Ainsdale - Colette Gunter

Ainsdale, Seaside Village Life at its Best

Southport’s Ainsdale neighbourhood is located three miles south of the city centre in the Sefton borough of Merseyside.

It makes up the southern edge of the town, separated from neighbouring Formby by RAF Woodvale. The village and roads leading to the beach are middle-class areas, with some new modern developments around the station, including the addition of the private estate Village Row in 2006, and the Belway estate in 2013.

Ainsdale boating lake, along with the beach itself, were popular tourist attractions, and thus Lakeside Hotel (now known as The Sands) was built to accommodate those wishing to stay in the area. However, a large campsite was also well populated in the busiest periods of the year.

In the village green, there is a war memorial that commemorates the lives of forty-four Ainsdale residents killed as a result of the First World War.

The War Memorial was totally refurbished by the Ainsdale Civic Society in 2012 when some missing names of those Ainsdale men killed in action in WW1 and extra plaques were inset on the Memorial to accommodate those lost from WW2 and Afghanistan.

It took two years of research and fundraising to complete the second part of the project to restore the monument to its former glory. Space has been left on the memorial for additional names; however, they hope it never needs to be filled.

The locality is served by Ainsdale railway station, which is situated on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network, linking Southport to Liverpool. Trains operate every 15 minutes in each direction from early morning to late evening from Monday to Saturday and every 30 minutes on Sundays.

Frequent bus services passing through Ainsdale are provided by Arriva North West.

Sports in Ainsdale

Sport in Ainsdale is represented in various streams such as football, cricket, bowls, pool and chess. The village is also the home of the famous Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club.

The football section of Ainsdale Sports and Social Club namely Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs AFC host teams from Under 6 up to Under 18 and Open Age Teams. The senior first team play in the Premier Division of the Mid Lancashire League. Ainsdale Cricket Club play in the successful Liverpool Competition. The club also has three All weather 3G pitches as part of its set up.

Ainsdale is also home to Hillside Lawn Tennis Club who play in the Southport Tennis League.

Every year at the start of July, Ainsdale Horticultural Society hold a village show. This popular local event showcases local growers produce in an horticultural competition and hosts many other events by local people.

Ainsdale beach is designated by Sefton Council as a kite beach where kitesurfing and land-based kite traction activities are allowed.

The Sefton coastal path and the Trans Pennine Trail both pass through Ainsdale. A number of waymarked nature trails are also accessible from the town. These trails allow access to the Ainsdale Sand Dunes, designated as one of the national nature reserves in England. This nature reserve also comprises part of a Ramsar site