| Year |
Event |
| 1960 |
1960 building began the massive Royal Seaforth Dock, now known locally as Bootle Docks or the
Liverpool Freeport.
|
|
1960 |
The 2nd phase of the UK's first
motorway (M6) construction was completed forming the
Lancaster by-pass. |
| 1960 |
Hillside Golf Course extended in this year, the work continues for the next 5 years. |
| 1960 |
Building started on the Catholic Cathedral, designed by Sir Frederick
Gibberd. |
| 1960 |
Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society was founded
by students at Liverpool University Public Transport Society.
The students wanted to save for posterity one of the city's famous bogie streamliner tramcars.
|
| 1961 |
The
Widnes-Runcorn bridge opened, it's the largest span-arch bridge in
Europe. The Transporter Bridge was
closed the very next day.
|
| 1962 |
The Concert Pavilion
in Southport finally closes in this year, having been used for theatre and cinema for the majority of it's long life. |
|
1962 |
The once fledgling
United States of America is now a major player in
the World and following World War 2, and the last
Notable Consul John S. Service, in Liverpool, leaves
his post. Liverpool had declined in importance as a
trading partner with the United States, and the
first ever US consulate in the world, on Paradise
Street, Liverpool, was closed down in this year as
well. |
| 1963 |
A
quota scheme for would-be immigrants was
introduced under which vouchers were issued.
Not more than a quarter of vouchers going to any one country. |
| 1963 |
President Kennedy assassinated in the November of this year. |
| 1963 |
British
Merseybeat band, The Swinging Blue Jeans, reach no. 1 in the charts with Hippy Hippy Shake. |
| 1963 |
Fort Crosby and about 170Ha sold to Crosby Council for £2000. |
| 1963 |
The Great train Robbery. |
| 1964 |
Harold Wilson, a local MP is made Prime Minister |
| 1964 |
School leaving age raised to 16. Opening of BBC-2. |
| 1965 |
A
Council survey of Formby finds that 10,000 visited the area, in a single day, 82% of them arriving by car. |
| 1965 |
Winston Churchill dies. 70mph speed limits come into force on British Roads. |
| 1965 |
Opening of the
Pennine way. |
| 1965 |
The
Spitfire to ever fly in British Military on an
active service roll took of from Woodvale. |
| 1966 |
The first length of the coastal road opened for use,
to and from Woodvale and Southport |
| 1966 |
England wins World Cup. Commonwealth day to be observed from this year on. |
| 1967 |
First heart transplant successful. |
| 1967 |
Sexual Offences Act
decriminalized homosexual practices above the age of 18
in the UK. |
| 1967 |
On
the 1 of April, Liverpool City Police Amalgamated with Bootle Borough Police to form Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary. |
| 1967 |
Queen Elizabeth II launched at Clydebank. |
| 1967 |
Catholic Cathedral consecrated. |
| 1967 |
Birkenhead Borough Police and Wallasey Borough Police merged with Cheshire Constabulary
on July 1. |
| 1967 |
Abortion Act
introduced, legalizing abortion in the UK under certain conditions.
UK
membership of EC vetoed to by De Gaulle into EC. |
| 1968 |
The last scheduled steam-hauled British Rail passenger train leaves Liverpool for Preston. |
| 1968 |
Conservative MP Enoch Powell provoked the nation with his anti-immigration
"Rivers of Blood'" The speech was
dramatized at times with the references to classical prediction of
war by Virgil:- "The immigrant communities can organise to consolidate their members, to agitate and campaign against their fellow citizens, and to overawe and dominate the rest with the legal weapons which the ignorant and ill-informed have provided. As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding... Like the Roman, I seem to see, 'the River Tiber foaming with much
blood". It lead to
Powell being sacked from the Shadow Cabinet, with Edward Heath
interpreting his speech as "racist". |
| 1969 |
Pontins opened
on Ainsdale Sands. |
| 1969 |
Man
Lands on the Moon. John Fairfax single-handedly
rows across the Atlantic. |
| 1969 |
Divorce
Reform Act in the UK relaxed the conditions
surrounding the termination of
marriage. |
| 1969 |
Voting age now 18. |
| 1969 |
St Helens Borough Police and Southport Borough Police merged with Lancashire Constabulary
on the 1 April. |
| 1969 |
Colour TV
introduced in the UK. |
| 1969 |
End of the Death
Penalty in the UK. |
| 1970 |
The end of Harold Wilson's first term in office. |
| 1970 |
St John's Tower Constructed. |
| 1971 |
Kingsway Tunnel opened by the Queen. |
| 1971 |
Decimal currency and the European Community.
New decimal currency introduced in 1971 and it took
three years to achieve. Coinage became the official currency of the UK on 15 February 1971 with the issue of the 1/2p, 1p and 2p pieces. The British public expressed a fond farewell to the romantic £
sd coinage. |
| 1971 |
The light from the Perch Rock Lighthouse shone for the last time.
|
| 1972 |
1972 the Royal Seaforth Dock opens.
Also it was the first UK port with radar assisted
opearations.
|
| 1973 |
VAT
introduced in the UK. |
| 1973 |
Official end to the Vietnam war. |
| 1973 |
Britain
joins the EC having first applied to join five
years previously |
| 1974 |
MP Harold Wilson voted Prime Minister again. |
| 1974 |
The British Nicotine Company of Bootle closes down. |
| 1974 |
Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary and those parts of Lancashire and Cheshire which fell within the new Merseyside boundary merged to form Merseyside Police
on April 1. |
| 1974 |
Britain returns to a five day week?
Labour
demands renegotiations with EC. |
| 1974 |
Merseyside
is created.
|
| 1974 |
Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary and
parts of Lancashire and Cheshire which fell within the new Merseyside boundary merged to form Merseyside Police. |
| 1975 |
First-ever UK
referendum held by Labour to see if public wanted
to stay in EC. |
| 1975 |
UK public vote in favour of remaining an EC member. |
| 1975 |
Runcorn-Widnes
Road Bridge closed to widen to four lanes. |
| 1976 |
Harold
Wilsons term ends here. |
| 1976 |
The Anglican
Cathedral is finished, 18 years after the
architect, Giles Gilbert Scott, died, aged 80 |
| 1977 |
Runcorn-Widnes
Road Bridge re-opened and renamed the Silver Jubilee bridge.
|
| 1978 |
Sefton Council Management Scheme established. |
| 1978 |
Start
of Winter of Discontent. Labour Government had to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund
due to the British economy becoming weak. This was accompanied by harsh conditions which included deep cuts in public spending. By August 1977, unemployment levels had
been driven well over 1,600,000 all over the
UK. This lead to the major trade unions
going on strike. |
| 1978 |
Queen
Elizabeth II attended the dedication of the West
end of Liverpool Cathedral. The building was now
complete. |
| 1979 |
End
of Winter of Discontent. This led to the dustbins
going unemptied, power outages, dead not being buried
and other problems. By the election of May
in 1979 the PM James Callaghan, seemed out of touch
and he was voted out with that Labour government.
Voted
in as MP, Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party,
decade of radical change in England and Britain.
Nickname Iron Lady, she was the first female Prime
Minister for the UK. |
| 1981 |
Lady Diana Spencer married
Prince Charles the Prince of Wales in an elaborate ceremony at Westminster which brought crowds flooding to London. |
| 1981 |
The Merseyside Development Corporation created and work started on restoring 865 acres of docklands. |
| 1981 |
Brixton
and Toxteth Riots. |
|
1982 |
The Falklands War,
also known as the Falklands Conflict or Falklands
Crisis, began on Friday 2 April 1982, when Argentine
forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands and
South Georgia. The Falklands War or in Spanish
Guerra de las Malvinas or Guerra del Atlántico Sur,
was a war between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
This was last time the United Kingdom has gone to
war on it's own. The resulting conflict lasted 74
days and ending with the Argentine forces
surrendering on 14 June 1982. 255 British military
personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died, along with
a staggering 649 Argentine military personnel died
during the conflict. |
| 1983 |
The Altcar Rifle Range official declared clear of explosives. |
| 1983 |
The remains of Fort Crosby finally broken up and buried in the sand, this came as a result of Derelict-land grants, and attempts to re-establish the natural order on the dunes. |
| 1984 |
Mersey Inshore Rescue team starts operation on the river Mersey. The first full time river rescue service working in the UK. It's principal reason for being is to be able to respond to an air disaster at Liverpool Airport.
 |
| 1984 |
Liverpool Garden Festival, which involved the landscaping of 250 acres of derelict land.
|
| 1984 |
Brighton Bomb.
12th October, the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton where the Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher and most of her Party were staying
as they were attending the Conservative Party Conference. Five people died.
Miners Strike
began due to a confrontation between the PM, Margaret Thatcher and the President of the NUM (the National Union of Mineworkers) Arthur
Scargill leading to some of the most violent confrontations between trade unionists and police ever seen in England. The miners drifted back to work after twelve months of hardship and the strike collapsed.
Falklands
War starts. |
| 1985 |
International
Garden Festival site in Liverpool is re-opened as
the Festival Gardens for anouther year. |
| 1988 |
A
minor revolution in UK's art world that is now recognized
the world over as a form of contemporary art known
as "Britart" hits the UK's
art world with the thanks of Damien Hirst, the original Brit artist. |
| 1989 |
Iranian
Embassy Siege, SAS are sent in to free the
hostages, total success. |
| 1989 |
A
statistical analysis of data from the last 12 years records that the average number of visitors to Formby point per day was around 3700, with
2 days recording 11,000 and 14,000 higher than a similar study made back in 1965. |
| 1989 |
Southport re-opens its lifeboat station in response to lose of life just of the coast of
the town.
|
| 1990 |
Gulf
War starts. Margaret Hilda Thatcher,
Baroness Thatcher, LG OM PC FRS is voted out of office
and losses her leadership of the Conservative Party. The poll tax led to widespread riots
across UK.
WEB |
| 1991 |
Gulf
War ends. |
| 1995 |
Formby
hosts the biggest VJ day in the whole of the North
West. |
| 1997 |
Lady Diana Spencer
died in a tragic road death that left the nation
and world in mourning. Massive amount of flowers and visitors
went to London's Buckingham Palace. The outpouring
of emotion was unprecedented. |
| 1997 |
Tony Blair
helped to form New Labour and became prime minister in May. |
| 1999 |
A
wind farm with 6 turbines is opened at Seaforth. |
| 2000 |
Start of a new Millennium. Fears of the Millennium Bug (a computer error) did not come true. |
| 2000 |
Large firework displays light up Liverpool,
Formby and Southport at 00:00 hours and parties take place with Liverpool town center being cornered off and a large pop concert and fun fair by the Albert Dock. The event lasts over 3 days into the New Year.
The foundations of the UK's first Online Only
Newspaper, Southport Reporter are put online as an
experiment. |
| 2001 |
September
the 11th, (9:11) terrorist attack the trade towers in New
York, using planes to ram them destroying both
buildings. This also leads to the war on
terrorism led by the USA. |
| 2001 |
Formby Millennium Committee
organise a large pop and Viking event on the Formby Sand Dunes to celebrate the new century and to raise funds for local charity.
|
| 2002 |
Queen
Mother dies. |
| 2002 |
The
newspaper called Freestyle founded and closed the
same year after 1 edition being published. |
| 2002 |
Birkdale Sands airstrip declassified by the Civil Aviation authority.
Formby Arts Festival with mediaeval re-enactments on Formby sand dunes draws huge crowds on the historic site of the UK's first Lifeboat Station to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee and raise cash for local charities. |
| 2003 |
See
Southport Reporter www.southportreporter.com |
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