Look along Lord Street: a full mile of shopfronts, glazed canopies and garden strips... the elegant stretch that made Southport famous. In eighteen forty-six, the exile Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte stayed in lodgings just off here, and recent research has found documents linking him with the Gerard family, who were well known in Southport.
Now here’s the twist. From eighteen fifty-four to eighteen seventy, that same man, as Napoleon the Third, drove the rebuilding of Paris with broad tree-lined boulevards, covered arcades and sheltered walkways. Fair to say, the resemblance is hard to miss.
But mind you, this street was not a gift from emperors. Local shopkeepers paid for those glazed canopies so customers could keep browsing, just as the porters, clerks and traders we’ve met kept the whole resort going. So I’d remember the first unnamed shopkeeper who glazed a frontage here... not the emperor who may have borrowed the idea. When you’re ready, carry on south along Lord Street to the next stop. It’s listed as open daily from two o’clock until half past eight.
