost completely surrounded by water until 1692 when Thomas Fleetwood of Bank Hall cut
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#17327937095981562-705: Is the first of its kind in Australia and one of the largest in Queensland. 1993: An extension introduced the centre to a six-cinema complex and also created a Leisure Court Retail precinct. 1997–1998: Extensions were completed, cinemas expanded from 6 to 10 and reconfiguration of the Cinema Leisure Court Retail/Entertainment precinct. 2001: Gordon Fu purchases Australia Fair from Colonial First State . The centre has undercover and rooftop parking for 2,500 cars, located off Marine Parade. The Southport light rail station
1633-472: Is the main shopping street of Southport. It is one of the great shopping streets of Northern England and is said to be the inspiration for the tree-lined boulevards of Paris. In the 2000s Chapel Street was pedestrianised and is home to famous brands. Southport also has an indoor market situated on King Street and Market Street as well as a farmers' market held on the last Thursday of every month on Chapel Street. Southport has hosted conferences since at least
1704-684: The Royal Birkdale Golf Club . The town gets its name from the South Port Hotel; built around 1797 (see #18th century ). There have been settlements in the area now comprising Southport since the Domesday Book , and some parts of the town have names of Viking origin. The earliest recorded human activity in the region was during the Middle Stone Age when mesolithic hunter-gatherers were attracted by
1775-569: The creation of unitary authorities ), commencing in January 1997. This review was constrained by the legal inability of the commission to recommend that the current Sefton-West Lancashire border be altered. In a MORI poll conducted at the behest of the LGCE, 65% of Southport residents supported the campaign, compared to 37% in the borough as a whole. Local MPs Matthew Banks and Ronnie Fearn (MPs for Southport at various times) supported making Southport
1846-654: The "Southport Visitor". The observatory was open to the public who were able to purchase tickets at the Town Hall and local Newsagent and the visits were supervised by a Mr Ralph Green and other members of the Meteorological Observatory team. Activity became sparse during the war years and in the 1960s the Education Department handed management of the observatory to Southport College. Their Head of Maths and Physics, John Bryson, who used
1917-660: The 1880s when the Royal Institution met in the town. The former Southport Theatre & Convention Centre closed in 2020 and a planning permission application for a new Marine Lake Events Centre was submitted at the end of June 2022. It has hosted the United Kingdom Independence Party national conference as well as the regional Labour Party conference. The Liberal Democrats held their federal Spring conference here in March 2018. Southport
1988-715: The 1980s and is now the site of part of the Ocean Plaza shopping development. A former landmark of Pleasureland was the Looping Star roller coaster, which was on site from 1985 to 1987. It featured in the video for the pop single Wonderful Life , by Liverpool band Black , which was also shot at other parts of the Sefton and North West coastline. On 24 April 2009 a serious fire occurred at the oldest attraction within New Pleasureland. Called The River Caves , it
2059-400: The 2002 local elections, including that of the leader of Sefton Council, Liberal Democrat Councillor, David Bamber. At the following election there were no gains and a drop in the number of votes for the party. At the all out election in 2004, one of their councillors stood down, whilst the other two lost their seats. To date, there have been no further moves to change Sefton's boundaries, but
2130-806: The Boundary Commission indicated in 2004 that a future review is possible. From 2014 the Borough of Sefton became one of the six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority . The closest cities are Preston 20 km (12 miles) to the north east and Liverpool 27 km (17 miles) to the south. Existing on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain , most of the town is only slightly above sea level and thus parts of Southport used to be susceptible to flooding . Marine Drive
2201-622: The Hesketh Golf Club, Hillside Golf Club and Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club . One of Southport's main attractions for many years was Pleasureland , a fairground established in 1912. It was owned by the Thompson Family , and was closed in September 2006. A replacement fairground on the same site, provisionally named New Pleasureland , opened in July 2007. An earlier permanent funfair, Peter Pan's Playground, closed in
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2272-525: The North of England. The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a resident population for Southport of 90,336. Approximately 19,000 were aged 16 or under, 60,000 were aged 16–74, and 10,000 aged 75 and over. According to the 2001 census, 96% of Southport's population claim they have been born in the UK. The population of Southport began to rapidly increase during the Industrial Revolution and
2343-450: The Park and Observatory. The building now has an electricity supply and telephone access but unfortunately during the building refurbishment a copper lining was used on the dome which attracted the attentions of illegal copper merchants. This has caused some damage to the dome. Although the dome metal runner was also renewed at this time it has not proved satisfactory and until this is put right
2414-782: The Southport Conservative Party . Southport born Kevin Laroux Wood stood in the 1983 general election for the Southport Constituency. He was supported by a team of people who raised the funds needed and formed the "Southport Back in Lancashire Party". Posters were distributed and articles published in the Visiter newspaper. Although was not elected as MP, it put the issue firmly on the local agenda which continues to this day. In
2485-428: The Victorian era. From then the population has been stable with minor decline in some areas of the town. As a seaside town Southport has a history of leisure and recreation and is still dependent on tourism. The town went into decline when cheap air travel arrived in the 1960s and people chose to holiday abroad due to competitive prices and more reliable weather. However, the town kept afloat with people coming to spend
2556-548: The abundant red deer and elk populations, as well as the availability of fish, shellfish, and woodland. Roman coins have been found at Halsall Moss and Crossens, although the Romans never settled southwest Lancashire. The first objective evidence of an early settlement in the region is in the Domesday Book , in which the area is called Otergimele . The Domesday Book states that there were 50 huts in Otergimele, housing
2627-696: The back of the Dunes swimming pool which opened in June 2007. Meols Hall , a manor house, home of the Hesketh family, is open to the public for a limited period each year. Its history back to the Domesday Book. The British Lawnmower Museum is based in Shakespeare Street, a short distance outside the town centre. The Power Station, that was the base of the town's former radio station Dune FM , on
2698-559: The building and telescope. The object was to use the facilities for organized school visits and invite the Astronomical Society to come back and make use of the building as well as organize Open Days and observational visits on suitable occasions. Although the Southport Astronomical Society continue to use the observatory these ceased when the observatory was included in the 2007 refurbishment of
2769-443: The canal system. Other seaside bathing areas could not really get going until the railways were built some years later. The Leeds and Liverpool canal brought people from Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton and Wigan amongst others. By 1820 Southport had over 20,000 visitors per year. Southport Pier is referred to as the first true "pleasure pier", being one of the earliest pier structures to be erected using iron. A design from James Brunlees
2840-532: The creation of the constituency in the 1880s, with Labour politician Patrick Hurley succeeding Conservative incumbent Damien Moore . Prior to that, Liberal Democrat John Pugh was the MP for Southport, holding the seat for 16 years until his retirement in the 2017 General election . Southport, as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton , one of the six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region. . It
2911-400: The day by the seaside on bank holidays and weekends. The town has diversified with annual events, shopping and conferences. In 2011, Southport was named the fourteenth-most popular coastal resort in the country, benefiting from a 23% rise in money spent in the resort in that year. Part of the resort's progress is a result of the money invested in Southport over recent years. While Southport has
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2982-566: The edge of Victoria Park, which itself is home to the Southport Flower Show . See also Listed buildings in Southport Southport has many unique buildings and features, many of which are privately owned Victorian villas and houses and the town centre shops are of architectural interest. The most notable buildings, gardens and places of architectural interest are: Hesketh Park, Southport Hesketh Park
3053-544: The end of October. The season has extended into weekend openings during November, February and March, weather permitting. An earlier model village, the Land of the Little People, was demolished in the late 1980s to make way for the aborted Winter Gardens /SIBEC shopping development. Its site is now occupied by a Morrison's supermarket. Other attractions in Southport include Splash World, an indoor water park situated on
3124-538: The funds to buy a new lifeboat for the town, stationed at the old RNLI lifeboat house. The lifeboat, operated by the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust , is completely independent from the RNLI and receives no money from them. It relies entirely on donations from the general public. On 21 March 1926, Henry Segrave set the land speed record in his 4-litre Sunbeam Tiger Ladybird on the sands at Southport at 152.33 mph (245.15 km/h). This record lasted for just over
3195-461: The hour. The clock is currently not in full working order. The astronomical observatory stands on a small mound in the centre of the park. It was originally the private observatory of Joseph Baxendell FRAS (1815–1887). Baxendell arrived in Southport in the late 1800s having retired from his post as Timekeeping astronomer for the City of Manchester. He had been invited by John Fernley to come and manage
3266-631: The minimum 50,000 population (the 1911 census gave a figure of 51,643). The Birkdale Urban District, including the parishes of Birkdale and Ainsdale was added to Southport in 1912. The county borough had its headquarters at Southport Town Hall . Under the 1971 Local Government White Paper, presented in February 1971, Southport would have lost its county borough status, becoming a non-metropolitan district within Lancashire. Rather than accept this fate and lose its separate education and social services departments, Southport Corporation lobbied for inclusion in
3337-458: The name of the town. The locals thought him mad and referred to the building as the Duke's Folly , but Sutton arranged transport links from the canal that ran through Scarisbrick , four miles from the hotel, and trade was remarkably good. The hotel survived until 1854, when it was demolished to make way for traffic at the end of Lord Street, but its presence and the impact of its founder are marked by
3408-516: The nearby planned metropolitan county of Merseyside, to join with Bootle and other units to form a district with the 250,000 required population. It was duly included in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton . A recurring local political issue has been the cross-party movement campaigning for Southport to leave Sefton and form its own unitary authority , perhaps adjoined to the neighbouring West Lancashire authority. Support for this has been seen amongst Liberal Democrat councillors, and also within
3479-637: The observatory and the society. The Rose Garden is a formal garden dedicated to many varieties of roses and was very well known in the Victorian era. The Rose Garden was renovated in 2016 with the Victorian roses being replaced with modern roses from the David Austin nursery in Albrighton. The money for renovation being given as a grant from the National Lottery. Some of the Victorian roses are planted in an area not accessible to members of
3550-514: The observatory cannot be used for observational work. The 2017 refurbishment is now complete and the observatory is now almost ready for opening to the general public on suitable occasions. Some final work is being undertaken on the telescope and will hopefully be fully functional during the winter. The Astronomical Society continue to use the building for some of their meetings ( a bit of a squash on some evenings!) and will be present on Open Days when members will be available to talk to visitors about
3621-403: The observatory for his work as a teacher also voluntarily opened the observatory every week during the winter months, when the weather was suitable, to members of the public. By 1980 the observatory fell into disuse mainly due to the encroachment of forest trees making observations difficult or impossible. However, in 1985/6 the Education Department took a hand and managed a minor refurbishment of
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#17327937095983692-402: The project is awaiting funding . The Conservatory was once full of exotic plants, but since restoration in 2007 the plants were removed while the whole building was taken down and later restored on the same site. The Lake is the biggest feature in the park, situated at the centre, it has a small island in the centre which was created for the wild birds which live and breed on the lake. The lake
3763-489: The public. The park still has many of the original varieties of roses which were originally growing in the Victorian era. The Rock Garden is a feature in a crater type garden on the top of a hill, it is accessed by sloping paths and by steep steps which once led to a shelter at the top. The seating shelter was removed and a seating/ viewing area was created. The rock garden also feature specimen trees such as atlas cedars and redwood trees. The blind and disabled sensory garden
3834-567: The rest of Southport) sand dunes and beach, as the tides receded and the town of Southport grew, the need for a park was proposed. The land at the time was owned by Rev Charles Hesketh of Meols Hall , who donated the land for use as a public park. Hesketh Park was created by the Southport Commissioners through the Second Southport Improvement Act of 1865. Edward Kemp laid out the park which is of
3905-467: The rest of western UK. The coast-to-coast Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) stretches the breadth of northern England – 215 miles (346 km) from Southport in the west to Hornsea in the east. The TPT is a route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders linking the North and Irish seas and passing through the Pennines. It runs alongside rivers and canals and through some of the most historic towns and cities in
3976-408: The restoration project and are situated near the east entrance to the park. The Park has two gate houses at two of the entrances to the park. They are lived in by the park keepers and have colourful annual flower beds outside each lodge. The Glasshouses are the green house development by where the floral displays for the park are grown, this is a private area which is not accessible to the public and
4047-461: The revamp to the waterfall area and the removal of trees from the surrounding area. The Floral Clock is another feature of the park that has been restored, it is planted up with annual flowers each year in the formation of the Roman numerals and a decorative pattern. Many visitors since the Victorian period have come to visit the park just to see the clock and hear the cuckoo call when the clock strikes
4118-553: The running of his recently opened Meteorological Observatory also sited in the Park. Baxendell was to continue his astronomical work in his observatory at his home in Liverpool Road. After his death the Baxendell family offered the observatory and its equipment to the then Southport Corporation (Education Department) and was duly opened in September 1901 and a detailed description of the ceremony appeared on 5 September 1901 in
4189-540: The same period in 1980, a Private Member's Bill proposed restoring Southport to Lancashire, and renaming the residue of Sefton to the Metropolitan Borough of Bootle. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England conducted a review of the area in 1987, which attracted 10,000 messages, of which "70% were pro forma ". In 1990, the LGBC made suggestions that Southport, Ainsdale and Birkdale should be made
4260-409: The seaside just four miles (6 km) away from the newly constructed Leeds and Liverpool Canal and two miles southwest of Churchtown. When a widow from Wigan built a cottage nearby in 1797 for seasonal lodgers, Sutton quickly built a new inn on the site of the bathing house which he called the South Port Hotel, moving to live there the following season. There was no port, but "Southport" soon became
4331-602: The seaside to bathe in the salt sea waters. At that time, doctors recommended bathing in the sea to help cure aches and pains. In 1792, William Sutton, the landlord of the Black Bull Inn in Churchtown (now the Hesketh Arms ) and known to locals as "The Old Duke", realised the importance of the newly created canal systems across the UK and set up a bathing house in the virtually uninhabited dunes at South Hawes by
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#17327937095984402-465: The status quo be kept. The commission suggested the use of area committees for the various parts of the borough and also that Southport could become a civil parish . Another request made in 2004 was turned down, the Electoral Commission must request such a review. In 2002, a local independent party calling themselves the Southport Party was established, with many members supporting a policy of "Southport out of Sefton." Three council seats were won in
4473-444: The third most populous settlement in the Liverpool City Region . The town was founded in 1792 by William Sutton , an innkeeper from Churchtown , who built a bathing house at what is now the south end of Lord Street . The area was previously known as South Hawes, and was sparsely populated and dominated by dunes. The area became popular with tourists due to the easy access from the nearby Leeds and Liverpool Canal , and by 1848 had
4544-408: The town. In 1914, a very short romance story between a "2 park road Southport" private soldier and French lady took place in Valenciennes in north France during early First World War as described by Andrée Ducatez's Journal . In 1925, the RNLI abandoned the station at Southport and left the town with no lifeboat. In the late 1980s, after a series of tragedies, local families from Southport raised
4615-423: The vessel. The crews battled against storm-force winds as they rowed towards the casualty. The entire crew from the St. Anne's boat was lost and all but two of the Southport crew were too. In all, 28 lifeboatmen lost their lives on that night, leaving many widows and fatherless children. A memorial was erected in Duke Street Cemetery and there is a permanent display in the museum at The Atkinson on Lord Street. There
4686-500: Was approved at a cost of £8,700 and on 4 August 1859 a large crowd witnessed the driving home of the first support pile. The opening of the pier was celebrated on 2 August 1860. On the night of 9 December 1886, the worst lifeboat disaster in the history of the UK occurred off the shores of Southport. A cargo ship called the Mexico was on its way to South America when it found itself in difficulty. Lifeboats from Lytham , St. Annes and Southport set off to try to rescue those aboard
4757-433: Was completely destroyed in this arson attack, and a 16-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the fire. Southport Model Railway Village is situated in Kings Gardens opposite the Royal Clifton Hotel and near the Marine Lake Bridge. The Model Railway Village opened in May 1996 and was created by Ray and Jean Jones. The Jones family still run the attraction today. The Model Railway Village season extends from April to
4828-406: Was created in Hesketh Park in 1995 and its opening is commemorated by a plaque at its entranceway. Currently, it is a neglected/underfunded area, in need of refurbishment. Hesketh Park is home to Southport Parkrun , a free 5 km timed event, which is open to all and fully staffed by volunteers. The first Southport Parkrun took place on 11 June 2016. On 26 August 2017 Southport Parkrun hosted
4899-401: Was one of the conditions required by the Hesketh family when they made land available for development in the 19th century. Hesketh Park at the northern end of the town is named after them, having been built on land donated by Rev. Charles Hesketh. Extensive sand dunes stretch for several miles from Woodvale to Birkdale , the south of the town. The Ainsdale dunes have been designated as
4970-458: Was regularly closed due to flooding from high tides , but in February 1997, new sea defences started being constructed and in 2002 the whole project was completed. Southport has a maritime climate like most of the UK. Due to its position by the coast, Southport rarely sees substantial snowfall and temperatures rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F) so it does not have frequent frosts . Southport generally has moderate precipitation, unlike
5041-406: Was restored to its full size with the extension to the west end of the lake in 2007, as part of the main restoration project. The lake once featured boats but since the restoration of the lake the boats have not returned to the lake. The waterfall is situated to the north central bank of the lake. For many years the waterfall lay inactive and overgrown, up until the park restoration project which saw
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