The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was printed in Great Britain. The four scenes are identified on the back of the card as follows:
-- Rose Gardens and Hesketh Park
-- The Floral Hall and Marine Lake
-- Floral Hall, Hesketh Park
-- King's Gardens.
The stamp has unfortunately been removed, along with the location and date of posting.
The card was sent to:
Mrs. L. Tweedy,
10, Victoria Terrace,
Alnwick,
Northumberland.
The message on the divided back was as follows:
"Having a lovely holiday
down here with a friend.
Smashing weather, though
cooler today.
I needed a rest. I'm working
full time now at Arrowsmiths
and have been doing so for
4 months, and we've moved
house too for extra measure,
to 25, Wansbeck Road,
Ashington.
By the way, you've quite a
few things at home, I had
forgotten about them until
we moved.
How is work going down
with you?
The family are fine.
We're just off out - my friend
has learnt to drive and he's
got a Mini, so it's grand just
being able to go when we
like.
Regards to both,
Rachel".
Arrowsmith's was a shop in Station Road Ashington, Northumberland.
Southport
Southport is a large seaside town in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish Sea coast and is fringed to the north by the Ribble estuary. The town is 16.7 miles (26.9 km) north of Liverpool and 14.8 miles (23.8 km) southwest of Preston.
The town was founded in 1792 when William Sutton, an innkeeper, built a bathing house at what is now the south end of Lord Street. At that time, the area, was sparsely populated and dominated by sand dunes.
At the turn of the 19th century, the area became popular with tourists due to the easy access from the nearby Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The rapid growth of Southport largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era.
Town attractions include Southport Pier with its Southport Pier Tramway, the second longest seaside pleasure pier in the British Isles, and Lord Street, an elegant tree-lined shopping street, once home of Napoleon III of France.
Extensive sand dunes stretch for several miles from Woodvale to Birkdale, the south of the town. Local fauna include the Natterjack toad and the Sand lizard.
The town contains examples of Victorian architecture and town planning, on Lord Street and elsewhere. A particular feature of the town is the extensive tree planting. This 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.
Southport today is still one of the most popular seaside resorts in the UK. It hosts various 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 the Royal Birkdale Golf Club.
Hesketh Park
Hesketh Park is a public park situated near the north end of Lord Street in Southport.
It was designed in the mid-19th. century by Edward Kemp, and was further developed in the 20th. century. The park has many Victorian features and landscape designs.
The land Hesketh Park occupies was once (like 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 the Rev. Charles Hesketh of Meols Hall, who donated the land for use as a public park.
Edward Kemp laid out the park which is nearly oval in shape, possibly to the design of Joseph Paxton for whom Kemp had worked at Birkenhead Park in Liverpool.
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 a major refurbishment and restoration scheme.
The park facilities include a Cafe and Play Area, and there is also a crazy golf course.
The Park has two gate houses at two of the entrances to the park. They are lived in by the park keepers, and both have colourful annual flower beds outside.
The Floral Clock
The Floral Clock is a feature of the park that has been restored. It is planted with annual flowers each year in 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 the hour. Despite the restoration, the clock is currently not in full working order.
The Aviary
The park Aviary once housed many exotic birds which included flamingos up until the late 1990's, 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 the project is awaiting funding.
The Conservatory
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
The Lake is the biggest feature in the park. Situated at the centre, it has a small island which was created for the wild birds which live and breed on the lake. The lake once featured boats, but since the restoration of the lake the boats have not returned.
The Waterfall
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 the revamp to the waterfall area and the removal of trees from the surrounding area.
The Observatory
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).
The Rose Garden
The Rose Garden is a formal garden dedicated to many varieties of roses. It was very well known in the Victorian era. The garden still has many of the original varieties of roses which were growing in the Victorian era.
The Rock Garden
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 features specimen trees such as atlas cedars and redwood trees.
