Southport – Explore a Seaside Resort in North-West England

Chris Boothman
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Southport – Explore a Seaside Resort in North-West England

Whenever I return home to England with Heather, one of the great aspects of our travels is that we are able to visit many of my favorite childhood spots. Many of the locations that we visit in North-West England are ‘hidden gems’ in the global tourism scene, mainly because they don’t have the media hype like London or Liverpool.

During our recent trip to England, we headed west from my hometown of Ramsbottom to the seaside resort of Southport. After reading this, perhaps you will consider visiting such a destination rather than just exploring mainstream England. Southport is located just north of Liverpool along the coast and about 20 miles south of the Fylde Coast neighborhood containing the likes of Blackpool and Lytham & St. Annes.

This part of England is frequently referred to as the ‘golfing capital’ of the country, mainly because much of this coastline is made up of links golf courses including Royal Birkdale, Southport and Ainsdale and Royal Liverpool. I am always intrigued to visit locations that have world renowned golf courses, but Southport does have much more to offer than just an array of top golfing links.

Our recent trip to Southport was all about exploring the town centre and figuring out what makes this such an attractive destination for many visitors. Hopefully this will inspire you to check out Southport during your next trip to England, especially given it’s great location in comparison to other leading cities such as Liverpool and Manchester.

Lord Street Shopping Centre

Lord Street provides visitors the perfect opportunity to get their fix of retail therapy with a variety of boutique shops and mainstream stores to meet everyone’s needs. However, Lord Street is much more than just a shopping precinct because there are numerous restaurants, bars and coffee shops for people to grab a light snack or relaxing beverage before moving around to explore more of what Southport has to offer.

southport england

I am certainly not a proponent of visiting somewhere simply because of the shopping options available but Southport is one of those spots in England that you could certainly do that.  Spend all day wandering around the diverse array of stores available or marvel at the Victorian style architecture along Lord Street.

lord street southport

During our last visit, we spent a couple of hours exploring Lord Street alone. Due to the stereotypical English rain as we walked the streets of Southport, our time admiring the buildings was curtailed. Parking is available either using the Park and Ride facility if you prefer the cheaper option, or for the more convenient choice there are a variety of car parks scattered in close proximity to Lord Street.

southport england

Historic Landmarks

Lord Street is not just recognized as a mainstream shopping hub, but it is also known for the historic landmarks and pieces of architecture that stretch along this part of Southport’s coastline. The Victorian style architecture is apparent throughout the storefronts and other buildings along Lord Street.

southport england

When you walk around Southport, there is a distinct blend of Parisian style boulevards and old Victorian English design.

southport merseyside england

The War Memorial located in London Square along Lord Street is another popular spot for visitors. The obelisk is surrounded at either end by two colonnades that are designed in the style of Greek temples. Outside of these two temple like designs are pools of remembrance and accompanying fountains that together provide a perfect memorial spot for visitors to pay their respects to those lives that were lost in the two World Wars.

southport england

Southport Pier

Many of England’s most famous seaside locations are renowned for their iconic piers and Southport is no different! Southport Pier offers visitors a piece of history as it is the oldest standing iron pier in the country and also second longest throughout the UK. But there is something else that is a little more unique about Southport’s iconic attraction that inspires people to visit here – a tram that runs the full length of the pier.

southport pier

We headed over to Southport Pier from Lord Street to check out what all the fuss was about. As soon as we approached the historic structure, we saw the tram slowly making its way along the pier and noticed that this was a great way to take in the coastal scenery and look back towards Southport town centre.

southport pier

I would highly recommend walking the full length of the pier and perhaps hop on the tram to return to the cafe or slot machines to try your luck on winning a small fortune!

southport pier

Southport Pleasureland

Interested in experiencing a little fun on a Merseyside amusement park? Head over to Southport Pleasureland and sample some thrill rides before tasting stereotypical candy floss or ice cream! Unfortunately we didn’t pick the best day in terms of weather to visit Pleasureland but even from a distance you can see that this is a pretty spectacular park for all the family to enjoy.

Located in the heart of Princes Park, even if experiencing the thrills and spills of Pleasureland, you can relax by the boating lake and have a picnic taking in the coastal air.

Why visit Southport?

Southport is a gorgeous little gem along the North-Western coastline of England. Lord Street on its own offers visitors plenty to keep you occupied throughout the day but with the additional attractions, this is a spot for families or couples that want to take a day trip to the coast and sample stereotypical English fun!

Just like any other town in England, if you wait for the weather to be favorable you may be waiting a long time! Forget the inclement weather and head to Southport and have a good time. Walk along the beach, wander around Princes Park or just grab a 99 cornet and take in the atmosphere down the boulevard that is Lord Street.

If you are interested in seeing more of our pictures from our visit to Southport, check out our gallery here in our Travel Photos Around the World section: Southport 2014 Gallery.

Weekend Wanderlust


Experiencing Glory at Gleneagles – Ryder Cup 2014

Chris Boothman
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Experiencing Glory at Gleneagles – Ryder Cup 2014

If you have never been to a live sporting event, I would highly recommend considering the Ryder Cup simply because the two that I have been to are probably two of my favorite sporting experiences to date. After traveling 8 hours to Chicago in 2012 to watch the now infamous ‘Miracle at Medinah’ where Europe fought back from 10-6 heading into the final day to pull off a miraculous victory, we took our travels one step further by flying over to Scotland to watch the Ryder Cup 2014 event play out.

Golf is of course a competitive sport, but the Ryder Cup is completely different and like no other golf tournament that professional golfers participate in. This is the only time that the golfers actually create a team like environment and play for each other (in addition to their country and continent), rather than just playing for themselves.

What is the Ryder Cup?

Just to give you a brief insight into what the Ryder Cup is all about, let’s just say it’s where Europe and USA play against each other over three days of competitive golf and which ever team comes out with the most points wins! The Ryder Cup is held every two years and alternates venues between the two continents. The rest of the world participates against USA in the President’s Cup which follows a similar schedule but does not have the same prestige or reputation as the Ryder Cup.

Europe have had the clear edge in this competition over the last two decades so the Americans headed to Gleneagles, Scotland hoping to regain the Cup for the first time since 2008.

Our Journey to Gleneagles

Our trip to Scotland was eventful on its own, and that is even before seeing a tee shot hit by either Europe or USA. Leaving Jonesboro, Arkansas on Friday evening after work, we drove 8 hours to Atlanta, Georgia to get a flight Saturday lunch time. Our route took us from Atlanta to Toronto where we endured a 7 hour layover, before heading on to Copenhagen, Denmark. We stayed in Copenhagen for 2 days before flying to Manchester, England where we visited with my parents for 3 days.

A pretty eventful route, but given that the flight from Atlanta to Copenhagen was only $420 return it was pretty much a steal and well worth the ’round the houses’ approach to get there.

We finally drove from Manchester to Gleneagles on Thursday morning in time to experience the final practice day plus the opening ceremony.

Pre-Tournament Experience

The first thing to note when experiencing a Ryder Cup in Scotland is that the event organization is crucial in order for the whole experience to be positive. Full credit should be given to the Scottish Council and all organizations that were involved in the Ryder Cup 2014 event, because everything was smooth and efficiently planned out.

Pre-purchasing ‘Park and Ride’ tickets was mandatory and there were three locations to choose from, each around 20 miles from the Gleneagles golf course. Even though we opted for one park and ride location on the Thursday and a different location the next three days, we received passes for the Balado Park & Ride in Kinross (East of Gleneagles).

I should add that purchasing tickets for the Ryder Cup is not easy either as you have to go through a lottery ballet process in order to get them. The anti-fraud companies out there decided to take the ticketing process one step further by requiring all applicants to add their picture to the ticket which was printed on our season passes. Given that we were initially rejected and only received tickets during the ‘second release’, our choice of hotels was limited and we were forced to stay in Glasgow which is around 40 miles from Gleneagles, or a hour drive through the Scottish countryside.

Thursday – Final Practice Round

I would highly recommend heading to a practice round at any golf tournament, especially if you are not a huge golf fan and just want to go for the experience. Practice rounds are much more relaxed and you are even able to take your cameras to take as many pictures of your favorite golfers as you want!

We arrived at the Balado Park & Ride around 11:00AM and after passing through security (very much like airport security) we hopped on the double decker bus for the 40 minute shuttle to Auchterarder, the Scottish village home of Gleneagles. This was a really scenic drive through the Scottish valleys and at certain points it appeared that we were heading into the Scottish Highlands, but either way it was cool even though doing this every day got a little old.

After leaving the bus, we headed to the 17th green just in time to see the first group of Americans coming through. We were able to capture some really good pictures and we stood by the side of the tee box as the other American practice groups filtered through as they closed out their final practice rounds.

After watching this for a while, we headed over to the practice range to see some of the Europeans including Ian Poulter and Thomas Bjorn finishing up their practice sessions before the opening ceremony later that afternoon. We decided not to stay for the opening ceremony as we wanted to head over to St. Andrews AKA ‘The Home of Golf’ before darkness set in.

Friday – Opening Day of Ryder Cup 2014

With crowds in excess of 45,000 flocking to Gleneagles, we knew that an early start was needed in order to capture a great viewing spot for the morning fourballs. Rising early at 5:00AM we headed to Balado and arrived at Gleneagles just after the opening match had struck their tee-shots down the first fairway.

We spent the day enjoying the beautiful Scottish weather and being entertained first by the 7th green and later by the 17th. Both of these spots, in particular on the hill by the 7th were really great spots for spectators. Gleneagles in general is a great golf course for the paying public, with a number of elevated spots overlooking the course.

After a closely fought morning session that the US team edged, the afternoon foursomes belonged to Europe and they finished the day with a 5-3 lead.

Day 1 Scores

Morning Fourballs – Europe 1.5 USA 2.5

Afternoon Foursomes – Europe 3.5 USA 0.5

Overall – Europe 5 USA 3

Saturday – Europe Takes Control

Saturday’s play essentially mirrored that of Friday’s, with Europe continuing to dominate the afternoon session and ending the day in complete control. But it could have been so different had one or two putts dropped for the Americans, and the European pairings of Rose and Stenson and McDowell and Dubuisson had not been so dominant!

We were again very fortunate to experience great weather, at no point during the whole week did we encounter any rain at Gleneagles (I am sure that is a completely rare occurrence in Scotland!)

If USA is going to regain the Ryder Cup, they are quickly going to have to discover how to play foursomes golf. Whether this is because Americans generally are very individualistic and Europeans have a more team-oriented approach, I am not sure but either way Europe’s complete domination in this format was the clear difference between the two teams. Over the two days, Europe won this format 7-1.

Day 2 Scores

Morning Fourballs – Europe 1.5 USA 2.5

Afternoon Foursomes – Europe 3.5 USA 0.5

Overall – Europe 10 USA 6

Sunday – Glory at Gleneagles

Arriving in Auchterarder early Sunday morning, I was immediately thinking back to arriving at Medinah two years earlier and the thoughts of an improbable comeback taking place. Would we be in for a similar day today with the Americans making their own ‘miracle’ fightback or would Europe hold on a secure the 14 points required to retain the Ryder Cup? Four points from a possible twelve, surely it wouldn’t be too difficult!

The early play suggested otherwise with USA getting off to a fast start in several of the opening matches. Jordan Spieth continued his scintillating form despite his rookie status and was quickly 3 up on McDowell. Hunter Mahan was making a mockery of Justin Rose’s performance this week and was 4 up early in their mouthwatering encounter.

However, Europe continued to show why they are renowned as being gritty and having never-say-die attitudes to fight back in both of the aforementioned matches! With world number one Rory McIlroy destroying Rickie Fowler and Martin Kaymer sealing another point over Bubba Watson with a stunning chip-in at 16, it all came down to rookie Jamie Donaldson to seal the Ryder Cup for Europe with a breathtaking approach shot on 15 from 100 yards against Keegan Bradley.

When Bradley conceded his putt, all of Gleneagles erupted and this experience is worth the long trip alone! No other golf tournament would you experience the stadium like atmosphere that you do at the Ryder Cup and with European fans chanting “Olé, Olé, Olé” it really was a moment that Heather and I will cherish for a long time!

Day 3 Scores

Singles – Europe 6.5 USA 5.5

Overall – Europe 16.5 USA 11.5

Summary

So Heather and I have attended the last two Ryder Cups and on both occasions Europe have won. Are we a good omen? I hope so but either way we look forward to attending many more in the future starting with the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Minnesota!

People have asked us about the divide in our household between Europe and USA but I think I convinced Heather to support the Europeans in 2012 so we are both on the same page now! GO EUROPE!!

Interesting in seeing many more pictures from our Ryder Cup 2014 experience? Check out our all new gallery over at our Travel Photos Around the World site: Gleneagles Ryder Cup 2014

Saturday Snaps #15 – Québec City Cannonball Tree

Chris Boothman
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quebec city cannonball tree

Location: Tree is located in the heart of Vieux Québec City, Canada.

Author: Chris & Heather Boothman (A Brit & A Southerner)

Description: Today’s image of the week features a unique yet iconic landmark in Québec City. When you are walking around the ‘old’ downtown area of the city, just inside the fortified walls is a tree with a cannonball at the base.

During our recent trip to Québec City, we walked the streets of Vieux Québec and stumbled across this random tree. If you are interested in seeing more of our pictures from our trip there, check out our gallery here.

So what is the story behind the infamous cannonball tree?

There are two different stories relating to this cannonball so I will leave it up to you to decide which is more plausible. The first dates back to the Battle of Québec in the mid 18th Century and the story suggests the cannonball landed here at the base of the tree and over the years became embedded as the tree continued to grow. Feasible? Possibly!

If you are still convinced by this story, perhaps this alternative will convince you. The cannonball was intentionally placed here in order to protect the tree from the wheels of the horse-drawn carriages.

I personally favor the first option and the decision was made to leave the cannonball in place given that the tree continued to grow and it provides an iconic landmark for Québec City in the present day.

Let us know which theory you prefer or perhaps you have your own idea behind this iconic landmark!

St. Andrews – Experience the Home of Golf

Chris Boothman
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35
St. Andrews – Experience the Home of Golf

The crowd goes silent around the 18th green at St. Andrews as he lines up a putt to win the Open Championship. The walk across the Swilcan Bridge crossing the 18th fairway was just as iconic as he imagined. The only sound are the waves from St. Andrews Bay that runs parallel to the Old Course. The moment he has been waiting for his whole life is right in front of him. Will he make history and get his name on the Claret Jug?

Don’t worry, if you are not at all interested in golf, St. Andrews is much more than just a famous golf course, though I will admit that as you stroll around the town centre, pretty much the focal point of everything is golf related. I will share with you a couple of reasons why you need to experience this gorgeous part of Eastern Scotland.

I have visited St. Andrews on three separate occasions now but our most recent trip was during the Ryder Cup 2014 weekend at Gleneagles. St. Andrews is located about 40 minutes from Gleneagles and I am sure many of the American supporters decided to pay a visit to the Home of Golf along with many other tourists.

The Home of Golf

If you are an avid golfer like myself, you can probably relate to that short introduction. That is exactly what was running through my mind as I stood on the 18th hole at the ‘Home of Golf’. St. Andrews is the ultimate destination for any golfer around the world. Golfers flock here daily to add their name to the ballot to hopefully get the opportunity to stride around the most famous course in the world of golf.

Although I have yet to play this prestigious course (I have every intention of changing this!), just setting foot on the hallowed turf is enough to get the goosebumps tingling in the back of your neck. We arrived at the Old Course just before sunset and this proved to be a perfect opportunity to see a few of the late starters finish their rounds along with capture a few memorable pictures of the Old Course Hotel, Clubhouse and of course ‘the links’ themselves!

The first thing you notice at St. Andrews when you step on the first tee is just how wide a target you have to aim for. All of the 1st and 18th fairways are merged together so you can’t miss the fairway right? Well, I am sure when you step on that teebox for the very first time the target is probably a little smaller than you imagine as a spectator. Beware of the Swilcan Burn though with your tee shot because on those St. Andrews links, the ball just keeps running and running.

We walked down the side of the 1st fairway to the green before crossing over to the iconic Road Hole bunker by the 17th green and looking back towards the 18th hole and clubhouse. What a stunning view – that’s pretty much all I can say! If you are not impressed by this view, you are not a true golfer.

Even if golf isn’t your thing, I am sure you will appreciate the beauty of the natural landscape around St. Andrews and the surrounding Bay. Take a stroll along the beach and you will be astounded by the stunning scenery that makes up this part of Scotland. It is no wonder that the origins of golf date back to here because they certainly picked a great part of the world to find our beloved game!

St. Andrews University

Do you know anyone who has attended St. Andrew’s University? I personally have a friend who went to university there but I am sure you are probably not thinking of him, rather one of the most famous individuals not only in England but throughout the world – Prince William!

Prince William loved the town of St. Andrews so much that he decided this was the best fit for him to study Geography and earn a Scottish Master of Arts degree. When you walk around the relatively small town centre, you will see why this would be a perfect fit for royalty. The agreement was made with the media that they would leave him alone for the four years he was studying and by all accounts they kept their promise. Of course, this was also the institution attended by Kate Middleton and the place where the two first met.

The University of St Andrews as it is officially known, dates back to the early 15th Century and you can certainly see this by the architectural design of the campus buildings. For the American readers out there, it is unlike any American campus or even many British university campuses as when you walk around the town at first you probably are not aware that you are at the heart of a college campus.

Some of the most iconic buildings on the St. Andrews campus include St. Salvator’s Quad, University Hall (both of which are residence halls) and St. Salvator’s Chapel which sits behind the quad.

Walking around you will likely see many buildings that are affiliated with the university, ranging from the administrative sections to the student union and halls of residence. If you are able to experience St. Andrews while university is in session, just take a moment to see all of the students walking back and forth to classes or popping in to the union for a bite to eat! Trust me, the student’s are likely to be easily identifiable.

Explore the Streets of St. Andrews

St. Andrews main centre is divided into three main streets that run parallel with each other – North, South and Market Street. Much of St. Andrews University is situated in close proximity to North Street so it is no surprise that much of the buildings you see along here are affiliated with the institution. But it is still really cool to walk down and see the history that has unfolded here.

We walked from the Old Course along Golf Place and then headed down North Street taking in the historic buildings before cutting along one of the cobble stoned streets to get to Market Street. This is where you will see many of the modern day stores such as Starbucks, Tesco Metro along with a variety of restaurants and local establishments that cater to tourists and the student population.

South Street is the next street down from Market Street so feel free to just wander around and take in some of the local shops or sample some stereotypical Scottish cuisine at the cafes here.

Summary

St. Andrews in my opinion will always be about golf, but that’s probably because I am biased! I love visiting this part of Scotland because of the golfing history that has been made here. Having our picture taken on the Swilcan Bridge is definitely a memory I will cherish as the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have had their pictures taken similarily here!

If you are planning on visiting Scotland any time soon, add St. Andrews to your must-see list of places to visit. It’s only a hour from Edinburgh and a little more from Glasgow, so it is easily accesible from the main Scottish hubs.

Weekend Wanderlust


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