The market is one institution that has never lost its popularity and has thus proved a good source of revenue for the town. This postcard from 1908 has many interesting features, not least the pleasantly-designed gas lamp in the foreground which would now form a collector’s item. The cattle pens were once filled with beasts brought across on the Irish boats. These have gone, as have the old wooden buildings, which were replaced with a market hall built of Longridge stone. The Whitworth Institute, with steep pitched roof and tall chimneys at its gable ends, became the Fielden Free Library.

‘Open every evening’ refers to the Queen’s Theatre, which billed the celebrities of the day and where lectures and sometimes meetings were held. Land and market rights were eventually sold to the town for £6,750 in 1889, the Commissioners driving a hard bargain, for £500 of that for slaughterhouses.

 Image and text © Catherine Rothwell.

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An article in our last month’s issue brought memories flooding back for Fleetwood man Frank Bee.

In her feature on the town’s Victoria Street, historian Bill Curtis wrote about the buildings in and around this old part of Fleetwood.

Mr Bee, or Dronsfield Road, was born in Victoria Street and spent many of his childhood years in the area.

Brought up by his widowed mother – his father died when he was three – Mr Bee remembers many of the families who lived in Victoria Street.

“We lived there in the 1920s and 1930s. I was the eldest of four boys (one young brother later died when he fell in the boating lake and another died in a drowning tragedy in the River Wyre in 1975),” he explained.

The family lived in the section between the market and North Albert Street. “Neighbours included police sergeant Hart, Miss Dunderdale, the Hayes family, my grandad and grandma Holden, a couple called Smith and an old couple who made excellent ice cream and sold it to the local children.

“Then there was Nellie Jackson who had a sweet shop – she was sister-in-law to Bert Jackson who was a contender for the British featherweight boxing title.

“Across the road between Aughton Street and Custom House Lane lived Bert Jackson’s parents, a lady called Nellie Bolton – who knew all the local gossip – and granny Eaves who used to sit on a stool at her front door.

“Two Robinson families lived in Victoria Street – one near Albert Fould’s Dome of Discovery.

“There was a shop occupied by the Picken family. Mr Picken had a lathe in his cellar and made rollers for mangles.

“Being the eldest lad, I remember I had to turn our washing mangle at home before I could go out to play. I suppose it was only about 10 minutes but to me it seemed an eternity,” he said.

“In the street was also a family called Houston – Billy Houston was bowman on the lifeboat.

“There was a lady called Emmie Stoney and the Smith family.

“The Burns family moved in and started a bakery business.

“A cake shop – on the corner of Custom House Lane – was run by the Jackson family.

“Of course there was the prawn house – in full production in those days – with 4 of my aunties and my mother working there.

“My mother Elsie was the first girl to work in the prawn house shop.”

Mr Bee said he used to go to the prawn house with a “bass” to collect shrimps for picking at home.

“We had to pick for an hour before we went to school and again before we went out to play at tea-time.

“If we were caught eating one there was trouble. My grandma sat at the head of the table surrounded by the rest of the family. It was our only source of income – apart from 21 shillings a week from mother’s widow’s pension which she received after dad died in 1928. He had served in the First World War, been taken prisoner and I don’t think he recovered from that,” added Mr Bee.

“Our rent was 21 shillings and when mother asked our landlady to reduce it by one shilling she refused.

“But I can picture my grandma now – she kept an old-fashioned wooden hairbrush at her right hand.

“Anyone pinching a prawn got a rap across the knuckles,” said Mr Bee and admitted he often suffered from rapped knuckles.

“I also remember taking picked prawns back to the prawn house where of course you had to weigh them in. I was carrying them in a big enamel bowl covered with a towel and I sneaked a few prawns before I got there.

“When I got home and told my mother the weigh-in figure she smacked me across the face – she knew it was short measure!

“Sometimes I thought she must have counted the prawns we picked!” added Mr Bee who said there were quite a few families in the area supplementing their income by prawn picking. “Most of us lads also worked on the nearby market.

“I worked for a farmer called Tom Shorrocks from Wesham – just helping loading and unloading his van.

“He paid in kind – eggs or bits of chicken, potatoes or vegetables. But worth a lot to us.

“It was a close knit community – everyone was friends with everyone else. You could leave your front door open and neighbours used to pop in and out,” recalled Mr Bee.

One memory of Victoria Street is of girls singing all day long in the prawn house.

“We used to help push the cart up and over the railway bridge at the top of Adelaide Street to get the prawns off the boats.

“We carried the baskets to the carts and pushed them back to the prawn house for a feed of ‘throw-outs’,” he added.

When Shirleys’ Cycles opened two of the Bee brothers – Ben and Ken – were among the first customers.

“In those days you bought different parts each week when you could afford it and built up the bicycle – it could take months.”

Another family in the “Street” were the Robbins. “There was a son Bill and daughter Edith.

“I remember Bill was a good boxer and took part in many fights in the market hall when it was used regularly for boxing.

“Yes your article last month certainly stirred memories for my brother Ben and myself,” said Mr Bee.

The family came from Hambleton – great great grandfather Bee moving to Fleetwood in the 1809s with 21 children!

They moved into Aughton Street and an alleyway nearby for the nickname “Bee’s Back”.

“They were hard days – but on reflection happy days,” said Mr Bee.

First published in Life in Fleetwood issue 15, December 1991.

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This postcard from 1925 is of great interest as it shows workmen making the first concrete road in Fleetwood. Known originally as Cemetery Road because it skirted the town’s burial ground which was laid out in 1840, the name was changed to Beach Road. In the background can be seen the Queen’s Hotel, a cafe which was later demolished and part of the old cobble wall from Warren Farm.

Although the farm was knocked down and Shakespeare Road Housing Estate built upon its land, most of this wall remained, perhaps because it was so strongly built it was hard to get rid of. Old residents remembered a character who used to sell parched peas every Sunday afternoon by the gates of Warren Farm.

1929 saw a great outlay in the construction of Broadway e.g. Rainford Potteries and Alex Keay’s Sawmills – fencing timber, also salt-glazed pipes, and on January 10th ‘re-enforced steel for Broadway’. The asphalt surfacing was ordered for March 20th 1929.

Image and text © Catherine Rothwell.

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It was a great day when improved gas mains and supply came to Fleetwood although a Gas Company was formed on 8th October 1840 with Charles Woodbine, foreman and William Woodbine, labourer. Abel Woodbine, ‘labourer’s boy’, was paid four shillings a week. The gas holder then in use was 38 feet in diameter, 18 feet in depth, and there were constant complaints as to quality and supply of gas.

These ladies in Cop Lane about 1910 expect an improvement in town gas. Oil lamps had to be used on innumerable occasions, for Dr Bird, Medical Officer of Health, thought the supply injurious, the purifiers not working, as he had tested samples and found sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid. Mr Beesley, the gas manager, was fined £20 and even in 1918 there were letters complaining of poor street lighting, referring to the new Gas Company.

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Shown in this postcard from the beginning of the century are two of Sir Decimus Burton’s most famous Fleetwood building, the North Euston Hotel and the Lower Lighthouse on the right. The “keep off the grass” notice is being disobeyed, although the top-hatted gentleman approaching in the distance, who may have been a Town Commissioner, would perhaps see to its enforcement.

The blinds of the hotel are drawn as at that time the building was empty. In 1861 it had become Euston Barracks, the first detachment of officers arriving at the new School of Musketry.

In those days the original crescent shape included Bellevue House, built on the corner of Bold Street in 1845. This house belonged to George Laurie, chemist, and was occupied by the Reverend St Vincent Beechey, first incumbent at St Peter’s Church.

Image and text © Catherine Rothwell.

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Many thousands of years ago, Lancashire’s coast line was 50 to 60 feet higher than it is today and geological research proves the existence of submarine forests.

This land covered with oak, birch, fir and ash must have been the stamping ground of wild boar and wolf. Amongst the sandbanks we now see off Fleetwood and the Fylde Coast, roots and trunks of trees have been found. There is little evidence of Neolithic times but sparse settlements of Celtic races and visits from the ‘Northmen’ or Scandinavian raiders occurred.

On the opposite bank of the River Wyre, facing what became Fleetwood-on-Wyre, Northman Haakon set up his longhouse which came down to us as Hackensall Hall.

Possibly the Romans were here. A road typical of their making was found beneath sand when Fleetwood’s sea wall was made. Some believe that this road connected the ancient harbour of Portus Setantiorum at the mouth of the Wyre. Known as Danes Pad and passing through Fylde villages towards Poulton and Kirkham, alongside it have been unearthed spears, axes, coins, urns and a shield boss, the latter now in the British Museum.

The land on which Fleetwood stands belonged to the wapentake or hundred of Amounderness mentioned in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book of 1086.

Three pages of Latin abbreviations and strange yet recognisable spellings tell that the region was sparsely populated, laid waste and the property of baron Roger de Poictou, his share in the spoils as one of William’s mercenaries at the Battle of Hastings. He was later banished and Amounderness given to Theobald Walter, another Norman and founder of Cockersand Abbey, across the river from Fleetwood.

Over the centuries, the land passed to the Crown but Henry VIII sold it in the course of the dissolution of the monasteries. Edmund Fleetwood was the first of the name to reside at Rossall Hall as lord of the manor but it was his descendant Peter Hesketh who put Fleetwood on the map. Interestingly, it was another descendant who, with others, signed King Charles I’s death warrant. He was called General George Fleetwood.

In the 1830s Peter Hesketh’s Rossall estate was a desolate tract, home of thousands of rabbits and sea birds.

A line of marram-grass clad dunes culminating in the Mount of today disappeared, for the sea continually encroached. Extensive flooding occurred in 1833 when cattle and horses were drowned and outbuildings at Rossall Hall were damaged.

However, Peter, lord of the manor, High Sheriff of the County of Lancashire (later to be knighted and change his name to Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood) had good reasons for believing that the site held the makings of a busy sea port and popular resort.

A river mouth, a natural sheltered harbour (‘safe as Wyre Water’ passed into the folklore), golden sands, sea, air like wine and breath-taking views across Morecambe Bay on clear days. All that lacked was a railway from busy Preston.

In the face of deep personal sadness and heavy financial loss he determined to make Fleetwood a success.

A single line railway from Preston opened on 15th July, 1840, following the formation of the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. In the meantime, houses, hotels and wharf had been built. It was essentially a planned town, unlike others flung up during the Industrial Revolution.

A famous architect and friend of Peter’s (as was Queen Victoria), Decimus Burton had wide thoroughfares marked out by plough, radiating from the Mount which was grassed over.

Originally Starr Hill, the highest in the chain of dunes, it became a focal point. A summer house was placed on top from which Esau Carter Monk, one of the first town commissioners, dispensed refreshments.

The North Euston Hotel and the lovely Regency houses on Queen’s Terrace were part of the brave design. (To discover where Sir Decimus Burton took a house, consult the Fleetwood Town Trail).

As the new town grew with houses, shops, church, school and boarding houses visitors crowded in for sea-bathing, scenery, sands and dancing in the Mount hollow. Trips for workers’ regattas were planned. Wealthy visitors stayed on Upper Queen’s Terrace from three weeks to three months. Breakfast at the North Euston was two shillings, a bedroom four shillings a day.

During Whitsuntide Week of 1844 thousands of tripper travelled on the half fares offered by the railway company. Figures topped 60,000, the largest Sunday School trip in 1846 carrying 4,200 in 56 carriages pulled by 2 engines.

These were boom years, but a branch line to Blackpool later persuaded large numbers away from Fleetwood. Peter’s unscrupulous agent, Frederick Kemp, also contributed to his failing fortune.

Although never a declared bankrupt, that was to be the fate of his only surviving child Louis, Peter had expended so much of a large fortune he had to lease out and later sell Rossall Hall. The sale of goods lasted a fortnight. He went abroad and later settled in Brighton.

Control was rested in the township. Improvement Acts for starting the famous market, for paving, lighting and cleansing were passed. Isle of Man sailings were extended, steamers travelled to Londonderry, Belfast and Ardrossan. A fleet of fishing smacks built up the town’s reputation for hake catches.

Fleetwood became the third largest fishing port in the country. Two lighthouses and the fearless reputation of its lifeboat men made news in many a fierce storm. In a short history, important events have to be omitted but the visit of Queen Victoria in 1847 made headlines in the Illustrated London News showing the sweep of Queen’s Terrace and much of Burton’s architecture as backdrop for the crinolines.

The Dock, costing £250,000, was opened in 1877, the sea defences completed in 1962. The worst flood occurred in 1927 when six people died. In 1933 Fleetwood became a Borough and with attractions and amenities increasing, it rates high for a healthy family holiday.

Hostage of the Cod Wars, commercial fishing has inevitably declined but an indefinable, raw quality, a sense of history is floated in the oyster catchers’ calls as the tide ebbs. The pioneering thoughts of Sir Peter or the anxious thoughts going out to trawler men on winter seas in their dangerous calling? A nostalgic compounding of many things, Fleetwood-on-Wyre remains a fascinating place with a great past and hopefully a great future.

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I like the new Ash Street layout! The Fisherman’s Walk – with the beautiful clock tower and trawling artefacts have transformed a main thoroughfare of our town.

The scheme has brought a touch of class to an area which was drab and a hotchpotch of roads.

Congratulations to all who designed, created and paid for it!

Let’s hope more can be done to brighten up the rest of Lord Street.

After all it is our main street and through the years hasn’t changed much. Shops have changed and Fleetwood folk have fond memories of a bustling Lord Street and equally busy Dock Street.

Another street which runs parallel to Lord Street and Dock Street is Blakiston Street.

This is a wonderful wide street but it has changed its character, at least a dozen corner shops have disappeared.

It was the new St Mary’s Roman Catholic School which prompted my thoughts. I remember the old one – in the fifties – when Mr Drummond was headmaster and this was his domain.

Next door to the school was the Co-operative Dairy with its white tiled facade and the fascinating view of the milk bottling process. And behind there were the stables where the horses which pulled the coal carts lived.

And with 3 schools on its length, Blakiston was always thronging with children. Besides St Mary’s – with pupils streaming up the street – there was Blakiston and Milton Schools – with pupils streaming down Blakiston Street. Now Blakiston School has been demolished and Milton is no longer a school. The infant school was pulled down in the 1980s amid many protests.

St Margaret’s Church has been replaced by a block of flats, King Street and Queen Street – full of quaint cottages have gone.

And the shops! Well, nearly every corner had one! A favourite with the children was Coulbourn’s Haberdashery on Poulton Street corner. You could buy baby cooling powder for one penny – a substitute for sweets!

Three shops once stood where the Spar shop is. There was Haffey’s Newsagents on Mount Street corner, Cowen’s haberdashery and drapers, and Harrisons the grocers. Across the road was Alban’s the clog shop – a source of great interest to the children.

Yes Blakiston Street was a shopping centre in itself. You could buy almost anything from one of its many shops. It served its community well. The only shop which has kept its character and appearance is the men’s barbers on the corner of Warren Street, run by Ken Wray whose father Carl established the business.

Yes times change – but our memories remain!

First published in Life in Fleetwood issue 38, autumn 1995.

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Taken over 50 years ago, this view of Fleetwood’s Marine Gardens will bring back memories for many local folk.

As a picture postcard this scene was sent by holidaymakers all over the country.

Central to its appeal are the wonderful flower beds and well kept garden. Notice the decorative lights – and the railings around the Mount.

The sunken rose garden to the left was always a favourite spot with both visitors and locals. It provided a quiet sheltered spot and its transformation to a car park caused a row in the port as locals fought to retain this little corner of Fleetwood.

Today, apart from the central path and steps, nothing is left of the lawns and flowerbeds. The area serves as a car park for the swim and leisure centre.

First published in Life in Fleetwood issue 38, autumn 1995.

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