Situated in the town centre of Chorley, the iconic clock tower dominates the veiws across Chorley…read more The town hall, is multifunctional, and has the famous Lancastrian ballroom, which has hosted many local concerts, and prize giving ceremonies to name but a few of the events. The town hall has recently undergone a maassive investment to install superb disabled facilities, including a ramp and lift to different levels. The downstairs reception room is also part of the local council facilities and serves as one of the many enquiry centres for the borough council. The mayoral offices and council board rooms are also situated here. As one of the older buildings in Chorley it recently opened its doors for the local Heritage open day.

Ah, the Atkinson. Again, just another Southport landmark full of childhood memories for myself…read more Yep, my father used to bring me here regularly to ensure I had a lovely cultural upbringing, and it's a marvellous gallery housed in a terrific building right in the centre of the seaside town itself, opposite Lord Street and the band stand. Admission is free but donations are encouraged as every gift helps, no matter how small. And once you've walked around this spectacular yet strangely humble gallery you'd have to have a heart of ice not to want to give a little something. It has a varied and rather extensive collection, ranging from LS Lowry to John Piper, John Collier to Ernest Normand and many more. The Friends of the Atkinson Gallery are an organisation which helps to drum up even more interest for the gallery. It's currently closed for refurbishments but plans to reopen bigger and better than ever as part of a Southport cultural overhaul, so get involved as it's bound to increase in popularity after its makeover. Southport might not quite rival Brighton yet in the seaside artsy stakes, but it's getting there, and with the help of the Atkinson it'll get there a lot faster!

This is now an entertainment/cultural centre, with the art gallery, an auditorium, civic hall and…read morebotanic museum all within the grade 2 listed building. The entrance/foyer is welcoming and strikingly clean - statuary and paintings being the first things I saw. The bookings and information desks are unobtrusive, yet easy to find as the signage throughout is very clear. There are interesting display cases throughout. Up the impressive staircase are the toilets, the superb but expensive bar and the entrances to the auditorium. As I was there for a music concert, this is the area I saw best. A superb setting for Fairport Convention as they attract a fair number of fans, yet like to connect with their audience as intimately as possible. The seating was comfortable and gave us all a good view of the band. The sound was just superb.

In Southport lies the most *chilling* encounter I have ever experienced in my life! I was truly…read moreterrified! It started innocently enough by walking along the Pier and seeing a little store at the end of the boardwalk. It had all these old fashioned Penny arcade games that I imagine that once was popular back in its heyday. We wandered around to find more games to play until we came upon the scariest sight! It was an old automaton doll dressed in a sailor boy's suit. The doll was sitting inside a glass case and it advertised in paint "Have a laugh with Jolly Jack." The doll had the most sadistic upturned smile and its eyes were rolled back in its head giving it an eerie, possessed look! Its arms hung limply at its side. The rivets on its sailor costume had rusted over and bled into the white fabric which gave it an appearance of dried blood! We had no idea what we would encounter if we paid a penny, but we were way too curious not to. Lukas bravely put a penny in the machine and then we stood back and watched with trepidation. Immediately, Jolly Jack's chest started to rumble up and down like it was trying to catch its breath and then suddenly it broke out into the most shrill and skin crawling laugh I've ever heard! Its whole body bobbed up and down and its head rolled side to side while the mouth cackled in that demonic laugh! I've always had a thing about dolls, but this one topped them all! It just kept laughing! It was by far one of the creepiest things I've ever encountered. Eventually the doll stopped twisting and lolling around and settled back into its original position. It took us a little while to get over the heebie-jeebies. Unfortunately, we saw two young Englishwomen behind us putting money into Jolly Jack. We tried to warn them, but it was too late! From the horrified expressions and their dropped jaws we could tell there is equally traumatized. They walked away in the daze never to return. Lukas and I still have reoccurring nightmares from this!"

The pier itself is a lovely scenic walk with nice views . The arcade at the end of the pier however…read moreis a bit of a let down, most the vintage arcade games take your money but dont work .