Formby: A Potted History

Saxon settlers and Viking invaders defined the early settlement of Formby on the coast of north-west England. The manors that made up the town and small port lived through the Norman Conquest and the Black Death, and it is here that the country's first lifeboat station was set up, on its beach. But it was the coming of the railways in the nineteenth century that transformed the area, with easy access to Liverpool and new businesses attracted to the town, with large areas of housing built as a result. Today, Formby lies in Merseyside and is a commuter town for Southport and Liverpool and other towns in the conurbation. Many visitors are attracted to its beaches, sand dunes and nature reserves, which are still home to the now rare red squirrel and natterjack toad.
Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Formby has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the town.

Peter Sleeman grew up in Merseyside. This is his third book on the area, his first being a history of his old school in Liverpool, The Story of Waterloo Grammar School 1912-1972 - The School That Would Not Die, and the second being Brick, Stones and Straw: Working Horses in Liverpool published by Amberley in 2023.