Monday 23 May 2011

By boat and tram to Blackpool

We had relatives who lived at Knott End-on-Sea, on the opposite side of the Wyre Estuary from Fleetwood.  The highlight of our visits was the trip to Blackpool.

We would use the ferry to cross the water to Fleetwood.  Lovely on a sunny calm day, rather a different proposition when it was raining and a howling gale blowing in off Morecambe Bay. Strong nerves and stomach required.  The Bourne Arms Hotel, a few yards from the Knott End jetty provided a welcoming haven for many a traveller before and after the crossing. 

I came across a website with many photographs of the ferry.  Click here for the link.

Fleetwood had a large trawler fleet and it was indeed a treat to have fish and chips,  the fish having been collected the same day from Fleetwood dock.

The tram was a short walk from the Fleetwood jetty.  What a bumpy journey.  In those days the standard of track maintenance was poor and the double-deck trams would lurch alarmingly between Cleveleys and Bispham.

Blackpool was as tatty and run-down then as it is now.  The railways still conveyed most of the holidaymakers to the resort. Blackpool Central, close to the Tower, was a huge station.  The other terminus in Blackpool, Blackpool North had lost its services to Fleetwood and was a much quieter and smaller station.  The Beeching Report did for Blackpool Central and it was bulldozed, trains being diverted  either to Blackpool North or Blackpool South which had been the first station out of Blackpool Central.

No comments:

Post a Comment