From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bootle
Coordinates: 53.4424° N 2.9929° W
Population	59,123
OS grid reference	SJ340944
Metropolitan borough	Sefton
Metropolitan county	Merseyside
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Liverpool
Postcode district	L20, L30
Dial code	0151
Police	Merseyside
Fire	Merseyside
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Bootle
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Merseyside

Bootle is a town on the Mersey Estuary, North West England. It is based around the docks and their associated industries. It forms part of the Liverpool urban area, and the town centre is situated approximately 4 miles north of Liverpool city centre.

Contents 1 Local Government 2 Town Centre 3 History 3.1 Place-name 3.2 Resort 3.3 Port 3.4 Second World War 3.5 Post-War 3.6 Decline 3.7 Amalgamation 3.8 Regeneration 4 Transport 5 Amenities 6 Famous people

Bootle, along with Southport, is one of the two main administrative headquarters for Sefton MBC.

The old civic centre of the town contains impressive Victorian buildings such as the Town Hall and Municipal Baths. East of this is a large area of large office blocks: to the west is the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and large areas of Docks lining the River Mersey. To the north is the New Strand Shopping Centre, which gained notoriety after the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Bootle derives from Old English botl 'building', although what building referred to exactly is unknown as of now. It was recorded as Boltelai in the Domesday Book in 1086.

Bootle was originally a small hamlet built near the 'sand hills' or dunes of the river estuary. The settlement began to grow as a bathing resort for wealthy residents of Liverpool in the early 19th century. Some remaining large villas which housed well-to-do commuters to Liverpool are located in the area known locally as 'Bootle Village'.

The Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway arrived in the 1840s and Bootle experienced rapid growth. By the end of the 19th century the docks had been constructed along the whole of the river front as far as Seaforth Sands to the north. The town became heavily industrialised. Bootle was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1868 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and was granted the status of a county borough by the Local Government Act 1888 in 1889, becoming independent from the administrative county of Lancashire. During this time period it was sometimes formally known as Bootle cum Linacre. Orrell Park was added to the borough in 1905. There are still large areas of Victorian terraced houses in Bootle, formerly occupied by dock workers. These are built in distinctive pressed red brick.

The docks made Bootle a target for German bombers during the Liverpool Blitz and approximately 90% of the houses in the town were damaged.[1].

After The Second World War large social housing estates were built inland from the town centre, including the area of Netherton which was built on New Town principles. The Liverpool Overhead Railway and Liverpool Tramways Company closure in the 50s reduced Bootle's connection to Liverpool.

The docks declined in importance in the 1960s and 1970s, and Bootle suffered high unemployment and a declining population. The establishment of large office blocks housing government departments and the National Girobank provided employment, but this was filled largely by middle class people from outside the town.

A combined Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary was formed in 1967 but in 1974, when county boroughs were abolished, Bootle combined with towns further up the coast to form the metropolitan borough of Sefton, rather than be annexed by Liverpool, as had been suggested, for example by the Redcliffe-Maud Report. The new metropolitan borough was part of the metropolitan county of Merseyside.

Bootle is undergoing a massive regeneration project, which has already begun with the new HSE buildings and the new look Strand Road. Many old houses are being demolished to make way for new housing projects and lots of regeneration projects for existing properties and council buildings are to begin shortly, finishing by the end of 2006.

A number of other development projects have recently been submitted for planning permission and should commence development within Late 2006 or 2007 after being accepted. These include the significant refurbishment of Oriel Road Station, promoted by Merseytravel, the creation of a new block of apartments on the site of the Stella Maris building and a Lidl store on Stanley Road. Walmart stores inc, owners of Asda superstores have invested in building a new superstore on Strand Road.

There are two railway stations served by frequent electric services from Liverpool to Southport. These are Oriel Road near the Victorian civic centre, and New Strand, serving the Shopping Centre. A freight line, the Bootle Branch, is still in use. Sefton has pushed for the reopening of the North Mersey Branch.

The Bus Station is underneath the New Strand Shopping Centre.

The town has a leisure centre located in the North Park area, which includes a moden gymnasium, swimming pool, and varrious indoor sports halls. The Bootle New Strand shopping centre contains contains many of the regular high street stores, combined with a smaller collection of local businesses. For entertainment there is a wide varienty of public houses, snooker clubs and late night bars. There are also a number of restaurants.

• Tom Baker, of Doctor Who fame, born in Fountains Road, Bootle

• Will Hanrahan, a BBC news and features presenter (Watchdog, Good Morning). Particularly notable for reporting from the Rwandan Civil War. Currently producing an eclectic mix of programmes, factual entertainment programmes for ITV and Sky one (Star Lives, Vorderman's Brain Game), and most recently produced a documentary marking the 10th anniversary of the Dublane massacre. Born in Netherton and schooled at St. Benet's and St. Mary's College in Crosby.

• Ste McNally: (born Stephen Patrick McNally, on 4 July 1978, in Bootle) electric guitar and vocals for pop group BBMac

• Jamie Carragher (born January 28, 1978 in Knowsley Road, Bootle, Sefton) is an English international footballer. He currently plays his club football, where he is vice-captain, at Liverpool F.C., where he was taken on as a trainee youngster and wears the number 23 shirt. He plays almost always on the back line, most of the time at centre-half, though he has been featured in a variety of positions.

• Steve McManaman (born February 11, 1972 in Bootle, England) was a famous English footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s who played as a midfielder in a career that spanned two of European football's biggest club sides in Liverpool and Real Madrid.

• Tom O'Connor (born October 31, 1939 in Bootle, Merseyside) is a British comedian. He is best known for presenting game shows such as Crosswits and Gambit. His TV break came when he appeared on The Comedians. During the 1970s and 1980's he was one of the most popular faces on British TV.

• George Davies (born 1941, in Bootle) is a British fashion retailer who founded 'Next' in the 1980s and 'George at Asda' in the 1990s. Subsequently, he has also produced the successful Per Una fashion collection, launched in September 2001 at Marks & Spencer stores.

• Alvin Martin (born July 29, 1958 in Bootle) is one of West Ham United's all-time greats, a true professional respected by fans and players alike. Alvin was rejected by his local club Everton before joining West Ham United straight from school

• Roy Evans (born Bootle, Sefton, England, 4th October 1948) was a Liverpool player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.

• Craig Charles (born Bootle, Sefton, England, July 11, 1964) is a British actor, poet and radio and television presenter. He is best known for playing Dave Lister in Red Dwarf. The character, Lister, lost his virginity at Bootle Municipal Golf Course, and once appeared naked onstage at the Bootle-players' amateur production of "The Importance Of Being Earnest".

• Nick Dougherty born in Bootle, Liverpool on 24 May 1982) is an English golfer. He is a protégé of Nick Faldo and had an exceptional amateur career with numerous tournament wins including the 1999 World Boys Championship and three in Faldo Junior Series events. He was a member of the victorious Great Britain and Ireland 2001 Walker Cup team.
• Billy J. Kramer was born Billy Ashton the youngest of seven children and lived in Hankey Drive in Bootle. He and his band "The Dakotas" played the Hamburg clubs at the same time as "The Beatles". There first hit was the "Lennon and McCartney" composition "Do You Want To Know A Secret" which reached No2 in May 1963. He had two number one hits with "Bad To Me" and "Little Children"