Fleetwood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See Fleetwood (disambiguation) for other meanings

Fleetwood
Fleetwood - The Marine Hall and Gardens from the Mount
Fleetwood shown within Lancashire
Population	26,840
OS grid reference	SD333479
District	Wyre
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FLEETWOOD
Postcode district	FY7
Dialling code	01253
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Blackpool North and Fleetwood
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°55′23″N 3°00′54″W / 53.923, -3.015

Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It has a population of 26,840 people as of the 2001 Census.^[1] It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era. For most of the twentieth century, Fleetwood was a prominent deep-sea fishing port, but, since the 1970s, the fishing industry has declined precipitously and the town has undergone economic difficulties. Fleetwood is also a seaside resort, serving as a quiet contrast to nearby Blackpool.

Contents 1 Location and Geography 1.1 Topography 1.2 Climate 2 History 3 Economy and Industry 4 Government and Politics 5 Demographics 6 Culture 6.1 Tourism and Amenities 6.2 Museums 6.3 Churches 6.4 Other Buildings 6.5 Media 6.6 Festivals 6.7 Sport 7 Transport 8 Education 9 Miscellany 10 Notable people 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Location and Geography

[edit] Topography

Fleetwood is located on the Fylde peninsula, eight miles (13 km) north of Blackpool, on the western side of the mouth of the River Wyre. The town itself is on a peninsula, almost two miles (3 km) wide, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea, to the north by Morecambe Bay, and to the east by the River Wyre. Access to Fleetwood is thus restricted, and for many years there were only two roads into and out of the town. A large sandbank, the North Wharf, extends some two and a quarter miles north into Morecambe Bay, and is exposed at low tide. The river channel forms the eastern boundary of the bank, and, together with the larger Bernard Wharf on the other side of the river, this makes navigation of the river difficult. Conversely, the port is highly sheltered from the prevailing westerly winds.

Like the remainder of the Fylde, the land is extremely flat, the highest point being The Mount, a large sand-dune in the northern part of the town, which was the original centre from which the town radiated. Parts of Fleetwood, especially to the north and west, are barely above sea level at high tide, and a large retaining sea-wall runs along much of the western edge of the town. Nevertheless, Fleetwood was flooded in 1927, and again in 1977. The latter flood, although much smaller, affected more properties as there had been considerable development in the 1960s in the lower-lying parts of the town. The soil is broadly sandy, but there is considerable marsh-land to the south and east, by the river. The town itself encompasses an area of just under four square miles.

[edit] Climate

In common with the rest of the coastal areas of the UK, Fleetwood has an maritime climate. Prevailing winds and weather patterns are north-westerly, leading to a slightly higher average precipitation than the country as a whole, although the absence of high ground in the immediate vicinity moderates this. As with most coastal areas, frost and snow are uncommon. Temperatures are close to the national average.^[2]

Weather averages for Fleetwood, England, United Kingdom
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6.8 (44)	7.1 (45)	9.1 (48)	11.6 (53)	15.2 (59)	17.3 (63)	19.4 (67)	19.4 (67)	17 (63)	13.7 (57)	9.8 (50)	7.6 (46)	12.9 (55)
Average low °C (°F)	1.7 (35)	1.6 (35)	3.1 (38)	4.2 (40)	6.9 (44)	10 (50)	12.4 (54)	12.3 (54)	10.2 (50)	7.3 (45)	4.3 (40)	2.5 (37)	6.4 (44)
Precipitation mm (inches)	81.1 (3.2)	58.7 (2.3)	68.3 (2.7)	48.9 (1.9)	49 (1.9)	59.8 (2.4)	59.5 (2.3)	73.4 (2.9)	82.5 (3.2)	97.9 (3.9)	94 (3.7)	98.3 (3.9)	871.3 (34.3)
Source: UK Met. Office [3] 2008-05-22

[edit] History

Ptolemy's Geographia in the 2nd century AD records a tribe known as the Setantii living in what is believed to be present-day West Lancashire, and a seaport called PORTVS SETANTIORVM ('the port of the Setantii') abutting Moricambe Aestuarium (presumably Morecambe Bay). This, together with evidence of a Roman road running from Ribchester to Kirkham (twelve miles south-east of Fleetwood) which then makes a sharp turn to the northwest, suggests that Fleetwood may well have been the location of this Roman port. However, no direct evidence has been found.

There is evidence that the eastern side of the River Wyre was occupied during the Danish invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries, and by the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the land on which Fleetwood now stands was part of the Hundred of Amounderness.

A Manor House at present-day Rossall, in the southwest of the town, was in the possession of the Allen family by the time of Henry VIII. The Allens were prominent Roman Catholics, and Henry VIII repossessed the land. Cardinal William Allen was born at the Manor House in 1532. It was ultimately sold to Thomas Fleetwood, Comptroller of the Royal Mint, whose son Edmund, expanded the house into Rossall Hall. The land remained in the Fleetwood family for 300 years.

By the 1830s, the house and estate was in the ownership of Edmund's descendant Peter Hesketh, High Sheriff of the County of Lancashire and MP for Preston, who later changed his name to (Sir) Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. A man of somewhat liberal views for his time, Hesketh believed that the sheltered harbour and views over Morecambe Bay gave the area the makings of a busy sea port and popular resort for the less-affluent. With no rail link between London and Scotland, He envisaged Fleetwood as the transfer point between the rail and the steamers to Scotland, and set about encouraging a railway link from Preston. In 1836, after considering the names Wyreton and New Liverpool he named the new town Fleetwood, and hired his friend, the prominent architect Decimus Burton, to lay out what would be the first planned town of the Victorian era.

Burton's plan was that of a half-wheel along the sea-front, with the Mount as the hub, the main residential streets as the spokes, and the main commerce areas (originally East Street and West Street, now Lord Street and North Albert Street) as the rim of the wheel. The oldest surviving building in the town, once the Custom House, later the Town Hall, and latterly Fleetwood Museum, dates from 1838 and housing stock from as early as 1839 still exists in the town. The crown jewel was the North Euston Hotel, built in 1841, a fine semi-circular building close to the railway station. This was to mark the northernmost point of the train service from Euston, and the point of departure for the steamers to Scotland. This journey was made by Queen Victoria in 1847, but by the mid-1850s the completion of the western railway link between London and Scotland over Shap Fell rendered Fleetwood's role as a transportation terminus obsolete.

Burton designed two lighthouses for the town, the Pharos and Beach Lighthouse, both opened in 1840. Ships sailing down the Wyre channel line up the two lights, one above the other, to guide them. The Pharos is the only functioning lighthouse in the United Kingdom (UK) built in the middle of the street. It now forms a traffic roundabout. A third lighthouse, Wyre Light, was built in the 1840s by Alexander Mitchell offshore on the north-east corner of North Wharf. Fleetwood Market, still a prominent permanent market, first opened in 1840.

By 1844, Hesketh had run into serious financial difficulties. He had engaged Frederick Kemp as his agent and the two had considerable financial differences of opinion. Kemp borrowed against the estate revenues to finance the expansion of the town, and Hesketh became over-leveraged. He was obliged to sell much of the estate, together with Rossall Hall itself. The Hall was taken over by Rev. St Vincent Beechey and converted into a Church of England boarding school, designed as a Northern equivalent of Beachey's Marlborough School and later to become Rossall School. By 1847, Hesketh was virtually bankrupt and retired to Brighton. Meanwhile, Kemp's influence expanded. He set up the Fleetwood Estates Company to manage the land, and the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company in 1843 to manage the expanding steamer trade. However, by the late 1850s, the combination of the new western railway route and the rise of neighbouring Blackpool as a prominent seaside resort signalled a decline in the town's fortunes.

From the 1860s Fleetwood expanded its port activities. Steamers began pleasure and commercial services to the Isle of Man, Ardrossan, and Belfast. Half a mile of stone quays were built along the riverfront, and the railway line was extended to the steamer pier opposite Queen's Terrace, where an imposing new passenger station was built in 1883. The port was still mainly a cargo terminal at this time, but the fishing industry began to grow as vessels expanded their catchment area from the Irish Sea fishing grounds first fished in the 1840s, to the haddock grounds of the North Atlantic Ocean. At this time, all the fishing vessels out of Fleetwood were sail-powered fishing smacks, few being over 40 tons deadweight. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company constructed Wyre Dock in 1877, and heavy industry came to the area in the late 1880s with the construction of a salt-processing works on the South-Eastern edge of the town by the Fleetwood Salt Co. Ltd, utilizing salt mined in Preesall, across the river.

By the early 1890s, the construction and expansion of rival cargo ports in the North-West and the building of the Manchester Ship Canal heralded the decline of Fleetwood's prominence as a cargo port. However, this was more than offset by a simultaneous period of rapid expansion the fishing industry, signalled by the launch in 1891 of the first steam-powered trawler, the Lark. All the other major fishing ports in Britain, Hull, Grimsby and Aberdeen, were on the east coast, so there was a competitive advantage for a west-coast port with good rail links. By the turn of the century, Fleetwood's position as one of the three major fishing ports in England was cemented. James Marr brought a fleet of steam trawlers to Fleetwood and actively started to change the port by selectively fishing for hake, which until then had been treated as a much less desirable catch. Much of the housing stock in the old area of town around The Mount and Lord Street was built in the 1890s. In keeping with the thriving economy, these terraced houses were large for their era. An electric tramway link to Blackpool was constructed in the 1890s and remains operational to this day. Fleetwood is the only town in Britain with trams running the full length of its main street, sharing road-space with cars. Plans for a pier were first made in the 1890s but building did not start until 1909 and it was opened in 1910.

By the 1920s, the fishing industry was at its height, employing over 9,000 people. Over the next few years, the sea front along the north shore was developed in resort fashion, to encourage visitors for whom the brashness of Blackpool was too daunting. The Marine Hall entertainment complex (1935), golf course (1931) and Model Yacht Pond (1932) all date from this era. In the 1920s, the salt works, by now owned by the United Alkali Company (after 1926 part of ICI), was considerably expanded, and became an ammonia-processing plant. ICI built an adjacent chemical processing plant, known as ICI Hillhouse. ICI would become the town's third-largest employer, after the fishing and tourism industries.

The town was hit by a huge flood in October 1927, which put 90% of the area of the town under water. Only the higher lying areas around the Mount escaped. Additional housing was built in the 1920s and 1930s in the less developed central areas of the town, and a further development boom occurred in the 1960s in the lower lying western portion of the town (Larkholme). Many industries ancillary to fishing grew up along the rail corridor on the eastern side of the town, and a number of unrelated industries also moved to the area to take advantage of the availability of labour.

By the 1960s, however, Fleetwood began to decline economically. The last ferry to the Isle of Man sailed in 1961. The sailings have been revived periodically since. The main railway station was closed in 1966 as a result of the Beeching cuts, and the passenger terminus was moved to Wyre Dock station. This in turn was closed in 1970, as the branch line from Poulton was taken out of service. Additional light industry developed along the former railway bed. The rise of package holidays abroad led to fewer visitors generally to British resort towns. As Blackpool expanded its attractions, fewer day visitors came to Fleetwood, and as transportation became more efficient, more overnight visitors became day visitors. The Hillhouse plant was heavily downsized, and was finally closed in 1999. Most serious, however, was the collapse of the fishing industry, which was largely destroyed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Cod Wars, a dispute over fishing rights between Iceland and the UK. As Fleetwood's trawlers mainly fished the North Atlantic Ocean in search of cod, the loss of the fishing grounds hit the town hard. The last deep sea trawler left the town in 1982 and now only inshore fishing boats fish out of the port, although trawlers registered in other places can still be seen taking advantage of the fish market. Fish is still a big industry in the town, though the jobs are mainly in processing rather than fishing. A pair of bronze figures on the Promenade by the pier reflect the idea of families welcoming back the fishermen from sea.

In 1973, the area around the old railway station was developed into a container port facility, with P & O operating container service to Larne in Northern Ireland. In 1975, this became a ro-ro service. This development led indirectly to some renewal of the then largely derelict Dock Street area, and improved road access to the town to support the container traffic. Twice-daily container service continued until 2004 when Stena Line bought the route and increased the service to three times a day.^[4]

Since the 1970s there have been several attempts to enhance Fleetwood's economic profile, In 1995, the now-deserted Wyre Dock was developed into a marina. The derelict dock landing area was developed into Fleetwood Freeport, a retail centre, and housing has been built at the north end of the marina. Most recently, in July 2007, a new Masterplan for revitalizing the waterfront and town centre was submitted to the Wyre Borough Council.

[edit] Economy and Industry

Fleetwood's economy still revolves around the traditional areas of fishing, tourism, port activity and light industry, but since the early 1970s the town has continued to struggle economically. A Government report in 2006 stated that three of the towns five wards fall into the 5% to 10% most deprived wards in England.^[5]

The same Government report noted that the demise of the fishing industry cost Fleetwood some 8,000 jobs, employment in fishing-related industries falling from 9,000 to less than 1,000, mostly in the fish-processing sector. The closure of the ICI Hillhouse works cost the region a further 4,500 jobs. Industrial and commercial development has been at a standstill for fifteen years and only a single commercial employer based in the town has more than 200 employees. The stock of both commercial and residential property is in decline.^[5]

While Wyre Borough in general has a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the United Kingdom, Fleetwood's is considerably higher. Using figures indicating benefit claimants as a percentage of total population (usually considered to be about half the 'actual' unemployment rate)^[6] the figures for August 2007 are^[7]

	Male	Female	Total
United Kingdom	3.2%	1.4%	2.3%
Lancashire	2.6%	1.0%	1.8%
Wyre	1.8%	0.8%	1.3%
Fleetwood	3.9%	1.4%	2.7%

Average household income as of August 2007 is as follows)^[8]

	Average household income in £
United Kingdom	33,700
Lancashire	31,200
Wyre	30,900
Fleetwood	27,350

The town's largest and most prominent single employer is Lofthouse's of Fleetwood, Ltd., manufacturers of Fisherman's Friend — a menthol lozenge popular worldwide and especially in Japan.

In July 2007, a new Masterplan for revitalizing the town around a vibrant waterfront and a revitalized town centre was submitted to the Wyre Borough Council. Some of the funding would come from an EU cash grant. The Masterplan was funded by Wyre Council, the Northwest Development Agency and English Heritage.^[9] The plan has three main areas for development:

• Transport - Improvements to the A585 link road. Restoration of the railway link including a new railway station in Fleetwood. Improved links to the riverside coastal paths and Fleetwood Marsh Nature Reserve.^[9]

• Seafront scene transformation - New waterfront environment with housing, beach sports, family area and bigger entertainment attractions. The original plan placed housing on land opposite the Mount Hotel on land currently used as a nine hole pitch and putt course, but, after opposition from residents, this part of the plan was dropped.^[10] The waterfront would have a discovery and entertainment centre focused around a re-fashioned Marine Hall, with better health and fitness facilities nearby.^[9]

• Attractive new look for centre - The Masterplan includes plans for more open spaces and more national name shops on Lord Street, with Albert Square and Station Road earmarked as public squares. A new landmark square and heart of the town is proposed on both Lord Street and London Street with cafes, bars and restaurants.^[9]

[edit] Government and Politics

Since the Local Government Act 1972, effective April 1, 1974, Fleetwood has been part of the Borough of Wyre, together with the neighbouring communities of Thornton Cleveleys and Poulton-le-Fylde, the Over Wyre villages, and Garstang. The administrative headquarters is in Poulton-le-Fylde. The borough is a constituent part of Lancashire County Council. The council has a Conservative majority. Prior to 1974, Fleetwood had been a Municipal Borough since 1933, and from 1894 to 1933, an Urban District. The town is divided into five wards, Mount, Pharos, Warren, Park and Rossall.

Fleetwood has been part of the Blackpool North and Fleetwood parliamentary constituency since 1997. During that time the seat has been held by Labour's Joan Humble. Prior to 1997, Fleewood was part of the constituencies of Fylde North and Wyre, whose boundaries more closely matched those of Wyre Borough, and which consistently returned a Conservative member. As of the next general election, Fleetwood will be separated from Thornton, Poulton and Blackpool, and joined with Lancaster and some Over Wyre locations to form the new Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2001 Census, Fleetwood had a population of 26,840. This is a decline of about 6% from the figures in 1971, at a time when the overall population of the Borough of Wyre rose by 11%.^[11]

Wyre Borough is 98.8% Caucasian in ethnic makeup. The remainder is split between South Asian (0.4%), Mixed race (0.4%) Black (0.1%) and Other (0.3%)^[12]

[edit] Culture

[edit] Tourism and Amenities

The town's most prominent feature is The Mount - a seven-acre (3 hectare) park facing the sea-front, laid out by Decimus Burton, and built on a large sand-dune originally known as Tup's Hill. It is surmounted by a pavilion built in 1902 incorporating a clock added in 1919. The wall on the inland side of The Mount is built from pebbles, in traditional Fylde style.^[13] Directly across The Esplanade from the Mount lies The Marine Hall and Marine Gardens, Wyre Borough's largest entertainment venue, opened in 1935.^[14]

Fleetwood Pier, also known as the Victoria Pier, was built in 1910 at the end of the golden age of pier building. At 492 feet (150 m) in length, it is one of the shortest piers in the country. Currently closed, it has been at various times an amusement complex, bar and dance hall. In 1952 the pier was badly damaged in a fire which started in the cinema, and it did not reopen until 1958. Plans exist to convert the structure into an apartment complex.^[15]

Fleetwood has two prominent retail locations. Freeport Fleetwood, opened in 1995, is a waterfront outlet shopping village, on the site of the former Wyre Dock, with 45 shops in a Marina setting. Freeport was re-branded and re-launched in 2006 at a cost of £8.6M.^[16] Fleetwood Market on Victoria Street is one of the largest covered markets in the North-West, with over 250 stalls. It was first opened in 1840, although the present stone building dates from 1892.^[17]

[edit] Museums

Fleetwood Museum lies on Queens Terrace. The building, designed by Decimus Burton, was completed in 1838 and is the oldest extant building in Fleetwood. It was originally the Customs House, and from 1894 to 1974, it served as Fleetwood Town Hall, until local government activity was moved to Poulton. The Museum tells the story of the fishing industry in the town.^[18][7] In January 2006, the museum was threatened with closure by owners Lancashire County Council (LCC).^[19] However, volunteers helped re-launch the museum in April 2007, setting up the Fleetwood Museum Trust to run the museum in partnership with LCC for twelve months with the intention of the trust eventually running the museum themselves.^[20] The Museum also operates The Jacinta, the town's heritage trawler, stationed in the Wyre Dock Marina and open for public viewing throughout the year.^[21] Built in 1972, it was moved to Hull in 1982, before being handed over to the Jacinta Charitable Trust in 1995 when restoration work began on the trawler.^[22]

[edit] Churches

Fleetwood's Parish Church, St Peter's, designed by Decimus Burton in 1841, stands at the corner of Lord Street and North Albert Street. It formerly had a spire, but this was demolished in 1904.^[23] St Mary's, the town's senior Roman Catholic church, stands nearby. Built in 1867, it was designed by E.W. Pugin. A more modern church of interest is the copper-roofed St Nicholas, on Poulton Road, designed by Laurence King and completed in 1962.^[24]

[edit] Other Buildings

Numerous other buildings designed by Decimus Burton remain in the town. Most prominent are The Pharos and Lower Lighthouses, opened in 1840; the North Euston Hotel, opened in 1841; and Queen's Terrace, completed in 1844 and regarded as an outstanding example of classical architecture. Now mostly accommodating offices and private flats, at various times it has been used as a school, hospital, railway offices and wartime consulates for European Nations.

[edit] Media

The Fleetwood Weekly News.^[25] is, as its name implies, a weekly newspaper covering the town and the North Fylde Area. The newspaper was founded in 1984, as a successor to the Fleetwood Chronicle, which had ceased publication several weeks earlier.^[26] The Chronicle itself, founded in 1843, was the oldest newspaper in the Fylde. Daily newspaper coverage is provided by the Blackpool Gazette.^[27] Both papers are published by Johnston Press. The Lancashire Evening Post is an independent daily evening newspaper covering the county of Lancashire.

Fleetwood falls within the coverage area of BBC Radio Lancashire. Commercial radio stations serving the area include Radio Wave broadcasting from Blackpool, 97.4 Rock FM and Magic 999 broadcasting from Preston, and Smooth FM 100.4 and 105.4 Century FM broadcasting from Greater Manchester.

Independent television service is provided by Granada - the ITV franchise holder for the North West region. BBC North West is the regional BBC station serving Fleetwood.

[edit] Festivals

The Fylde Folk Festival is held each year at the Marine Hall and other venues in the town. It is a festival of traditional and contemporary folk music, song and dance. The 2007 festival, which ran from 31 August to 2nd September, was the festival's 35th anniversary.^[28] The opening concert each year is staged aboard Jacinta, the towns heritage trawler.^[28] The 2008 festival is set to run from 29 - 31 August.^[29]

Fleetwood Transport Festival, also known as Tram Sunday, has been held annually on the third Sunday of July since 1985. It is a festival of vintage vehicles highlighted by the presence of a number of historical tram-cars which parade along Lord Street.^[30]

[edit] Sport

Fleetwood has had several football clubs over its history. The current club, dating from 1997, is now known as Fleetwood Town F.C.,^[31] and, as 2007-08 Northern Premier League Premier Division champions, will play in the Conference North in 2008-09. A previous incarnation of Fleetwood Town F.C. enjoyed a brief history from 1977, reaching the final of the FA Vase in 1985, before being wound up because of financial difficulties in 1996.^[31] The same fate also befell the two previous town clubs. Fleetwood F.C. was founded in 1908 and wound up in 1976, having been several times Lancashire Combination cup champions in the 1930s, and founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968.^[31] Fleetwood Rangers, the town's first club, spent ten seasons in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Combination from 1889 to 1899.^[32] Since 1934, home games have been played at Highbury Stadium. Blackpool F.C. Reserves also use the stadium for their home matches.

Speedway racing was staged at Highbury Stadium from 1948 to 1952, with Fleetwood Flyers riding in the Second Division of the National Speedway league.^[33][34] The Flyers started the 1948 season as Wigan Warriors but moved to Fleetwood after racing a few away fixtures billed as Wigan. The Flyers raced in the National League Division Two from 1948 to 1951 without enjoying any great success. In 1952 the venue staged a number of open events with the team re-named the Fleetwood Knights.^[35] Details of the meetings at Fleetwood can be found on www.speedwayresearcher,org.uk An odd fact about Fleetwood Speedway is that it was visited by the young John Lennon who holidayed with relatives in the town.

Fleetwood Rugby Union Football Club is an amateur Rugby union club, first registered in 1932 as Fleetwood Old Boys, with the Old Boys title being dropped in the 1950s.^[36] Fleetwood Cricket Club, based at Broadwater, are affiliated with the Lancashire Cricket Board and compete in the Northern League.^[37]

From the 1930s to the present, the Model Yacht Pond, one of Europe's largest, has been host to numerous National and International Championships, held under the aegis of the Fleetwood Model Yacht and Power Boat Club.^[38]

Fleetwood Reservoir on Copse Road also provides the local community with coarse fishing facilities. The fishing club club is affiliated to the National Federation of Anglers. Matches are run every Sunday and Friday during the summer months.

Fleetwood is a popular location for kitesurfing and other powerkite sports. There are several suitable beaches and training is available at the local kite school.^[39]

[edit] Transport

Fleetwood lies at the northern end of the Blackpool tramway, which is operated by Blackpool Transport.^[40] It is about 12 miles (19 km) from Fleetwood to the southern terminus at Starr Gate, and about 8 miles (13 km) to Talbot Square, Blackpool. Trams run the full length of both Lord Street and North Albert Street, undivided from regular road traffic, cars passing trams on the curb side. Bus service to Blackpool is provided by Blackpool Transport and Ribble, who also provide service to Preston and other local destinations.

There are frequent ferry sailings from Fleetwood across the River Wyre to Knott End-on-Sea.

Passenger sailings to Douglas are not currently on regular operational schedule. Ferries were operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company from 1876 to 1961, and again periodically from 1971. However, in recent years the service has been restricted to once or twice per year. Since 2004, however, Stena Line has provided some passenger accommodation on its thrice daily service to Larne in Northern Ireland.

The town being built on a peninsula, for many years there were only two roads into and out of Fleetwood; Broadway/Rossall Road, through Cleveleys, designated as the A587, and Fleetwood Road, through Thornton, designated as the A585. To cater for container traffic, the dual-carriageway Amounderness Way was built in the late 1970s and re-designated as the A585. In the 1990s, Amounderness Way was extended into town to the end of Dock Street along the former railway bed.

The town was for several years the northern terminus of the railway line to London, hence the hotel opposite the site of the now demolished Fleetwood railway station is called The North Euston. There has been no railway service to Fleetwood since 1970. Poulton-le-Fylde or Blackpool North are the nearest stations.

[edit] Education

The most prominent school in Fleetwood is Rossall School,^[41] a co-educational, independent, day and boarding school catering to ages 5 to 18. It was founded in 1844 on the site of Rossall Hall in the south west of the town. The only tertiary educational institution in Fleetwood is the Nautical Campus of Blackpool and The Fylde College, located at Broadwater.

There are two public-sector secondary schools in the town. Fleetwood Sports College (formerly Fleetwood High School)^[42] on Broadway was founded in 1977 as a comprehensive non-denominational secondary school, a successor to Fleetwood Grammar School (1921-77) and Bailey School. It was ‘re-branded’ as Fleetwood Sports College in 2005 when the school was given Specialist school status in sport. Cardinal Allen Catholic High School^[43] is a Roman Catholic high school, founded in 1963 as a secondary modern school.

Fleetwood has seven public sector primary schools. Chaucer Community Primary School^[44] serves the oldest part of the town, around the Mount. Shakespeare Primary School serves the north-west part of the town. Flakefleet Primary School^[45] serves the south-central Flakefleet area. Charles Saer Primary School and Larkholme Primary School serve the western part of the town, around West View and Larkholme. Additionally, there are two Roman Catholic primary schools: St Mary’s,^[46] founded in 1870, and serving the northern part of the town, and St Wulstan’s and St Edmund's, serving the southern part of the town and formed in 2006 from a merger of two existing schools.

The town is also home to a large public library, which as well as lending print and audio-visual material also has an extensive reference and local studies collection.^[47]

[edit] Miscellany

Fleetwood was a holiday destination for a young John Lennon.^[48] Alan Partridge writer Peter Baynham is a former student of the Nautical College.^[49] Novelist Robert Carter was educated at the former Grammar School.^[50]

The town was the home of the first fully automated telephone exchange in Britain, put in operation on July 15, 1922.^[51]

The town is featured in the supernatural horror novel A Haunted Man, by Stuart Neild. Scenes set in Fleetwood include a haunted tram ride and a ghostly visitation on Fleetwood Pier.

[edit] Notable people

• William Cardinal Allen - English Catholic priest and cardinal.
• Alfie Boe - Operatic tenor.
• Stuart Chatwood - The Tea Party bass player and videogame soundtrack composer.
• Jane Couch - former Women's International Boxing Federation welterweight champion.
• Kelsey-Beth Crossley - Emmerdale actress.
• Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood - landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, best known as the founder of Fleetwood.
• Percy C. Mather - pioneer English Protestant Christian missionary to China, the second China Inland Mission missionary to Eastern Turkestan.
• Wes Newton - Professional Darts player, born in Blackpool, now resides in Fleetwood.
• Charles Kay Ogden - English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Inventor and propagator of Basic English.
• Jean Rigby - Operatic mezzo-soprano.
• George Smith - former professional footballer for Manchester City.
• Harry Stirzaker - former professional footballer for Blackpool.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Local authority - Wyre Borough Council
• Fleetwood Freeport official website
• Fleetwood Museum Trust website
• Fleetwood Resevoir Angling Club website

v • d • e Ceremonial county of Lancashire North West England Portal Unitary authorities Blackpool • Blackburn with Darwen Boroughs or districts City of Lancaster • City of Preston • Borough of Burnley • Borough of Chorley • Borough of Fylde • Borough of Hyndburn • Borough of Pendle • Borough of Ribble Valley • Borough of Rossendale • Borough of South Ribble • Borough of Wyre • District of West Lancashire Cities and towns Accrington • Adlington • Bacup • Barnoldswick • Blackburn • Blackpool • Brierfield • Burnley • Carnforth • Central Lancashire • Chorley • Clayton-le-Moors • Cleveleys • Clitheroe • Colne • Darwen • Earby • Fleetwood • Garstang • Great Harwood • Haslingden • Kirkham • Lancaster • Leyland • Longridge • Lytham St Annes • Morecambe • Nelson • Ormskirk • Oswaldtwistle • Padiham • Penwortham • Poulton-le-Fylde • Preston • Ramsbottom • Rawtenstall • Rishton • Skelmersdale • Thornton • Whitworth  See also: List of civil parishes in Lancashire Topics Places • Parliamentary constituencies •Schools