‘Southport feels like a resort waiting for something – and preferably not another Poundland’

All summer long we will be keeping an eye on the pulse of our most famous traditional seaside resorts, examining the efforts being made to revive them, and assessing whether they are still worth visiting. This week David Atkinson explores Southport.

Some call it the Paris of the North; others Birkenhead by sea. Located on the Sefton coast north of Liverpool, the seaside town of Southport was a stylish retreat for chic pursuits in its Victorian heyday. Lord Street, the elegant tree-lined boulevard, had shady gardens and arcades with glass canopies. No wonder that Napoleon III, exiled to Great Britain, ...