About

The Sandgrounder is an independent publication for Southport. It exists because the town has a gap that most local media does not fill: honest, unsponsored opinion and reporting from people who actually live here.

We are not a guide. We are not a promotional platform. We do not carry press releases dressed as news, sponsored content dressed as reviews, or council announcements dressed as journalism.

We have three sections. Opinion covers what the town actually thinks. Satire covers the things best said with a cartoon of a pig. From the Record covers primary sources, public documents, and things people in public life would sometimes prefer were not documented at all.

The name comes from the Sandgrounder, the nickname for people born and bred in Southport. It is a term of belonging, not exclusion. Visitors are welcome. But this is written by people who have skin in the game.

The name has older roots too. William Conell, an early editor of the Southport Visiter, published under the pseudonym The Sandgrounder. He is buried in Duke Street Cemetery. The tradition of a Sandgrounder holding local institutions to account turns out to be longer than we knew.

The Sandgrounder is owned and produced by Damian Roche, trading as Churchtown Media Ltd (Company No. 16960442), the same team behind siba.digital and southportguide.co.uk. Full disclosure of commercial interests is published at siba.digital/disclosure.

We are not affiliated with Sefton Council, Southport BID, Savills, or any other body with a financial interest in the town's perception. We have no advertising relationships to protect. We have no grant funding to lose.