Formby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Formby FBY | |
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| Population | 24,996 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Sefton |
| Metropolitan county | Merseyside |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BOOTLE |
| Postcode district | L37 |
| Dial code | 01704 |
| Police | Merseyside |
| Fire | Merseyside |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | Crosby |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Merseyside | |
Formby is a medium sized town in the north of Merseyside, England. Until 1974 Formby was an urban district (Formby Urban District Council) in its own right in the administrative county of Lancashire. Since 1974 it has formed part of the metropolitan borough of Sefton, of Merseyside. Formby has been built upon the Lancashire plain on the coast of the Irish Sea. Formby is a largley residential town and a tourist hot spot during the summer months, with day trippers attracted to its beaches, sand dunes and wildlife.
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[edit] History
Erosion of sand on the beach at Formby is revealing layers of mud and sediment, laid down and covered in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age, approximately 4000-3500 years ago. These sediments often contain the footprints of humans and animals (most commonly aurochs) from that period.[1]
The common place-name ending -by is from the Scandinavian byr meaning "homestead", "settlement" or "village". The village of Formby was originally spelt Fornebei and means "village belonging to Forni". At that time Forni was a well-known Norse family name. He could have been the leader of the invading expedition which took possession of this coast. Today, in Norway, Oslo Airport is situated in a town called Fornebu. It was from Ireland in about 960 AD that these Norsemen or Vikings first came to the west coast of Lancashire, first trading or raiding and then settling. Tradition says that the Viking invaders failed to defeat the native Anglo-Saxons on the coast of Formby, so they sailed inland, up the river Alt, and attacked from the rear. It is more probable that the Viking invaders simply found that the area was thinly populated and took control without any blood being shed.
Formby Hall is a Grade II listed building dating back to 1523. It has traditionally been the home of the Lords of the Manor and in 1824 Carl Mcgreevy. [1] [2] Formby was transferred from Lancashire to Merseyside in 1974.
Formby beach is the location of an early lifeboat station. Established perhaps as early as 1776 by William Hutchinson, Dock Master for the Liverpool Common Council. It was the first lifeboat station in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world. The foundations of the last of the lifeboat station buildings remain on the beach. The last launch took place in 1916. Remarkably a film surviives of this event.
[edit] Geography
Formby is a coastal town roughly 17sq km, part of Sefton in the north west of Merseyside. The town is built upon the west of a large flat area of land called the West Lancashire Coastal Plain the town is 0.5 metres below sea level at its lowest point. Formby’s highest point is within the sand dunes that separate the Irish Sea from Formby, sand dunes are ever changing in shape and formation so there is no fixed point. The River Alt runs in to the Irish Sea just south of Formby at Hightown.
The town is rurally landlocked; the land between Formby and the areas of Southport, Ormskirk and Liverpool is green belt land and is used for arable agricultural purposes. The areas around the urban fringe are drained by irrigation ditches are open areas get boggy 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. This area includes pine forests: natural and man-made, sand dunes, marram grass, deciduous woodland, seasonal ponds and lakes. Large areas of this land are protected by the National Trust.
Formby is in a temperate climate zone, with mild winters and warm summers. Formby’s biggest threat is global warming as the town is built on a flood plain, being situated next to the coast and being below sea level.
[edit] Politics
Formby forms part of the constituency of Crosby not Sefton, Sefton is split in to Crosby and Southport. Crosby is repesented in the House of Commons by Labour Member of Parliament Claire Curtis-Thomas, in the last local election, the Labour Party won a majority of 48.2% some 17,000 votes while the Conservatives got 32.1% and the Liberal Democrats got 17.4%. There is also small support for the United Kingdom Independence Party in Formby; they got 1.3% of the votes in 2006.
[edit] Transport
Formby has an excellent road network. The Formby by-pass (A565) was built over fifty years ago to take the major Liverpool to Southport route out of Formby and cut along side the fringe of the town. The by-pass is a dual carriageway with two roundabouts and two sets of traffic lights. The B5195 links Formby with Ormskirk and Maghull. Motorway access is easily accessible, the M58 and M57 are both 8 miles from Formby.
With the town’s major growth period around the early 20th century and the Formby never really having any major industry the road system followed an American style way of building a road system. Major roads in the town are wide and in an almost block formation with housing estates being built in to those blocks. The vast majority of residences have drive-ways for parking. Thus traffic congestion is rare in the town and usually only experienced in the town centre locally known as The Village.
There are two train stations, the first being Formby and the second less than a mile up the track, Freshfield Station. Both are on the Northern Line which runs from Liverpool to Southport, trains are frequent and a popular way of commuting, especially to Liverpool.
The nearest airport is Liverpool John Lennon Airport which is a 25 miles away. Manchester Airport seconds that, which is 43 miles away.
[edit] Education
There are seven primary schools in Formby; Woodlands, Redgate CP, Our Lady’s, St Jerome’s, Trinity St Peters, Freshfield CPS and St Lukes. Trinity St Peters in Formby is the amalgamation of two former primary schools - Holy Trinity and St Peters - which closed down in July 2006. The school was formed as part of a major reorganisation of primary education in Sefton. In 2006 Our Lady’s performed has the best results with a Key Stage 1 and 2 combined averages of 289, way above the national average of 242. While Woodlands Primary, who were still above the national average, came bottom out of the six, with 259.
Formby has two large high schools, Formby High School and Range High, both schools are high performers. With a national average of 45.8% of students gaining five or more A*-C at GCSE, Range scored 74% and Formby scored 76% in 2006. Formby High School saw one of the biggest increases in grades in the country in 2006. After years of hovering around 50-60% mark the school increased 20% outdoing their rival Range.
Both high schools in Formby have sixth forms, Range remains slightly above the national average while Formby is slightly under the national average. There are no universities in Formby; many take advantage of the easy access to Liverpool, Preston & Edge Hill.
[edit] Industry and retail
The main shopping area is locally known as The Village; here the town upholds an impressive array of shops including a Boots, Dorothy Perkins and a New Look. These shops are located around the main shopping street of Brows Lane, and, unusually for a major shopping street in England, it is not pedestrianised. The tree lined Avenue runs for about a third of a mile with shops either side. There are several other smaller shopping areas around Formby and Freshfield mostly convenience stores and some specialist shops. There are several other smaller shopping areas around Formby and Freshfield. Formby also has a post office and three smaller post offices.
The town also has a several supermarkets including a Tesco, an M&S Simply Food and more recently and surprisingly, Waitrose, one of the first Waitrose supermarkets to be built in Northern England.
Formby has no major industries; however there is a small industrial estate on the outskirts of the town.ty
[edit] Tourism
Formby has a significant tourist industry most notably between the warmer months of May and September. In particular it’s popular with day trippers from Liverpool and other industrial towns in Merseyside and West Lancashire. 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 in to the sand dunes and woods. The car parks are about 900 yards from the beach.
Victoria Road is north of Lifeboat road and is busier due to the Red Squirrel reserve being here. From the junction of Larkhill Lane and Victoria Road is were the reserve begins and 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 from the car park is about 100 yards.
There is a privately run caravan park called Formby Point 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 on site, public toilets, a play area and until 1995 there was a small convenience store.
[edit] 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 (SAC) for its important wildlife reserves by Sefton Coast Partnership. The pine woods at Victoria Road have been established as a National Trust reserve for the red squirrel, listed on the endangered species list. Formby is one of several sites in Britain were the red squirrel can still be found and has not been threatend by the grey squirrel, the reason for this is not clear. The red squirrels may not be native to Britain but possibly accidentally introduced from Scandinavia in the 20th century.
Formby is also famous for the presence of natterjack toads. 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 Organ’. In spring the males gather at the edge of shallow pools in the dune slacks and sing to attract a mate. The Sefton Coast and Countryside Service are working hard to keep these pools from growing over so that that they are ready each spring for this amazing annual event.
[edit] Sport
This stretch of coast is famous for links golf courses such as Southport & Ainsdale, Hillside, West Lancashire, Hesketh and Royal Birkdale. Formby is home to another championship quality golf course - Formby Golf Club. However, the club, unlike its neighbour Royal Birkdale, does not have the capacity to host large events such as The Open Championship.It also has a cricket club based down cricket path in freshfield this also has squash courts and a large astro turf hockey pitch. Formby has a football team called Formby fc who play behind tesco just off the by-pass, they have a variety of world class footballers not to mention a chance of winning the premiership title in years to come. Formby has opened a swimming pool on January 27 2007 on Brows Lane Formby.
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Philip H. (1999). The Sands of Time: an introduction to the Sand Dunes of the Sefton Coast. National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside. ISBN 1-902700-03-1.
2. Yorke, Barbara and Reginald; Britain's First Lifeboat Station, Formby, 1776 - 1918, Alt Press ISBN 0 9508155 0 0
[edit] External links
- Photos of Formby Point
- Formby station timetable from National Rail's Live Departure Boards
- Formby Times (local newspaper)
- Formby Champion free local newspaper
- Dune Fm
- http://www.formbycivicsociety.org.uk
- http:// www.seftoncoast.org.uk
