Considering Southport - can anyone tell me what it's like?

[amelie78]

I'm considering moving to Southport - currently live in London and have been looking at various places up north. I have some friends near there and work from home for my own business so could technically move anywhere. I love the period houses up in Southport and feel like it could be the place for me. I will of course try to spend more time there before considering a move but would need to look into buying rather than renting (because I have pets and run my business from home, it's not the easiest combination for renting).

I don't currently drive as it's so easy to get around in London without a car. If I lived in central Southport, around the Meols Cop station area, could I manage without a car still? I do a supermarket shop online and don't have to commute for work so it seems doable?

I'm not sure how to word this without it coming across the wrong way, but... What are people's attitudes like towards newcomers? I'm originally not British and still have a bit of an accent after nearly 20 years in the UK. I've also read sometimes those who move from London are not necessarily welcomed in other areas?

Interested in any experiences from locals in general. What do you like and dislike about living in Southport? Or is there somewhere else nearby you would recommend instead? I would like a quiet area but not rural.

I like Southport. I had cousins who grew up there but have you looked at Formby? It's lovely.

Me and DH will often have a drive to southport and go to the big park feed the ducks walk around the woods then have a drive round and look at the old lovely houses! I would move there and be quite happy but it depends what you are looking for its not booming city life or country side picture perfect its somewhere in the middle and can get quite busy in the school holidays 😄

Southport isn't a bad place to live close to Liverpool that's where most locals tend to do their shopping rather than town as you would struggle good range of Supermarkets and primary schools not much choice for high schools unfortunately. Attitudes towards different nationalities mostly are accommodating and welcoming there is a big polish Lithuanian and russian community here so you'll see their shops around town.

I used to live nearby in Ormskirk, which I didn't like, but I thought Southport was lovely. That was 15 years ago, so it might have changed. You do need to go up and spend a bit of time there. Perhaps rent a holiday house for a week?

Awww I live in Southport and I do like it.

Near some lovely beaches eg Ainsdale, Freshfield, Formby. Generally a nice place to live with some good pockets bars and restaurants. The town centre shopping wise is struggling a bit, with several big chains having upped and left.

I’m interested as to why you’re thinking of looking near Meols Cop? If you need to commute to Manchester then it’s worth being near that station (I do and live near Meols Cop) but be cautious as the area near Meols Cop vary a lot as to whether you’d actually want to live there. It’s literally a case of one side of the station is quite a nice area, the other side not so much. If you’ve got any roads or houses in mind feel free to DM me and I’ll tell you if it’s a decent area.

If you don’t want to commute to Manchester, and depending on your Bridget then I’d recommend looking near Birkdale station as Birkdale is a lovely village within the town, walkable to the town centre and much more reliable and regular trains to town/Formby/Liverpool. Also many more buses too eg the x2 to Preston. You might get a bit of a shock in terms of regularity of public transport but the trains are every 15 mins and Merseyrail is great (the Northern rail trains that service Meols Cop, not so much). You also might want to consider looking near Ainsdale station. A bit further from the town but again regular trains into town and nice shops in the village centre.

No one will bat an eye lid that your from London :) If you want to know anything else, happy to help.

Oh to add, do you have children? If you have secondary aged children try to get near Meols Cop High or if you have girls, Greenbank in Hillside. The rest aren’t great.

All primaries in Southport are rated good or outstanding.

ATrainSeat I'm interested in the Meols Cop area too. Particularly Tithebarn Road and Sidney Road as they are on different sides of the railway line, and I don't know which is the better side