Litherland
| Litherland | |
|---|---|
 Linacre Road in Litherland. Facing from Bootle towards the junction with Bridge Road, location of the Red Lion pub. | |
| Population | 22,242 |
| OS grid reference | SJ340944 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LIVERPOOL |
| Postcode district | L21 |
| Dialling code | 0151 |
| Police | Merseyside |
| Fire | Merseyside |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Litherland is a suburb of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was formerly an urban district, which included also Seaforth and Ford. It neighbours Waterloo to the north, Seaforth to the west, and Bootle to the south.
History
The name Litherland is a hybrid name, from Old Norse hliŏ/hlith-ar which means "slope" and Old English land "land".
Litherland was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Liderlant, however there was no mention of Liverpool at that time. The first manor of Litherland consisted of one half and two quarters, the areas being Litherland including what is now Seaforth (the half) and present day Orrell and Ford (the two quarters).
Litherland remained a poor area until the arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1774, this brought the area into the modern world, originally providing a safe route through Lancashire from Liverpool to Wigan, and eventually in 1816 through to Leeds. The route became very busy primarily for goods and later for the transportation of passengers. The outcome of all this activity was to bring prosperous businessmen from the City to the countryside, where they had a desire to live.
The area was the northern extremity of the Bootle and North Docks lines of Liverpool's tramway network. From the boundary with Bootle, it ran for 3/4 of a mile along Linacre Road to a terminus at the junction with Bridge Road. This short stretch was the last horse drawn service in Liverpool, switching to electric operation in August 1903, eight months after the rest of the system converted.[1]
The Litherland gala was staged every year and was famous for the procession of shire horses and floats from the docks. The gala procession ended at the Bryant and May sports field.
The Beatles played some of their earliest gigs at Litherland Town Hall in 1961.[2] (Now closed as a council building, it is currently a health centre operated by South Sefton PCT).
Governance
For parliamentary elections Litherland is within the Bootle constituency represented by the Labour Party MP Joe Benton.
Litherland returns six members to Sefton Council from two electoral wards, each with three representatives. The Litherland ward is represented by Patricia Hardy, John Kelly, and Paul Tweed; the Ford ward's representatives are Owen Brady, Kevin Cluskey and Ian Moncur. All six are members of the Labour Party.
Transport
Litherland is served by Seaforth & Litherland railway station on the Hunts Cross to Southport line of the Merseyrail network. The main road is the A5036 road, which connects to Switch Island and the A565 road at Seaforth Dock.
References
- ^ "The Litherland Tramway part 1: Introduction". Archived from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
- ^ "The Beatles Timeline 1961". Chuck Ayoub. Retrieved 9 March 2008.