Garston, Lancashire

Garston
Lancashire
Location
Grid reference:	SJ405842
Location:	53°21’4"N, 2°53’38"W
Data
Post town:	Liverpool
Postcode:	L19
Dialling code:	0151
Local Government
Council:	Liverpool
Parliamentary constituency:	Garston and Halewood

Garston is a district of Liverpool in Lancashire. It is bordered by Aigburth, Allerton and Speke.

History

The town's name is most probably from the Old English Gærstun, meaning "grazing land".

In the Middle Ages, Garston was home to a group of Benedictine monks. The first recorded mention of settlement in Garston is of the church of St Michael in 1235. By the 19th century, the area had become a small village, one of the eight townships forming the parish of Childwall.

A small dock was first built at Garston in 1793 for Blackburne’s Saltworks, which still stands today.

Garston's growth accelerated rapidly in the 1840s, when in 1846, the area's first dock was constructed and opened, under the auspices of the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway Company. The "Old Dock" was followed twenty years later by a second, the "New Dock". In 1902, Garston was incorporated into the City of Liverpool.

Description

Garston Docks

The Dealers Arms

Today, Garston is a major shipping and container port, second only to Liverpool Docks in the North-West. Much of the area is also residential, housing being mainly in Victorian terraces with some semi-detached homes around Liverpool South Parkway.

In Garston, there is a small council of foxes whom run the streets directly under the bridge and along the 80A bus route to the top of Hughes Street. They are known as 'Fox Council' and control a portion of the income of Garston and are able to move around efficiently with the help of the human representative who resides with them in the criminal underworld.

It is partnered with the nearby district of Speke in a series of redevelopment and regeneration schemes, which have succeeded in reversing recent trends in dereliction and unemployment. Garston is regularly quoted as one of Liverpool's 'up and coming' areas because of this, and house prices have continued to rise.

St Mary's Road is home to the youth project Interchill - which offers young people free access to ICt, Sit Off, digital media projects and many other social, educational and economic opportunities. Hurricane Films engaged a group of young people in Garston and spoke to them about their life experiences, from this a script was developed which became a full-length feature film entitled Under The Mud. Interchill has worked with local young people regarding the history of Speke Hall, producing a guided tour podcast for their website. Interchill is presently working on a new project with the National Trust around the photographic studio of E. Chambré Hardman.

Transport

Garston is home to Liverpool South Parkway railway station, a major new interchange station opened in 2006. Trains operate at regular intervals to the city centre, Southport, Manchester and Birmingham. Bus services operate from Liverpool South Parkway to the surrounding districts and the city centre. A regular bus shuttle to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport is available from the same location.

Attractions

Garston was home to the 'New Slaughterhouse Gallery' on St. Mary's Road, which aimed to promote local artists as well as community regeneration in partnership with the Garston Embassy on Wellington Street. Closed. Cressington and Grassendale Park are nearby. It is now closed.

Football

In 1935, when Garston and indeed much of the south of Liverpool was expanding due to the mass development of council housing to replace inner city slums, as well as the significant development of private housing, the new South Liverpool FC was formed in 1935 to serve the area and set up base at the Holly Park stadium in Garston. The club went on to win the Welsh Cup in 1939 (despite being an English side and playing in the English non-league systems) and won a host of non-league football competitions over the next 50 years. However, they were forced to sell Holly Park after a fire in 1989 and folded in 1991, only to reform as a junior side in a host of locations in and around the city before settling at a site in Otterspool in 2000.

Although South Liverpool were never successful in their many applications to join the Football League, many of their players went on to play for Football League sides; most notably striker John Aldridge and midfielder Jimmy Case, who won major trophies in the great Liverpool sides of the 1970s and 1980s. Aldridge, locally born but of Irish descent, was also a Republic of Ireland international regular in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s, representing his country at two World Cups.

Cultural references

A house in Garston was used in creating the artwork for the Arctic Monkeys album Favourite Worst Nightmare. The house and estate has been demolished and new houses occupy the site.

The BBC television serial Lilies was based in Garston.

Outside links

• Liverpool Street Gallery - Liverpool 19
• Article on the 1912 Garston riots from Liverpool's 'Nerve' magazine