Waterloo, Merseyside

Waterloo

Waterloo Town Hall
Waterloo
 Waterloo shown within Merseyside
OS grid referenceSJ315985
Metropolitan boroughSefton
Metropolitan county Merseyside
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town LIVERPOOL
Postcode district L22
Dialling code 0151
Police Merseyside
Fire Merseyside
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentBootle
List of places
UK
England
Merseyside

Coordinates: 53°28′41″N 3°01′52″W / 53.4780°N 3.0310°W

Waterloo is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England.

Waterloo is home to The Plaza Community Cinema and three primary schools. There is also Crosby Beach, which begins in Waterloo and stretches 3 miles up to Blundellsands. It is the location of Antony Gormley's Another Place.

It is mainly connected to Liverpool by Waterloo railway station.

History

Historically part of Lancashire and originally an area of Crosby, named Crosby Seabank, it consisted mostly of sandhills and fields. One of the first major buildings in the area was opened on 18 June 1816, the first anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and was named the Royal Waterloo Hotel in honour of the event. Gradually, as population increased and the area became an identifiable location, it became known as Waterloo. Some of the buildings in Waterloo for example, the Potters Barn park buildings are replicas of the ones found in Waterloo, Belgium. Ironically, the name Waterloo was dropped from the original building, which still stands, and it is now known simply as the Royal Hotel.

Governance

Waterloo was included in the urban district of Waterloo with Seaforth, and subsequently became part of the municipal borough of Crosby in 1937. On 1 April 1974 the Municipal Borough of Crosby became part of the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Sefton.

From 1918 until 1950 Waterloo was within the Parliamentary seat known as the Waterloo constituency, a safe seat for the Conservative Party. From 1950 until 2010 Waterloo was within the boundaries of the Crosby constituency, whose MP from 1997 till 2010 was Claire Curtis-Thomas, a member of the Labour Party, prior to her election the Crosby seat was generally considered to be a safe Conservative Party stronghold, like its predecessor seat, with Tory MP's elected at every election barring the Crosby by-election, 1981 where Shirley Williams of the Social Democratic Party was elected to represent the constituency. As a result of boundary revisions for the 2010 general election the Crosby constituency was abolished and Waterloo was included in the expanded Bootle constituency represented by the Labour MP Joe Benton.

For elections to Sefton Council Waterloo is within the electoral ward of Church and is represented by three councillors, all members of the Labour Party, the councillors names are Daren Veidman, Paul Cummins, and Veronica Webster.

Landmarks

It is a residential district of Edwardian and Victorian villas and terraces, with shops and restaurants and a series of parks facing the sea - built as a job creation scheme during the 1930s Great Depression.

The Plaza Community Cinema

The Plaza Cinema has been a part of Waterloo since 1939. Originally named The Plaza, it has changed hands numerous times during its life, becoming known as The Odeon in the 1950s, The Classic in the 1970s and The Apollo in the 1990s. In 1996 it was finally closed when the owners decided to sell the property for redevelopment. After numerous petitions were signed, the cinema was reopened under a community trust and its original name restored. The doors re-opened to the new cinema in 1997. Run by volunteers, the first film to be shown that summer was Jurassic Park, which sold out as queues flowed from Crosby Road and right into South Road. Since then The Plaza is a central community point in Waterloo, offering Autism friendly screenings, Kids clubs and social clubs. Recently the hosted the celebration event for the Who I Am and Where I'm From project which showcased a collection of animations produced by the Polish Community in Sefton called Polska Tales.

Marina

Facing Waterloo from Marina

Waterloo has the Marina, which is a stretch of grass near the Marina Lake that begins from The Royal Seaforth Dock. A path runs through the Marina toward the sand dunes of Crosby Beach, it is the main route taken by foot to get to the beach, beginning at the top of South Road, Waterloo.

Gormley's "Another Place"

Another Place

The beach at Waterloo, which stretches right along the coast past Crosby and Hightown, is the permanent home of Antony Gormley's Another Place. There were originally 100 life-sized statues on the beach, each cast from Gormley's own body, but thirteen have been removed to open the River Alt to small craft.

Education

There are three primary schools: Waterloo Primary, St. Johns C of E Primary, and St Edmunds & St Thomas's RC. Local High Schools are situated in Crosby.

Transport

The district is served by Waterloo railway station on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. Waterloo is connected to Liverpool by the "Dock Road". The number 53 bus runs through South Road, Waterloo and into Liverpool City centre.

Sport

Waterloo was home to Waterloo rugby club who took their name from the area having played there from 1884 until 1892 before moving back to Blundellsands. In 1992, they famously defeated then English champions and cup holders Bath 9-8 in a fourth round cup tie. The marina in Waterloo, and adjacent Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre, is also home to the Crosby Scout and Guide Marina Club.

Notable residents

Links with Sierra Leone

A local charity, the Waterloo Partnership fundraises locally for Waterloo in Sierra Leone[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Two Waterloos, One Hope, The Waterloo Partnership, retrieved 28 March 2007

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waterloo, Merseyside.