Drive and Stroll, with Ron Freethy

This week: Churchtown

THE power of church bells has been part of our history since Norman times.

William of Normandy passed a law that a certain peal on a bell or bells meant that all the fires in the parish had to be extinguished at eight o'clock at night for safety's sake.

This was called the "couvre feu" or cover fire and has evolved into the modern word curfew.

The eight o'clock bell would certainly have been familiar to the villagers around Churchtown.

The church is dedicated to St Cuthbert, who died in AD 687 and whose jewel-encrusted remains were carted around Lancashire to prevent the treasure being stolen by the Vikings.

There was probably a small chapel at Churchtown long before the Norman Conquest but the first stone structure is dated at 1178.

In 1219 St Cuthbert's Eve was designated as a fair day.

This was in mid August and the Sunday following, the 20th, became known as Bathing Sunday and folk travelled miles to "tear off their clothes and frolic in the sea."

This was certainly the origin of Churchtown as a seaside resort and it was many years later that a South Port was built to accommodate tourists. The still-unspoiled village of Churchtown is another of Lancashire's timewarp settlements, with pubs, shops, thatched cottages all snuggled around the church. On one side of the main road is Meols Hall, one-time home of the Hesketh family.

In the 16th and 17th centuries it was a refuge for Catholics persecuted by the fiercely Protestant Tudors.

Meols is an old Saxon word meaning a sand hill -- an ideal name for this area.

On the opposite side of the road are the famous Botanical Gardens.

These are open to the public and include a local history and natural history museum, a boating lake, an aviary and a selection of genteel entertainments and cafes.

St Cuthbert's jewels have long gone but what remains is a sparkling gem in the crown of Lancashire.

The thing that I love about Churchtown is not just its history but its network of pubs and restaurants.

The shops around Southport are excellent and at this time of the year parking and strolling around town and countryside is easy.

There is not a curfew in sight if you want to eat late.