Every year tourists and locals alike visit the shingle beach at Crosby, Merseyside. Many are drawn there to see the Antony Gormley art feature, Another Place. Those approaching from the north by road or from Hall Road Railway Station turn left onto the promenade at the Coast Guard Station. Far fewer park and then head in the opposite direction northwards. The coastal footpath heads towards Hightown and the mouth of the river Alt. A golf course stretches inland as far as the railway line.
What they notice is that the ‘beach’ is rubble and it’s fascinating rubble too. What is now the beach and also the substrate of much of the golf course extending well inland is rubble brought from Liverpool and from Bootle when the debris of the Blitz was being cleared in the early years of World War Two. It was a solution to severe tidal erosion. Land was reclaimed and over the years the tides have slowly uncovered today’s ‘brick beach’. Of course, in the first few years, other general hardcore was dumped before the reclamation was completed and Nature finally took over. In 2019 an archaeology student started researching the origins of some of the rubble that is now visible. There are pieces of historic grand buildings from Liverpool that are still identifiable. I didn’t go looking for any in particular because it’s very dangerous underfoot. With such massive pieces that there are in the mix, cavities can open up unexpectedly.
There’s a lot online. http://www.lancashireatwar.co.uk/crosby-blitz-beach/4594401808 is a useful link.
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| Heading into the Port of Liverpool |
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