Historic Southport pub unveils new look as customers enjoy cosy, traditional pub with home cooked food

John Parkinson is the licensee at The Hoghton Arms while Ellie Wiggins is the Manager. They said:- “The scaffolding has been up for a few weeks now, but is now down! We have been making it look great in time for Easter, with work to the outdoors, the roof, the masonry, repainting, and of course new signage. We are really pleased to bring back the famous Hoghton Arms name, which people have fond memories of. We want it to be a really traditional pub. The sports screens have gone, we have redecorated the inside to make it warmer and more cosy. We're introducing new planters to our secret beer garden at the back. We now have two cask ales on, which will change as time goes on. We have a great partnership with Southport Brewery and will be selling some of their popular ales. We've had ales such as Wainwrights Gold; National Hero; Doom Bar; Speckled Hen. We're always open to suggestions from our customers. We are selling popper home cooked pub food, with meals such as fish and chips; very popular on a Friday! Plus... other classics such as:- pie and chips, full English breakfast, lasagne and more. We are starting to serve Sunday roast dinners. We're keen to introduce steak nights and curry nights soon. Customers can call in and play bingo every Wednesday from 3pm. We have a men's darts team, and would love to start a pool team too. There is a licence from midday until 1am, but we will generally be open until around midnight at weekends. We are hoping to be opening earlier at the weekends as summer approaches, approximately 11am as our Saturdays are now. The Hoghton Arms is in such a great location, right in the middle of town, by all the shops on Chapel Street and Lord Street, and near all the offices along Hoghton Street. We're facing the side of Southport Train Station too, so this is a popular venue for people coming in by train from places like Liverpool and Manchester, or as a place to come before they get the train out of Southport. 2 of our regulars get the train from Wigan and come here every weekend; they love it here! We can also offer a function space that can be used for meetings, birthdays and events, for free, just charging for food and drink. Word is getting out about the changes we've been making here, which is great.”

John and Ellie are confident for the year ahead, with brighter days coming in Southport. They said:- “The Easter period started amazingly well with superb weather bringing visitors flocking into town. There are lots of positive things happening in Southport. There is huge investment, especially next to the Marine Lake, where building work is starting on the new Marine Lake Events Centre. There are so many great reasons for people to come to the town, with big events such as the:- Southport Flower Show, Southport Air Show, the British Musical Fireworks Championship, the Southport Comedy Festival and others. Families have been loving the Bear Hunt Trail these past few weeks too! We're really excited to invite people to call into the new look Hoghton Arms and join us for a meal, call in for a few drinks, and see what you think.”
 

Northern Heart Films' unique support scheme for working class documentary filmmakers expands to cover the entire North of England

IN 2022, Wigan based indie Northern Heart Films established the Northern Heart Doc Fund, providing £500 bursaries to support and nurture emerging documentary makers from working class backgrounds in the North West.

What started as a passion project and desire to bring about change for Northern Heart founders Natasha Hawthornthwaite and Scott Bradley; both of whom are from working class backgrounds and faced numerous challenges and barriers to entering the industry; has developed into a respected and valued industry programme and, to date, is the only one of its kind in the UK.

Following early financial input from Wigan Council and Creative Lancashire, the scheme has now grown to attract support from the likes of Sheffield DocFest, Sticks and Glass, a Leeds based post production business, Olympic Studios and mental well being organisation Film in Mind; along with the interest of Waël Kabbani from Iambic Dream Films, most recently the Executive Producer on the award winning film The End, starring Tilda Swinton and George MacKay.

As a result, 2025 to 2026's scheme has been expanded to cover the whole of the North of England and rebranded as the Northern Doc Fund. For this 3rd programme, 2 successful applicants will each receive a £3000 cash grant, comprehensive mentoring, post production support from Sticks and Glass, an industry pass to Sheffield DocFest '25, well being support from Film in Mind plus cinema screenings at Leigh Film Factory in Greater Manchester and Olympic Studios in London.

This year, emerging documentary makers will be challenged to create a short film around the theme of Climate and Class. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to pitch their project at the:- LA1 Shorts Film Festival, at:- The Dukes Theatre, in Lancaster, in June 2025, and be judged by a panel of experts. The 2 winning pitches will then receive the £3000 grants to produce their short films, along with extensive mentoring and support from Northern Heart Films and its Fund sponsors and collaborators.

Applications close at midnight on:- 22 April 2025. For further information and application details, visit:- NorthernHeartFilms.Com.

Co-founder of Northern Heart Films and award winning director Natasha Hawthornthwaite is incredibly proud that the Northern Doc Fund has expanded and made it to year 3:- “I come from a Northern working class background and found it a massive struggle to get my foot in the door. Despite a lot of noise in the sector about diversity and inclusion measures, it feels like the working class is still a very much overlooked; or forgotten about; minority in TV, especially off screen. And we are desperate to change that. For our industry to thrive, it's vital that visionaries of all ages and from all backgrounds have the chance to enter and succeed, finding ways to share their original stories with authentic voices. There is a big appetite for our Fund and for the mentoring that accompanies the financial support. As far as we know, there aren't any schemes around specifically supporting new documentary makers in this way, so we are honoured to be doing our bit and gathering more and more support every year. We are also excited to be profiling the power of documentary shorts: not only are they a brilliant way to learn our craft and tell important stories but with increasing opportunities on digital platforms, there has also never been more demand or places to get them seen! We have introduced Climate and Class as the theme for this year's applicants as voices from privileged backgrounds have frequently hijacked climate change narratives. It has never been more vital to hear from working class communities directly affected by these issues.”

Waël Kabbani of Iambic Dream Films adds:- “While working with Northern Heart on 2 films and witnessing how much they do for their communities, I knew that our values and goals matched up well with theirs. We're very proud to support its expanded Doc Fund this year through our Iambic Dream Foundation and cannot wait to see what stories the applicants present.”

Northern Heart Films' investment in what they've created does not stop once the grant is bestowed. The company is continuously supporting a growing community of young filmmakers in the North. This year, previous recipients of the Northern Heart Doc Fund will be involved in the decision making rounds. Past recipients have also gone on to work with Northern Heart Films on both its originals and commercial productions, and the business has created new directing opportunities for junior directors by establishing a collaboration with Media Trust.

Northern Heart is now keen to hear from any organisation within the industry; with aligning values; who may wish to get involved with growing the Northern Doc Fund further. This could be another:- production company, distributor, broadcaster, platform or a training or funding body.