Marshside is a suburb of the town 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 Iris ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

, England. It is part of the ancient parish of

North Meols North Meols is a civil parish and electoral ward in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers the village of Banks and the hamlet of Hundred End. The population of the parish/ward at the 2011 census was 4,146. ...

and was formerly a detached settlement, on the northern fringe of what is now Southport. Marshside's most notable features are neighbours: the

SSSI 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 o ...

and

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

on the opposite side of Marine Drive. The sandwinning plant closed in early 2007. Whilst operational, it extracted thousands of tonnes of Southport sand per year for use in industry. The nature reserve is managed by the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throu ...

and provides food and accommodation to many native and migratory birds. Marshside's traditional industry was shrimping, and the practice still continues to a diminished degree today. Marshside has four schools: Marshside Primary School, St Patrick's Primary School, Larkfield Primary School (between Larkfield Lane and Preston New Road) and Stanley High School (on Fleetwood Road). The last of these is the largest, with around 800 pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. Marshside has surprisingly few pubs (compared with neighbouring Churchtown), possibly in part due to the strong tradition of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

in the former village. However, there is the Shrimper on Fylde Road (next to

The Co-operative Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used "The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co-o ...

). The Shrimper is a food-serving pub and part of a large chain. A notable feature is a fish & chip shop built on to the back of the building in the car park, although this is no longer operational, but that has been replaced with a new fish and chip shop, otherwise known as Fylde Fish Bar next to

and Fylde Road Pharmacy. St Patrick's Parish Club on Marshside Road is another establishment licensed to serve alcohol. Situated at the back of the old church, the members club is open throughout the week. The only other place to serve alcohol in Marshside is the Fleetwood Hesketh Sports & Social Club, on Fylde Road. Built on land acquired from the Meols Hall estate in Churchtown, this private members club has various sports teams including football,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

, crown green and indoor

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-g ...

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

, and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in Ind ...

. Marshside is also home to the only brass band in Southport. The main modern industry in Marshside is situated on the estate behind the Shrimper pub, housed in a number of metal-clad buildings. There is a bakery and a publisher's warehouse amongst others. In the early twentieth century, Marshside had its own completely unique dialect feature, involving a parasitic

nasal consonant In phonetics, a nasal, also called a nasal occlusive or nasal stop in contrast with an oral stop or nasalized consonant, is an occlusive consonant produced with a lowered velum, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The vast major ...

, occurring after certain final consonants, mostly plosives, in words at the end of a sense group, and before the plural inflexion medially and at the end of a sense group.

References

External links

North Meols Civic Society: Marshside Fog Bell

A visit to the RSPB Marshside reserve in a personal 'blog' (November 2006)

Marshside Brass Band
{{SSSIs Merseyside Southport Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton