Editing Netherton, Merseyside (section)

==Description==
Netherton is situated in the southern part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton]], approximately 6 miles north of [[Liverpool City Centre]]. Netherton neighbours [[Thornton, Merseyside|Thornton]], [[Litherland]], [[Aintree]], [[Walton, Liverpool|Walton]] and [[Sefton, Merseyside|Sefton Village]].

Netherton is a mostly residential area, comprising the semi-rural '''Netherton Village,''' (which consists of privately owned houses set around the old Village Green) and the large [[council estate]] built by the former Bootle Borough Council on the other side of the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]].

The estate is unusual in the fact that many of the houses are still occupied by the same residents who moved in as young couples with families when the houses were brand new.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} The social profile of the first resident population does not comply to modern notions of council estate dwellers.  Many of these people were hard working people with middle class aspirations, whose lives and careers were interrupted and often changed forever by the Second World War.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}} However, the demographics of the Netherton area have changed significantly over time. A large number of the male residents moved in from all parts of the country to be key skilled workers at the English Electric factory heavy engineering works on Dunnings Bridge Road.

The main estate, centred on '''Marian Square,''' was built in the mid 1950s to alleviate housing shortages in Bootle after the heavy bombing the town suffered during the Second World War.  Historical records show that of about 18,000 houses in Bootle, only about 1,000 survived the German bombings completely intact. A remaining 16,000 houses were partially damaged and over a thousand completely destroyed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

'''The Sefton Estate''' (which includes Stonyfield, Waterside, Harrops Croft and Higher End Park) was built by Lancashire County Council some ten years after the Netherton estate in the mid 1960s and were the first council houses in the area to have [[central heating]].

Marian Square is opposite the health centre in Magdalene Square (the two squares are divided by Glovers Lane, and should not be confused). The first shops (approximately five, including a health clinic and opticians) were built on Magdalene Square and were later demolished when the new shops and first new post office on Marian Square were opened. The original plans for the redevelopment for Magdalene Square, which were on view as a model in [[Bootle Town Hall]] in 1965, were for a 22 storey tower block and a leisure complex including swimming pool, neither of which were built (probably due to a lack of further investment in the area).

There were also plans for a large ring road to link the motorways at Switch Island, running across fields to the north of the Sefton estate with the centre of Bootle and the landward side of [[Crosby, Merseyside|Crosby]], along a corridor of land which included the Rimrose Valley.  The council purchased land along this corridor but the road was never built.  There is a large mound of earth next to the small church near the Cabbage Inn (near the present fire station); which shows the start of the earthworks for the flyover linking the proposed ring road to the goods depot on the railway line near the Girobank building on Netherton Way. The proposed ring road is shown on some old Liverpool A to Z street plans.

The unused land in the Rimrose Valley was made into an area of parkland, and new houses are being built on the old allotments at the other end of the Rimrose Valley in Litherland.

Notable firms which hold, or once held, premises in Netherton include:- Braby's; English Electric; Forticrete; Metal Box; Movie (cleaning products); National Girobank; Peerless Refining Co.; North West Timber; Porter Chadburn; Post Office Telecommunications (British Telecom.); Scott's Bakery (now part of Allied Bakeries) and now the site of a large trading estate including Odeon cinema, Matalan store, Dunelm mill furniture store and a pub called the Bakers Dozen; McDonald's restaurant with drive thru, Subway restaurant with drive thru and to a Ben Dunne gym.

Netherton was formerly the home of the [[Everton F.C.]] youth academy, which has now been relocated to [[Finch Farm]]. The land was previously a fire station (the old brick building on the site) and the grounds of Littlewoods Social Club. This area has now been turned into a Goals football centre.

On 19 August 2015 the Thornton to Switch Island link road ([[A5758 road|A5758]]) was opened.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sefton.gov.uk/parking,-roads-travel/broom%E2%80%99s-cross-road-%28thornton-to-switch-island-link%29.aspx|title=Broom’s Cross Road (Thornton to Switch Island Link)|publisher=Sefton Council|access-date=18 February 2018}}</ref>