Editing Bootle (section)

==History==
===Toponymy===
[[Etymologically]], Bootle derives from the [[Old English|Anglo Saxon]] ''Bold'' or ''Botle'' meaning a dwelling.<ref>{{Cite web
 |title=Bootle History: Bootle Past
 |url=http://www.bootlehistory.com/bootle_past.html
 |access-date=10 November 2007
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071013082455/http://bootlehistory.com/bootle_past.html
 |archive-date=13 October 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |df=dmy
}}</ref>
It was recorded as ''Boltelai'' in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' in 1086. By 1212 the spelling had been recorded as ''Botle''. The spellings ''Botull'', ''Bothull'' and ''Bothell'' are recorded in the 14th century. In the 18th century, it was known as Bootle cum Linacre.<ref name="bho">{{Cite book  | last1 = Farrer | first1 = W.  | last2 = Brownbill | first2 = J.  | title = 'Townships: Bootle', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3  | pages = 31–35  | access-date =25 February 2016  | year = 1907  | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp31-35}}</ref>

===Resort===
Bootle was originally a small [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] built near the 'sand hills' or [[dunes]] of the river [[estuary]]. In the early 19th century, it began to develop as a bathing [[resort]], attracting wealthy people from Liverpool.<ref name=photos>{{cite news |first=Janet |last=Tansley |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/bootle-remembered-brilliant-archive-photos-7373303 |title=In pictures: Bootle through the years in photos from the Echo archive |newspaper=Liverpool Echo |date=4 July 2014}}</ref> Some remaining large villas which housed well-to-do [[commuter]]s to Liverpool are located in the area known locally as 'Bootle Village', centred around the junction of Merton Road and Litherland Road.

===Development===
[[Image:Bootle civic buildings 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bootle Town Hall]]]]
[[Image:Bootle town hall 4.JPG|thumb|right|''Bootle-cum-Linacre'' inscription on the town hall's external stonework]]
The [[Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway]] arrived in the 1840s and Bootle experienced rapid growth. By the end of the 19th century<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/dockseaforth/index.shtml |title=Merseyside History, Seaforth Dock|publisher=Mersey Reporter}}</ref> [[Port of Liverpool|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. Fearful of annexation by Liverpool, Bootle was incorporated as a [[municipal borough]] in 1868<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GOWTUYFPRQC&q=bootle+docks&pg=PA244|title=Town, City, and Nation|isbn=9780192891631|last1=Waller|first1=Philip J.|last2=Waller|first2=P. J.|year=1983|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], and in 1889 was granted the status of a [[county borough]] by the [[Local Government Act 1888]], becoming independent from the [[administrative county]] of [[Lancashire]]. During this time period it was sometimes formally known as ''Bootle-cum-Linacre''. [[Orrell, Sefton|Orrell]] was added to the borough in 1905. There are still large areas of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] terraced houses in Bootle, formerly occupied by dock workers. These are built in distinctive pressed red brick.

[[Bootle Town Hall]] and other municipal buildings were erected in the last quarter of the 19th century. The population of the town swelled during this period, boosted in large part by Irish immigration and the attraction of plentiful work on the docks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/irish-immigration.shtml |title=Merseyside History, Irish Immigration in Liverpool|publisher=Mersey Reporter}}</ref> The wealth to pay for the splendour of the town hall and the gentrified 'Bootle Village' area was generated by these docks. The skilled workers lived in terraced houses in the east of the town, while the casual dock labourers lived in cramped, dwellings near the dockside. Stories about three streets in particular, Raleigh Street, Dundas Street and Lyons Street, caused great alarm. Lyons Street, the scene of the 'Teapot Murder', was renamed Beresford Street shortly before the [[First World War]].<ref name=photos/>

Bootle was the first borough to elect its own [[School boards in England and Wales|school board]], following the passage of [[William Edward Forster|William Forster]]'s [[Elementary Education Act 1870]]. In 1872 Dr R.J. Sprakeling was appointed the first Medical Officer of Health, and was instrumental in improving sanitary conditions in the town. The Metropole Theatre on Stanley Road played host to stars such as [[music hall]] singer [[Marie Lloyd]].  Tree lined streets surrounded magnificent open spaces, such as Derby Park, North Park and South Park. [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Anglican]] churches sprang up all over the town, and [[Welsh people|Welsh]] immigration brought with it [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] chapels and the [[temperance movement]]. Local societies thrived, including sports teams, [[scouting|scouts]] and musical groups. The Bootle May Day carnival and the crowning of the [[May Queen]] were highlights of the social year. The town successfully fought against absorption by neighbouring Liverpool in 1903. It subsequently made good use of its [[Latin]] motto ''Respice, Aspice, Prospice'', ("look to the past, the present, the future").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/bootle-remembered-brilliant-archive-photos-7373303|title= In pictures: Bootle through the years in photos from the Echo archive|publisher=Liverpool Echo|date=4 July 2014|access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref>

===Second World War===
The docks made Bootle a target for [[Nazi German]] [[Luftwaffe]] bombers during the [[Liverpool Blitz]] of the [[Second World War]], with approximately 90% of the houses in the town damaged.<ref>{{Cite web
   | title = Liverpool Blitz: Buildings damaged in the May Blitz
   | url = http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/blitz/0500_info.html
   | publisher = Liverpool Museums
   | access-date = 9 November 2007
   | url-status = dead
   | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091707/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/blitz/0500_info.html
   | archive-date = 29 September 2007
   | df = dmy-all
   }}
</ref>
Situated immediately adjoining the city of Liverpool, and the site of numerous docks, Bootle had the distinction of being the most heavily bombed borough in the UK,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/liverpool-blitz/liverpool-blitz-stories/2011/05/03/50-bombs-dropped-on-bootle-as-adolf-hitler-attacked-town-100252-28601102/|title=50 bombs dropped on Bootle as Adolf Hitler attacked town|work=Liverpool Echo|date=3 May 2011|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/Historical/blitzCronology2.htm|title=Blitz Chronology|work=Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref> with 458 civilian deaths from enemy action recorded within the borough.<ref>{{cite web|last=CWGC|title=Civilian War Dead, Bootle County Borough|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004222/bootle-county-borough/|website=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]|access-date=2023-10-06}}</ref> Bootle played an important role in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/26/a1135126.shtml |title=People's War: Bombed Out in Bootle and Evacuated|publisher=BBC}}</ref> 

[[Royal Navy]]'s Captain [[Frederic John Walker]], the famous [[U-boat]] hunter, would rest in the Mayor's Parlour of Bootle Town Hall and his ships, [[HMS Stork (L81)|HMS ''Stork'']] and [[HMS Starling (U66)|HMS ''Starling'']], sailed out of [[Gladstone Dock]] Bootle. Memorabilia associated with Walker including the ships's bell from HMS ''Starling'' which was presented to Bootle County Borough Council on 21 October 1964 by Admiral Sir [[Nigel Henderson]] Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/sefton-celebrate-spirit-johnnie-walker-12157692|title=Sefton to celebrate the spirit of Johnnie Walker by offering HMS Mersey freedom of the borough|date=11 November 2016|publisher=Liverpool Echo|access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://postimg.cc/ZvyVkfVC |title=Worth its Weight in Solid Silver|date=19 December 1969|publisher=Bootle Times Herald| access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> can be viewed in [[Bootle Town Hall]].

===Post-war===
After the Second World War large [[Public housing|council housing]] estates were built inland from the town centre, including the area of [[Netherton, Merseyside|Netherton]], which was built on [[new town]] principles. The [[Liverpool Overhead Railway]] and [[Liverpool Tramways Company]] closure in the 1950s reduced Bootle's connection to Liverpool.

Bootle did share in the postwar boom. The centre of the town was redeveloped and the 'Bootle New Strand' shopping centre was opened in 1968. At the same time, new offices were built in the town centre. The town lost its access to the beach when neighbouring Seaforth Sands was redeveloped in the early 1970s, but the [[Seaforth Dock|Seaforth Container Port]] brought new jobs into the area. The local authority, and other 'social' landlords, saw to it that new housing was built and older stock renovated. Bootle did not go down the route of massive housing clearance, and many local communities remained intact.

The borough celebrated its centenary in 1968 and civic pride was much in evidence.

===Decline===
The docks declined in importance in the 1960s and 1970s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.touruk.co.uk/merseyside/bootle.htm|title=Bootle tourist information|publisher=Tour UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313072654/http://www.touruk.co.uk/merseyside/bootle.htm|archive-date=13 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and Bootle suffered high unemployment and a declining population. The establishment of large office blocks housing government departments and the [[Girobank|National Girobank]] provided employment, filled largely by middle-class people from outside the Bootle/Liverpool area. In the early 1970s Bootle was absorbed into the new local authority of Sefton under local government reorganisation.<ref name=photos/> More fundamental than political change was economic change. The very reason for Bootle's existence, the access to the Mersey, became almost irrelevant as the docks closed and the new container port required far fewer workers than the old docks had. This in turn affected practically every other industry in the town. The problems slowly gathered pace until Merseyside hit crisis point in the early 1980s. Even by 2006 the area was one of the poorest in the country and had high levels of unemployment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/shippingports/ports/ir/seaforthriver?page=13|title=Seaforth River terminal harbour revision order|publisher=Department for Transport|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327170148/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/shippingports/ports/ir/seaforthriver?page=13|archive-date=27 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Regeneration===
[[Asda]] heavily invested in Bootle by building a new eco-friendly superstore on Strand Road in 2008. Among refurbishment and rebuilding projects in the 2010s, the [[Health and Safety Executive|HSE]] buildings and the new-look Stanley Road have been created,<ref name=photos/> Oriel Road Station has been refurbished, and a new block of flats on the site of the Stella Maris building and a [[Lidl]] store on Stanley Road have been built. The Klondyke Estate located off Hawthorne road saw the Welsh terrace houses get demolished and replaced with 2,3 and 4 bed modern houses. This was after the controversial move by Bellway after residents opposed demolition.<ref>Echo</ref> Sefton Council submitted a bid to the Government's Levelling UP Fund in July for £20 million to underpin a regeneration scheme to transform Bootle town centre. The outcome of the fund is expected to be announced in 2023.<ref>Echo</ref> In March 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced, as part of the Spring Budget, a £58 million fund for "Capital Levelling Up", of which £20 million has been allocated to the first phase of repurposing the Strand shopping centre and wider transformation of Bootle Town Centre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tague |first=Neil |date=2023-03-15 |title=Budget 2023 {{!}} £120m for North West regen |url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/stockport-secures-20m-boost-for-marple-leisure/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=Place North West |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In November 2016, [[Liverpool2]] was opened, expanding Seaforth Docks with river berths that can accommodate large container ships.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Deep sea container port opens to ships |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-37866804 |access-date=2024-09-05 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
===Unemployment===
The economic recovery on [[Merseyside]] since the 1980s has meant that Bootle is ranked as only the tenth worst area for unemployment in Britain, and all other parts of the region have lower unemployment—a stark contrast to the 1970s and 1980s when areas of Merseyside dominated the list of Britain's least economically active areas. As of 2009, in the depth of a [[Late 2000s recession|recession]], unemployment stood at 12%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginmedia.com/jobs/features/uk-unemployment-blackspots.php?ssid=1|title=Virgin Media}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2022, it was reduced to less than 4%, similar to the national average.{{Cn|date=September 2024}}