Marshside is a suburb of the town of

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. It is part of the ancient parish of

North Meols North Meols () is a civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers the village of Banks, Lancashire, Banks and the hamlet of Hundred ...

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 ...

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

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_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

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 was a local centre of the

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, and the Marshside Temperance Hall on Shellfield Road, built 1884 and rebuilt 1934, is a registered charity (Charity number: 233530), which continues to host community events, including th
Tuesday Club
which has been running for over 100 years. The hall is also used as a rehearsal space for th
Marshside Brass Band
the only brass band in Southport. 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 Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and Temperance in the former village. However, there i
The Marsh Harrier
(formerly named ''The Shrimper)'' on Fylde Road (next to

The Co-operative Food Co-op is a UK supermarket chain and the brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group, one of the world's largest consumer co-operatives. As the UK's fifth largest food retailer, Co-op operates nearly 2,400 food stores. It ...

mini-supermarket development). The Marsh Harrier is a food-serving pub and part of a large chain. Immediately to the west of The Marsh Harrier pub,

development also includes a

general practice General practice is personal, family, and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis, continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive. Definitions A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a consu ...

The Corner Surgery
a

fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...

shop
Fylde Fish and Chips
and th
Fylde Road Pharmacy
Also on Fylde Road, further west towards the junction with Marshside Road, is th
Fleetwood Hesketh Sports and Social Club
Built on land acquired from the

Meols Hall Meols Hall is a historical manor house in Churchtown, Merseyside, dating from the 12th century with a 16th-century tithe barn restored for wedding receptions and ceremonies. History Meols Hall dates back to the late 12th century when the manor ...

estate in Churchtown, this private members club has various sports teams including

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

crown green bowls Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is tradi ...

and indoor

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

, and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

. It is nicknamed locally ''The Hut'', as the original structure was adapted from former army huts. 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. 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 majo ...

, occurring after certain final consonants, mostly

plosive In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...

s, 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