Dedicating a flower in memory of loved ones is a lovely way to honour their memory in our Forget-Me-Not Field of Celebration💙

To take a closer look, dedicate a flower and donate to our Forget-Me-Not appeal, please visit: www.queenscourt.org.uk/forgetmenot ... See MoreSee Less

# **Tuesday weather forecast**

Must feel like a miracle after Monday! ... See MoreSee Less

Late humour … ... See MoreSee Less

Happy birthday today to Claire Kelly, a special one for sure

Thank you for all the reviews, interviews and other contributions here at southportnews from the very start x ... See MoreSee Less

Still nothing. Worse than the weather. We are in the dark ... See MoreSee Less

Join us for the #ainsdale beach clean tomorrow at 11am!

Sefton Council Natural England National Trust Formby RSPB Ribble Estuary Dynamic Dunescapes Sefton Ainsdale Civic Society ... See MoreSee Less

Why not be part of Southport's biggest event and 100th Anniversary celebration? 🧁🌺😆

Volunteering is the perfect way to meet new friends, learn new skills and give back to the local community 🤝💐

For more information, please email us at info@southportflowershow.co.uk 📩 ... See MoreSee Less

# **[No hurdles for Grand National racegoers thanks to Merseyrail's outstanding service](www.qlocal.co.uk/merseyside/news_list/No_hurdles_for_Grand_National_racegoers_thanks_to_Merseyrai...

More than 103,000 journeys were made by racegoers travelling to and from The Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse thanks to a dedicated timetable that saw a seven-and-a-half-minute service.

Merseyrail once again supported the world-famous sporting festival, giving away 5,000 pairs of its famous flip flops, delivering live music and entertainment to customers at Moorfields, Liverpool Central and Aintree stations - as well as introducing the extra services to get people to and from the event.

The plan for this year was the most comprehensive ever put on by the train company, with a massive increase in capacity. More than 8,500 customers an hour were able to be transported quickly and safely at the busiest times, thanks to eight car trains being used at the Grand National Festival for the first time ever.

Additional staff supported customers at the main stations and the network delivered a reliable and punctual service throughout the festival.

Three charities held collections at Merseyrail stations during the three-day festival, Woodlands Hospice, Centre 56 and Blackburne House, helping to raise thousands of pounds for these good causes.

Commenting on X (formerly known as Twitter), @dottyslipper said: “Literally love the Merseyrail experience on Grand National Day. Highlight of my day!”

Shelagh Kelly Redmond commented on Facebook: “Well done to everyone at Merseyrail. Great organising with so many people.”

Jacqui Parkinson said: “I was at Central station on Friday morning taking my grandson to Southport, the atmosphere at the station was brilliant, well done Merseyrail, so well organised.”

Martin Grice commented: “Very well organised, trains reliable, plenty of friendly, helpful staff and great entertainment. Such a great advert for the city with so many people having a positive experience visiting the area. The welcome passengers get on race days means Merseyrail is very much part of the Grand National experience.”

The increase of capacity and frequency of trains to Aintree was crucial to be able to meet the huge numbers of racegoers. Merseyrail worked closely with colleagues from The Jockey Club, British Transport Police, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Stadler, Carlisle Security, and Network Rail to ensure train operations ran smoothly throughout the three days.

Specialist Network Rail staff were in place throughout the three days to address any issues that arose during the event. Their preparation work included thermal imaging runs, additional inspections on crossover points, and reviews of track components. The work was carried out by mobile drones, ensuring that engineering staff were kept safe and rail infrastructure undisturbed while the inspections took place.

These checks were in addition to the normal inspections of the network that is undertaken throughout the year. But with an enhanced train service for the Grand National Festival, it was vital that the infrastructure was double-checked ahead of such a big event.

Neil Grabham, Merseyrail Managing Director, said: “It’s always an honour to work with Aintree Racecourse and The Jockey Club to support the Grand National Festival. We’re really proud of the fantastic customer service we have delivered for the 2024 Grand National Festival.

“It’s a massive challenge for Merseyrail, but one that our staff rise to every year. Their expertise and professionalism ensured racegoers benefitted from our first-class transport network.

“There is a huge amount of preparation work that goes into providing our special service to The Grand National Festival each year. We work incredibly closely with colleagues at Network Rail, British Transport Police, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Stadler, Carlisle Security and The Jockey Club to ensure the best travel experience we can for racegoers.

“Merseyrail provides much more than a train service across the three days. Our customers love the atmosphere that we help to create with entertainment, music and charity activity at our stations. It’s a unique experience that for many is an integral part of attending the races.

“This is a collaborative effort, with many skilled workers coming together to help deliver one of the greatest sporting occasions in the world. Everyone at Merseyrail loves this event, and it was great to see so many managers and head office staff volunteer to support our fantastic stations teams, helping to ensure everyone had a great experience.

“We have received some lovely feedback from visitors to the region who were really impressed with Merseyrail. You can rest assured that we will be ready to support the Grand National Festival in 2025.”

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I hope our passengers had a fantastic time at the Grand National. It was a pleasure to work with Merseyrail to make sure everyone could travel safely to Aintree.

“Our maintenance team in Liverpool carried out special drone inspections along the route to make sure we could provide a reliable service in advance of the Grand National festival. We also had extra response teams ready to go to address any issues as soon as possible. I’m pleased to say that passengers were kept safely on the move to and from Aintree throughout the three days.”

Reported at qlocal.co.uk/merseyside ... See MoreSee Less

# **What chance for an independent candidate for Southport at the next general election?**

**Editorial Opinion** - The news today, Monday April 15th, is that Southport Kew Ward Cllr Sean Halsall is planning to stand as an independent parliamentary candidate at the next general election.

Elected as a labour councillor in 2019 Sean left the labour party just last week in Sefton along with colleague Natasha Carlin. Leaving the party was met with a lot of respect on social media, even from John Pugh leader of Sefton Liberal Democrats quoting ""Cllr. Halsall has the respect of all sections and parties on Sefton Council not because we all agree with all his views -far from it - but because he is a very genuine person who does not let party politics compromise his humanity nor his principles."

Sean did formally apply to be the labour parliamentary candidate but was not chosen to even be shortlisted with candidates chosen from outside of the town from London and Liverpool. Favourite to be chosen was felt to be Ella Crine a London based barrister who ran a slick campaign but Patrick Hurley an ex Liverpool City Councillor. Did labour not want Sean as a blue collar union background candidate? Labour Cllr Laura Lunn Bates said at the time "I’m disappointed no local candidates are on the shortlist list and a shame it’s gone straight to shortlist. As a local councillor, whichever candidate is selected will need to do work to win over members and residents."

Sean Halsall as an independent is the sixth person to declare for the next general election along with the incumbent MP Damien Moore (Conservatives), Patrick Hurley (Labour), Erin Harvey (Liberal Democrats), Edwin Black (Green) and Andrew Lynn (Reform UK).

The current MP for Southport Damien Moore gets a lot of negative comment on social media, one of the most popular topics brought up is voting to allow water companies to pump sewage but isn't that just following the party line and even whip. Something an independent MP would be free to vote with their own conscious.

Sean who has lived in Southport his whole life and has already declared his three priorities being a better local economy, NHS, and local community wealth building.

The last general election saw just three candidates with the result being Damien Moore (Conservative) 47.6%, Liz Savage (Labour) 39%, John Wright (Lib Dem) 13.5%.

The next general election following a five year term must be called by December 17th at the latest. With what looks like at least six candidates the next one looks a lot more interesting and certainly a greater choice for voters. The boundaries have also changed with the new Southport Constituency losing Ainsdale to Sefton Central and gaining rural areas of North Meols and Hesketh Bank, Tarleton and Rufford.

Favourite by far on sites such as electorialcalculus.co.uk put Labour to win at 96%. Reform UK predicted to win 14.3% presumably at the expense of the conservative voters. What effect will Sean Halsall as an independent have other parties? Maybe not just Labour voters but as independent standing for Southport.

Sean has a gofundme page looking to raise a total of £8,000 to fund his campaign. Only launched today it is already attracting many donations at:

www.gofundme.com/f/get-sean-halsall-elected-as-an-independent-mp-for-southport

Sean Halsall can be contacted by email at seanhalsallforsouthport@outlook.com

Reported by Steve Ashcroft, editor at qlocal.co.uk/southport ... See MoreSee Less

# **WIN WITH SOUTHORTNEWS - 2 PAIRS OF TICKETS TO BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF AT LIVERPOOL ROYAL COURT**

Thanks to Southport member Pete Rimmer who provides regular reviews for us here in arranging 2 pairs of tickets to be won exclusive to southportnews members.

**To enter simply comment on this post**

Entries will close at 8pm Tuesday April 16th. Winners will be drawn at random and must be contacted within 48 hours.

Having completely sold out the 2023 run, this is sure to be the hottest ticket of 2024.

A swift return for Alan Bleasdale’s BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF reimagined by James Graham is back at the Royal Court in Liverpool

liverpoolsroyalcourt.com/main_stage/boys-from-the-blackstuff/

*This free draw competition is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook (Meta) in any way* ... See MoreSee Less

Visitors are asked to avoid the following parks this afternoon due to the current high winds:
Victoria Park, Crosby
Derby Park, Bootle
Coronation Park, Crosby
Botanic Gardens, Southport
Hesketh Park, Southport.
These parks will remain closed tomorrow morning as the Green Sefton trees team surveys the sites to assess tree safety following the fierce weather.
Thank you.
Sefton Council ... See MoreSee Less