Crosby Beach
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Crosby Beach is part of the
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
coastline north of
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in the
Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on Local Government Act 1972, 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, stretching about North-West from the
Seaforth Dock Seaforth Dock (also known as the Royal Seaforth Dock) is a purpose-built dock and container terminal, on the River Mersey, England, at Seaforth, to the north of Liverpool. As part of the Port of Liverpool and Liverpool Freeport, it is operated ...
in the
Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...
, through Waterloo, where it separates the sea from the Marina. The beach was awarded Keep Britain Tidy's Quality Coast Award in 2011. Since 2007, the beach has been the permanent home of the
Another Place "Another place" or "the other place" is a euphemism used in many bicameral parliaments using the Westminster system, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. A member of one house will not usually refer directly to the other, but re ...
sculptures by
Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...
.


History

The beach was stabilised from the mid 19th century, as prior to this, high sea tides could come in as far as the first row of houses. In the older dunes north of the coastguard station, between the sea and the West Lancashire Golf Club, there are still some remains of the old wartime defenses. The navigable shipping channel in
Liverpool Bay Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from red ...
, connecting the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
to the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
, runs parallel to the beach to around the coastguard station where it swings out to sea.


20th century litter problems

During the 1960s, the beach suffered with severe litter problems, described in 1962 as the "worst ever". Just the year before, there was a reported 3,000 'glass victims' requiring first aid treatment.
Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
helped clean the beach of litter in 1962 and 1963. To combat the litter issues, a £5,000 machined named the "beach sanitizer" was imported from America in the late 1960s, which worked by turning over the first four inches of sand and sifting out any litter. Issues with litter were also reported during the 1980s and 1990s, including reports of concern from local school pupils in 1995 about the amount of rubbish and oil on the sand.


21st century

The beach was awarded Keep Britain Tidy's Quality Coast Award in 2011. The beach was featured in the 2012 BBC drama ''Good Cop'', filmed at and around the beach region. Sefton Council hoped the drama would promote the coastline as a location ideal for filming. , the annual cost by the council to fund lifeguards on the beach is £160,200, with an additional annual budget of £15,000 for maintenance works of assets the council is responsible for.


Recreation


Another Place

The ''Another Place'' sculptures by
Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...
are found here and, after a
Sefton Council Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the county of Merseyside, north-western England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a cons ...
meeting on 7 March 2007, it has been allowed to stay permanently. Gormley's reason for choosing Crosby Beach as the location was that he thought of the beach as being "the opposite of pretty. It is terrific and brutal and is a working beach". The sculptures were painted in June 2017 in what was described as vandalism, although several residents reacted favourably to the graffiti.


Waterloo Marina

Approval to construct a recreation area, including a Marina at Waterloo was approved during a Crosby electors' meeting in December 1967, with capital costs estimated at around £400,000. The proposals involved the reclamation of of land between Crosby Baths and the outer wall of
Seaforth Dock Seaforth Dock (also known as the Royal Seaforth Dock) is a purpose-built dock and container terminal, on the River Mersey, England, at Seaforth, to the north of Liverpool. As part of the Port of Liverpool and Liverpool Freeport, it is operated ...
, with the size of the lake itself around . Construction started in May 1972, following the final contract for the excavation of 500,000 cubic yards of sand being agreed in April. Floodlights were to be added to the marina at a cost of around £10,000. The overall cost of the marina, estimated at over £1 million, was provided by auctioning council-owned land at Crosby. At the start of the construction period, it was announced that a mile-long pathway would be constructed around the Marina's perimeter, referred to as a promenade. The marina scheme was award-winning according to a report in February 1972, winning second prize in the 1971
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the val ...
and Time Conservation award scheme. It was also reported that Crosby Council had bid for financial aid towards its construction. A million pound scheme was proposed to redevelop the nearby Marina as part of a visitor's centre for the beach and ''Another Place''. The new centre was opening in late 2009 under the name of the Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre, and is also home to the
Crosby Scout and Guide Marina Club Scouting in North West England is about Scouting in the official region of North West England. It is largely represented by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the British Boy Scouts an ...
.


Coastal defences

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
management, including the planting of old
Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
s and the building of a sea wall, is ongoing and have reduced the problems of high tides. Land erosion was a problem during the early 1900s, with dunes and house gardens being washed away resulting in the demolition of houses up to 1929 and measures to control the erosion introduced during the 1930s. A scheme was undertaken during the late 1960s to reclaim land in association with the
Liverpool Docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the ...
, which also involved creating a
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
at Waterloo; land was extended from excavated material through the control of the
Mersey Tunnel The Mersey Tunnels connect the city of Liverpool with Wirral, under the River Mersey. There are three tunnels: the Mersey Railway Tunnel (opened 1886), and two road tunnels, the Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and the Kingsway Tunnel (opened 1 ...
. Throughout 2011-2012, around of sand was moved from Crosby Beach further north towards the village of Hightown, in an effort to bolster coastal defences for the village; the sand dunes are expected to last for 30 years, which also includes a rubble wall at the southern end. In 2012,
Asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
was discovered spread out over a 2-mile stretch of the beach, likely originating from the remains of bombed out buildings during
The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
, which used the bombed materials to bolster the sea wall but over time eroded and exposed the fibres.


Safety

The beach has a red flag rating, typically indicating danger and for visitors to not enter the water. There have been numerous incidents over the years of visitors getting trapped in
quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...
. Some incidents have been attributed to the iron men sculptures, with visitors venturing beyond the safety point to see the sculptures.


Transport

Crosby Beach can be reached by foot from
Hall Road railway station Hall Road railway station serves Blundellsands in Merseyside, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line. Hall Road TMD was adjacent to the station, but this closed in 1997 and has since been ...
, Waterloo railway station or Blundellsands and Crosby railway station. The number 53 bus runs through South Road, Waterloo, which stops near Waterloo Station. Many people take the 10-minute walk from here to the end of South Road where the Marina begins and Crosby Beach is located over the
sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
. There is also car parking at Crosby Swimming Baths.


Sport

*A
parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
takes place at the beach every Saturday morning at 9am. The course begins on the beach then proceeds along the promenade before returning, the total distance is 5Km.Crosby Parkrun Course
/ref> *Crosby Leisure Centre is located at the beach and has an indoor swimming pool.


Accolades

As of July 2017, Crosby Beach scored favourably on Trip Advisor, receiving an average rating of 4.5/5 from around 500 reviews.


References


External links

{{Commons category, Crosby Beach
Visit Liverpool - Crosby Beach

Crosby Scout and Guide Marina Club website

Friends of Crosby Beach
- Beach Cleaning Community Beaches of Merseyside Tourist attractions in Merseyside Metropolitan Borough of Sefton