A GHOST TOWN

Southport is looking like a shanty town, with shuttered shops and "closed down" signs almost everywhere. The credit crunch is certainly weeding out all the over-priced designer label shops as one after another bites the dust. I can't say I'm terribly sorry about this - I've window shopped at Emma Somerset over the years and when I actually bought there once, during a sale, I was treated like dirt. So maybe they've received their come-uppance.

Meanwhile, in Ainsdale short-sighted individuals continue to open shops which simply don't stand a chance. Two interior design shops opened and then closed within a matter of months and now we have a huge  premises turned (seemingly at great expense) into a sweet shop! Needless to say it is always empty - in part because the local high school shut down last year - removing what would have been the target shoppers. Don't people do any homework before they plough all their savings into a shop? I'll give it three months, which is two months more than I give the Orange phone shop that has opened next door to it.

I've just managed to get tickets to see Count Arthur Strong.

There was nothing doing at The Lowry - sold out, so we'll have to travel to Bolton, but I'm sure it'll be worth it.