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Formby is a town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
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, ...
,
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 ...
, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census.
Historically
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, three manors are recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 under "Fornebei", Halsall, Walton and Poynton.
[ Cockle raking and shrimp fishing lasted into the 19th century.][ By 1872, the township and sub-district was made up of two chapelries ( St Peter's and St Luke's), Birkdale township, the hamlets of Ainsdale and Raven-Meols and Altcar parish.][ The Section dedicated to Formby.] Formby was built on the plain adjoining 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 ...
coast a few miles north of the Crosby channel.[
A ]commuter town
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for 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 ...
, Formby is also a tourist destination with day trippers
A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...
attracted to its beaches, sand 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, fl ...
s and wildlife, particularly the endangered red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent.
In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...
and natterjack toad
The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid g ...
. The area is conserved by the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, and designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
.
History
Erosion of sand on the beach at Formby is revealing layers of mud and sediment, laid down in the late Mesolithic to the late Neolithic, approximately 8,000 – 5,000 years ago, and covered in the early Bronze Age. These sediments often contain the footprints of humans and animals (red deer, roe deer, wild boar, wolf, aurochs
The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...
) and birds (oystercatcher, crane and other waders) from that period. In June 2016, over 50 human footprints from 7,000 years ago were uncovered on the beach.
The common place-name suffix ''-by'' is from the Scandinavian ''byr'' meaning "homestead", "settlement" or "village". The village of Formby was originally spelt ''Fornebei'' and means "the old settlement" or "village belonging to Forni".[ At that time ''Fornibiyum'' was also a well-known Norse family name. He could have been the leader of the invading expedition which took possession of this coast. Until its closure in 1998, ]Oslo Airport
Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atl ...
in Norway was situated in a town called Fornebu
Fornebu (local form ''Fornebo'') is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.
Oslo Airport, Fornebu (FBU) served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before World War II and ...
.
It was from Ireland in about 960 AD that these Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
or Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
first came to the west coast of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, initially trading or raiding and then settling. Tradition says that the Viking invaders failed to defeat the native Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
on the coast of Formby, so they sailed inland, up the River Alt
The River Alt is an urban river that flows across Merseyside in England. The river has suffered from heavy pollution from industry and sewage upstream and run-off from farmland in its lower reaches. It empties into the River Mersey, near to wher ...
, and attacked from the rear. Dangus Lane, on the east side of the village, is sometimes called Danesgate Land, being connected by local traditions with this incursion.
Formby Hall
Formby Hall is located to the north-east of Formby in the English metropolitan county of Merseyside, in secluded woodland adjoining the Formby Hall Golf and Country Club. The present house, built for William Formby, dates back to 1523 but it i ...
is a Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
dating back to 1223. It has traditionally been the home of the lords of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...
. Much of the land around it is now a golf course.
Formby Beach is the location of the first lifeboat
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
A ...
station in the UK. It is believed to have been established as early as 1776 by William Hutchinson William, Willie, Willy, Billy or Bill Hutchinson may refer to:
Politics and law
* Asa Hutchinson (born 1950), full name William Asa Hutchinson, 46th governor of Arkansas
* William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge) (1586–1641), merchant, judge, ...
, the Dock Master for the Liverpool Common Council. Although no exact record has been found, the boat used is believed to have been a 'Mersey Gig'. The last launch from the station took place in 1916. Remarkably, a film of this event survived. The foundations of the last of the lifeboat station buildings remain on the beach to this day. In 2016, the newly opened Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It op ...
pub in the town was named 'The Lifeboat' in honour of the original lifeboat station.
Formby is home to RAF Woodvale
Royal Air Force Woodvale or RAF Woodvale is a Royal Air Force Station located next to the towns of Formby and Ainsdale in an area called Woodvale which is located to the south of Southport, Merseyside. Woodvale was constructed as an all-weathe ...
, a small RAF station to the north of the town. The airfield opened in 1941 and is a former Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
fighter station with three active runways, the main runway being a mile in length. Today it is used by RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
for light aircraft and fighter training, as well as a few civilian aircraft. The station was also home to Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...
's helicopter, known as 'Mike One'. The RAF station was also home to the last operational service of WWII fighter plane the Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
. In 1957 the last Spitfire to fly operationally with British military markings took off from RAF Woodvale. Woodvale is also home to the Woodvale Rally, one of the biggest shows on an active MOD station in the North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
.
Governance
Until 1974, Formby was an urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
(Formby Urban District) within the administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. Since 1 April 1974, it has formed part of 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, ...
, in 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 ...
.
Prior to 1983 Formby was in the parliamentary constituency of Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
and after Ormskirk's abolition was made part of the Crosby Crosby may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario
*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario
;England
*Crosby, Cumbria
*Crosby, Lincolnshire
*Crosby, Merseyside
**Crosby (UK ...
constituency. The Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for Crosby from 1997 until 2010 was Claire Curtis-Thomas
Claire Curtis-Thomas (formerly Curtis-Tansley; born 30 April 1958) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Crosby (UK Parliament constituency), Cr ...
, a member of the Labour Party, prior to her election the seat was generally considered to be a safe Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
stronghold with Tory MPs elected at every election barring the 1981 Crosby by-election
The 1981 Crosby by-election was a by-election held in England on 26 November 1981 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Crosby on Merseyside. It followed the death of Crosby's MP Sir Graham Page, of the ...
when Shirley Williams
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...
of the Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
was elected to represent the constituency.
As a result of the Crosby constituency being abolished for the 2010 general election, Formby is part of the newly created Sefton Central constituency, represented by Bill Esterson
William Roffen Esterson (born 27 October 1966) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefton Central since 2010. He has been Shadow Minister for International Trade since 2016. He was Shadow Min ...
, a member of the Labour Party. Sefton Central is now considered a safe Labour seat.
For elections to 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 ...
, Formby is divided between two electoral wards with three councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
each. Harington ward, whose councillors are David Irving (Formby Residents Action Group) Denise Dutton (Conservative) and Joe Riley (Conservative); and Ravenmeols ward, whose councillors are Maria Bennett (Formby Residents Action Group), Catie Page (Labour) and Nina Killen (Labour).
Locally Formby is governed by Formby Parish Council.
Geography
Formby is a coastal town, with an area of roughly 7 sq miles (17 km2), located in the borough of Sefton. The town is built upon the west of a large flat area of land called the West Lancashire Coastal Plain
The West Lancashire Coastal Plain is a large area in the south west of Lancashire, England.
The plain stretches from the Rimrose Valley in Seaforth, near Liverpool on the Mersey, to the south, to Preston on the Ribble, to the north. To the ea ...
. Formby's highest point is within 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 ...
that separate 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 ...
from Formby. However, these sand dunes are ever-changing in shape and formation, so there is no fixed point. The River Alt
The River Alt is an urban river that flows across Merseyside in England. The river has suffered from heavy pollution from industry and sewage upstream and run-off from farmland in its lower reaches. It empties into the River Mersey, near to wher ...
runs into 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 ...
just south of Formby at Hightown.
The town is rurally landlocked
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...
; the land between Formby and the areas of Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton 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 ...
, Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
and 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 ...
is green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
land and is used for arable agricultural purposes. The areas around the urban fringe are drained by irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
ditches
A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...
and open areas get boggy
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
in the winter months. Earth in urban areas is well drained, very loose and sandy.
The section of land between Formby and the coast is varied in vegetation, wildlife and terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...
. This area includes pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
forests (both natural and man-made
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
), sand dunes, marram grass
''Ammophila'' (synonymous with ''Psamma'' P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The common names for these grasses include marram grass, bent grass, and beachgrass. These grasses ar ...
, deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
woodland, seasonal pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...
s and lakes. Large areas of this land are protected by the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
.
Formby is in a temperate climate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
zone, with mild winters and warm summers. Formby's coastline faces an ongoing threat from water-based erosion, with high tides washing away yards of sand dunes. In an attempt to stem this, in some years discarded Christmas trees are collected and planted by rangers and volunteers to help slow this effect.
Economy
The main shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
area is known locally as 'The village', in which the town upholds an array of shops including a Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer Stre ...
, Card Factory
Card Factory is a retailer of greeting cards and gifts in the United Kingdom founded in Wakefield by Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet. The first store opened in 1997, and by 2020 the company had over 1,000 stores. The company also operates two ...
and Savers
Savers, Inc. headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, U.S., is a privately held for-profit thrift store retailer offering second hand merchandise. An international company, Savers has more than 315 locations throughout the United States of Ameri ...
, alongside some independent outlets. The majority of these shops are located along the streets of Chapel Lane and Brows Lane, which also contains a number of coffee houses, including Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England.
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...
and Cafe Nero
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
, banks, travel agents, estate agents and charity shops. This tree-lined Avenue
Avenue or Avenues may refer to:
Roads
* Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees)
* Avenue Road, Bangalore
* Avenue Road, ...
runs for about a third of a mile, with shops either side of it. 'The village' further branches out onto Elbow Lane, Three Tuns Lane, Halsall Lane and School Lane, where more shops are located.
There are several other smaller shopping areas around Formby and Freshfield, mostly convenience store
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
s and specialist outlets, such as an optician and a model shop. Formby also has a main post office and two smaller post offices.
The town has several supermarkets including a Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
, Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
's SimplyFood, Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
and Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
. Formby has no major industries; however, there is a small industrial estate
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...
on the outskirts of the town, on which a McDonald's is located. A recent study of the town showed that between 10%–30% of its residents commute to either Liverpool or Southport
Tourism
Formby has a significant tourist industry, most notably between the warmer months of May and September. In particular, it is popular with day trippers from across the North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. There are two main spots along the Formby Coast which are particularly popular with the public.
The Lifeboat Road site is about 1½ miles from the town centre; there are three linked unpaved car parks with several routes cascading out into the sand dunes and woods. The car parks are about 900 yards from the beach and there is a charge to park there
Victoria Road is north of Lifeboat Road and is busier due to the red squirrel reserve being located here, as well as it being the starting point for the asparagus trail. The reserve begins at the junction of Larkhill Lane and Victoria Road. Like Lifeboat Road, there is a charge to park from this point onwards. Parking is available adjacent to the reserve and at the end of the road, there is a large unpaved car park for easier beach access. The beach is located approximately 100 yards from the car park.
There is a privately run caravan park
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
called Formby Point Caravan Park on Lifeboat Road, open between March and October. There are around 300 caravans on the park and 20 plots for touring caravans. There is a phone box, public toilet and a play area on site and, until 1995, there was a small convenience store. Additionally, there is a smaller caravan site called Freshfield Caravan Park.
Transport
Formby Bypass ( A565) was built during 1936-37 to take the major 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 ...
to Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton 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 ...
route out of Formby and cut alongside the fringe of the town. The bypass is a dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
with two roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
s and three sets of traffic lights
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
. It has been the scene of many accidents, some fatal and there are calls from some for the scrapping of a proposed motorway link as a result. The B5195 links Formby with Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
and Maghull
Maghull ( ) is a town and civil parish in Sefton, Merseyside (historically a part of Lancashire). The town is north of Liverpool and west of Kirkby. The area also contains Ashworth Hospital.
Maghull had a population of 20,444 at the 2011 Cens ...
. Motorways are easily accessible, the M58 and M57 are both 6 miles from Formby.
With the town's major growth period around the early 20th century and Formby never really having any major industry, the road system followed an American style method of road building. Major roads in the town are wide and in an almost block formation with housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
s being built into those blocks.
There are two railway stations: Formby railway station
Formby railway station is a railway station in the town of Formby, Merseyside, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line. The station has a car park.
History
Formby opened in 1848 as an ...
and, less than a mile north, Freshfield railway station
Freshfield railway station serves the Freshfield district of Formby, Merseyside, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line.
History
Freshfield opened in 1854 as an intermediate station on ...
. Both are on the Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...
of the Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
network, which runs from Hunts Cross to Southport. Trains are frequent (typically every 15 minutes) and are a popular way of commuting
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...
, especially to the city centre of Liverpool.
Bus services in the town are provided by , Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company ( ...
from Preston Depot and Merseytravel
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...
. These include services to Southport, Ince Blundell
Ince Blundell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the ceremonial county of Merseyside and historic county of Lancashire, England. It is situated to the north of Liverpool on the A565 road and to the east of th ...
, Liverpool, Southport and Formby District General Hospital and Merseytravel's Formby circular routes.
The nearest commercial airport is in 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 ...
which is 17 miles away. Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
seconds that, 36 miles away. Liverpool Airport is reachable using Liverpool's suburban railway network, Merseyrail, via Liverpool South Parkway
Liverpool South Parkway station (Formerly Allerton railway station), is a railway station and bus interchange in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link, Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of ...
.
London is under two hours away via train from Runcorn railway station
Runcorn railway station is in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, north-west England. The station lies on the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line/ Crewe-Liverpool Lime Street line via Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway between / and and ...
which is 25 miles / 45 minutes drive from Formby, or from Liverpool Lime Street railway station
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
which is 11 miles / 30 minutes drive.
In addition to motorised transport, Formby is served by excellent cycle routes, mainly centring on the pinewoods along the coast leading to both Southport and Liverpool. There are also many cycle lanes on the roads leading to the larger conurbations to the north and south.
Education
There are seven primary schools in Formby, namely Woodlands, Redgate CP, Our Lady of Compassion RC, St Jerome's RC, Trinity St Peters C. of E., Freshfield CP and St Luke's C. of E. Trinity St Peter's C. of E. in Formby is the amalgamation of two former primary schools – St Peter's and Holy Trinity – the latter of which closed in July 2006. The school was formed as part of a major reorganisation of primary education in Sefton. Raven Meols Primary School also closed as a school and is now used as a Community Centre.
Formby has two large high schools, Formby High School
Formby High School is an English secondary school with academy status located in the town of Formby, Merseyside. The local primary schools Freshfield, Redgate and Trinity St Peters act as feeder schools to Formby High.
History and administrat ...
and Range High School
Range High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Formby, Merseyside, England. It was built during the early 1970s after a contracted period of delays and was necessary due to the increasing overcrowding at near ...
and also had an independent high school focussing on Educational and Behaviour difficulties teaching, Clarence House. The independent school was permanently closed as of 2018 and residential units demolished. Clarence House was owned by Nugent Care, a registered charity, who also governs Clumber Lodge, a children's home in Formby.
Scouting
Formby has a long tradition of scouting dating back to 1909, just over a year after Baden Powell's legendary experimental camp on Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and ...
in Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
in 1907. The first Scout group in the town, named the 1st Formby, was set up at Holy Trinity Church Hall by Mr Murray Spense. There are currently a handful of active groups out of the nine that were initially set up over the last century, especially since the 1960s housing estates expanded the town.
Scouts can be seen marching through the village every year on St George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sa ...
.
Wildlife
To the west of the town lie pinewoods and sand dunes. The whole of the coastline here is managed as a Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
(SAC) for its important wildlife reserves by Sefton Coast Partnership. The pine woods at Victoria Road have been established as a National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
reserve for the red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent.
In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...
, listed on the endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
list. Formby is one of several sites in Britain where the red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent.
In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...
can still be found although it is now being threatened by the grey squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
.
Formby is also notable for the presence of natterjack toad
The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid g ...
s. Formby is only one of a few sites in England where they will breed. Later in the evening the male's distinctive song can be heard and is known locally as the 'Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Histo ...
Organ'. In spring the males gather at the edge of shallow pools in the dune slacks and sing to attract a mate.
Sport
This stretch of coast is famous for links golf courses such as Southport & Ainsdale, Hillside, West Lancashire, Hesketh and Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champ ...
. Formby is home to another championship quality golf course – Formby Golf Club
Formby Golf Club is a golf links in Formby, Merseyside, England.
History
Founded in 1884, the course was redesigned by Willie Park Jr. in 1912. Over the years the course has undergone some changes, including some in 1922 by James Braid.
Major ...
. However, the club, unlike its neighbour Royal Birkdale, does not have the capacity to host large events such as The Open Championship. Formby has a cricket club based down Cricket Path in Freshfield that plays in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition
The Love Lane Liverpool and District Cricket Competition is regarded as the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Liverpool area and since 2000 has been a designated England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB ECB Premier Leagu ...
; this also has squash courts and a large AstroTurf
AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...
hockey pitch.
The town also had a football team called Formby F.C.
Formby Football Club are an English football club based in Formby, Merseyside. They will play in the Liverpool County Premier League Division One for the 2022–23 season, having last played in the North West Counties Football League Premier Div ...
who played in the North West Counties Football League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...
First Division. They played at Altcar Road, behind Tesco just off the A565 Formby Bypass, having moved in the summer of 2002 from their town centre home at Brows Lane. That site is now occupied by Formby Pool which opened on 27 January 2007. The biggest game in the club's history was in November 1973 when they faced Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
in the First Round of the F.A Cup.
In addition, a variety of youth sporting groups are based in Formby. These include Formby Junior Sports Club (FJSC) known locally as "Rourke's League" after Jim Rourke MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(1912–2006) who founded the club on 2 January 1959. Rourke continued to attend the club into his 90s. Over 600 children ranging in age from 5 to 16 years meet at Deansgate Lane Playing Fields to play football at various times throughout Saturday mornings during the football season. The club welcomes children of all abilities, there are no trials or criteria to meet; every member plays every week. The club also fields numerous representative teams in local junior leagues (e.g. the Craven Minor League). Formby is also home to Formby Dons Football Club, who operate 3 teams, playing their home games at Duke Street Park. In 2007, Formby Vikings Rugby Union Team was established to include a wide range of ages including a colts first 15 team.
People
A number of current and former footballers, the majority of whom play or played for Liverpool FC
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
or Everton FC
Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...
, currently live or have lived in the town, including:
*Joe Allen
Joseph Michael Allen (born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Swansea City.
Allen began his career at Swansea City, making his first-team debut in January 2007 at age 16. He ...
*Leighton Baines
Leighton John Baines (born 11 December 1984) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a left back. He is currently U-18s manager at Everton F.C., Everton.
Baines started his career with Wigan Athletic F.C ...
* Alan Ball
*Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Sion.
Balotelli started his professional football career in 2005 at Lumezzane, before ...
*Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley (born 5 December 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice.
Barkley began his professional career at Everton in 2010. After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United he b ...
*Stig Inge Bjørnebye
Stig Inge Bjørnebye (born 11 December 1969) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played in Norway, England, and Denmark, most notably for Liverpool, and is currently the sports director of the Danish football club AGF Aarhus. His p ...
*Fabio Borini
Fabio Borini (; born 29 March 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük.
He started his career at Bologna, before moving to Chelsea in 2007. In 2011, Borini joined Championship side ...
*Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
*Ray Clemence
Raymond Neal Clemence, (5 August 1948 – 15 November 2020) was an England international football goalkeeper and part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s. He is one of only 31 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, and holds the r ...
*Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...
*Stewart Downing
Stewart Downing (born 22 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Ameri ...
*Fabinho Fabinho is a Portuguese given name, a diminutive form of the Portuguese name "little Fábio". Portuguese also has an augmentative form of the name, Fabão, "big Fábio".
Brazilian football
* Fabinho Santos (born 1973), born ''Fábio José dos Sa ...
*David Fairclough
David Fairclough (born Liverpool, 5 January 1957) is an English retired footballer, most famous for playing for Liverpool as a striker during the 1970s and 1980s.
Life and playing career
Known affectionately as ''Supersub'' (because he was a t ...
*Duncan Ferguson
Duncan Cowan Ferguson (born 27 December 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Ferguson was the caretaker manager of Everton in 2019 and 2022. He began his career at Dundee United in 1990, and moved to Rangers in 1993 for what was ...
*Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
* Joe Gomez
*Jordan Henderson
Jordan Brian Henderson (born 17 June 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool and the England national team.
Henderson joined the Sunderland Academy at the age of eight, making his first-team ...
*Tony Hibbert
Anthony James Hibbert (born 20 February 1981) is an English footballer, currently playing for French amateur side ES Louzy.
Originally a midfielder, Hibbert converted to play at right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Everton, ...
*Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Walter Hughes (28 August 1947 – 9 November 2004) was an English footballer. He started his career at Blackpool in 1964 before moving to Liverpool in 1967. He made 665 appearances for Liverpool and captained the side to three league ti ...
*Sami Hyypiä
Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish football manager and former defender.
Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping the ...
*Howard Kendall
Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager.
Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...
*Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world.
Klopp spent most of his playing c ...
*Adam Lallana
Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Lallana began his youth career with AFC Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 200 ...
*Rickie Lambert
Rickie Lee Lambert (born 16 February 1982) is an English former professional footballer. During his career, he played as a striker, before retiring in 2017. He won a number of personal awards, including two league Golden Boots. Lambert was know ...
*Yerry Mina
Yerry Fernando Mina González (born 23 September 1994) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Everton and the Colombia national team. He shares the record for most goals in a single World Cup by a defender, ...
*Phil Neal
Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back. He is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First D ...
* Mike Newell
*Divock Origi
Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club AC Milan and the Belgium national team.
Origi began his career at Lille, and scored on his professional debut for them in 2013. A ...
*Andrew Robertson
Andrew Henry Robertson (born 11 March 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team.
Robertson began his senior career with Queen's Park in 2012 before joini ...
*Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed un ...
, during his time as Liverpool FC manager
*Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...
*Neil Ruddock
Neil "Razor" Ruddock (born 9 May 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television personality who is a club director at Enfield.
As a player he was a central defender from 1986 to 2003, and was voted the 17th "hardest footballe ...
*Gylfi Sigurðsson
Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson (; transliterated as Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson; born 8 September 1989) is an Icelandic professional footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Everton.
Gylfi began his professional caree ...
*Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
, during his time at Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
*Raheem Sterling
Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team.
Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, St ...
*Alan Stubbs
Alan Stubbs (born 6 October 1971) is an English football manager and former professional footballer
As a player he was a centre-back who played top flight football for every club he played for. He played in the Premier League with Bolton Wand ...
(who also owned Woodwards Winebar in the village)
*John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.
He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...
Other notable people include
*Beryl Bainbridge
Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. Bainbridge won the ...
, English novelist
*John Birt
John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC.
After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television an ...
, former director of the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
* Edward Craig, philosopher and former cricketer
*Angela Eagle
Dame Angela Eagle DBE (born 17 February 1961) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallasey since 1992. Eagle was born in Yorkshire and studied PPE at the University of Oxford, before working for t ...
, Labour MP and former minister
*Maria Eagle
Maria Eagle (born 17 February 1961) is a British politician who served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She later served in the Shadow Cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Memb ...
, Labour MP and former minister
* Kevin McNamara, former Labour MP and shadow minister
*Chris Chibnall
Christopher Antony Chibnall (born 21 March 1970) is an English television writer and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning ITV mystery-crime drama ''Broadchurch'' and as a showrunner of the long-running BBC sci-fi ...
, television writer and producer
*Percy French
William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter.
Life
French was born at Clooneyquinn House, near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher F ...
, Irish songwriter and entertainer (died and buried in Formby)
*Thomas Fresh
Thomas Fresh (3 September 1803 – 3 April 1861) was a pioneer in British environmental health. In 1844, he became Liverpool's first public health officer.
Life and career
Thomas Fresh was born on 3 September 1803 at the family farm 'Newbarns', ...
, public health pioneer
*John Garstang
John Garstang (5 May 1876 – 12 September 1956) was a British archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, especially Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia and the southern Levant. He was the younger brother of Professor Walter Garstang, FRS, a marine biol ...
, archaeologist (worked at Liverpool University and resided at Thornbury on Freshfield Road, Formby)
*Frank McLardy
George Frank McLardy MPS (17 November 1915 – 16 December 1981) was a member of the British Union of Fascists, a British Nazi collaborator and an Unterscharführer in the Waffen-SS ''British Free Corps'' during the Second World War.
Early ...
, member of the British Union of Fascists
The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...
and Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
British Free Corps
The British Free Corps (german: Britisches Freikorps; BFC) was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and British Dominions, Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by Germany. The unit was origi ...
*Robert Molyneux
Robert P. Molyneux (July 24, 1738 – December 9, 1808) was an English-American Catholic priest and Jesuit missionary to the United States. Born to a prominent English family, he entered the Society of Jesus and studied at the College of ...
, Jesuit missionary to the United States
*Sir John Moores
Sir John Moores (25 January 1896 – 25 September 1993) was an English businessman, telegraphist, football club owner, politician and philanthropist, most famous for the founding of the now defunct Littlewoods retail and football pools compa ...
, founder of Littlewoods
Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, but subsequently declined in the face of increased com ...
*John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...
, snooker player
*Andrew Sumner
Andrew Sumner is a British journalist, editor, TV presenter and publisher.
Sumner wrote for the comics news magazine ''Speakeasy'' in the 1980s. He was a movie journalist for the NME, Vox and Total Film throughout the 1990s and wrote regularly ...
, movie journalist and TCM presenter
*Rhian Teasdale, lead singer of Wet Leg
Wet Leg are a British indie rock band from the Isle of Wight, founded in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. They debuted with the single "Chaise Longue (song), Chaise Longue" in 2021. Their Wet Leg (album), self-titled debut album deb ...
The notable music hall entertainer George Formby Sr. adopted his stage name after seeing it as a destination on a railway carriage. His son George Formby Jr.
George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
used the same stage name.
See also
*Listed buildings in Formby
Formby is a civil parish in Sefton, Merseyside, England. It contains 27 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the ...
Gallery
File:Percy_French_Grave.jpg, Grave of Percy French
William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter.
Life
French was born at Clooneyquinn House, near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher F ...
File:Red_squirrel_feeding,_Formby_nature_reserve_-_geograph.org.uk_-_376405.jpg, Red squirrel feeding
File:A_Pleasing_Extension_to_Bull_Cop_Formby_-_geograph.org.uk_-_806273.jpg, Housing in Formby
File:Dunes_at_Formby_Point_-_geograph.org.uk_-_357105.jpg, Formby Beach 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 ...
References
External links
'
History
''
Formby Civic Society
WW2 Defences in Merseyside and West Lancashire
Media
Radio City
(local radio station)
''Formby Champion''
(free local newspaper)
''Liverpool Echo''
(local newspaper)
''Formby Reporter''
(free local newspaper)
''Formby Times''
(free local newspaper)
Information
City Relationships: Economic Linkages in Northern city regions. Liverpool City Region
''Sefton Coast''
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, ...
's website
Profile of Sefton
Formby station timetable
from National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
's Live Departure Boards
Community
Formby Neighbourhood Plan
Formby Online
The Formby Blog
Photos
of St. Michael Church just outside Formby in Great Altcar
Great Altcar is a village and civil parish in West Lancashire, England, close to Formby on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The population as taken at the 2011 census was 213. The name Altcar is Norse meaning "marsh by the Alt". The church o ...
.
MOD
Film locations page.
{{authority control
Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton
Towns in Merseyside
Civil parishes in Merseyside
Beaches of Merseyside