Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Fleetwood shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Fleetwood offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Fleetwood at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Fleetwood? Wrong! If the Fleetwood is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Fleetwood then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Fleetwood? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Fleetwood and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Fleetwood wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Fleetwood then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Fleetwood site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Fleetwood, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Fleetwood, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

See Fleetwood (disambiguation) for other meanings {{Infobox UK place| official_name= Fleetwood |map_type= Lancashire | country= England | map_type= Lancashire | region= North West England | population= 26,840 | os_grid_reference= SD333479 | latitude= 53.9232 | longitude= -3.0150 | post_town= FLEETWOOD | postcode_area= FY | postcode_district= FY7 | dial_code= | constituency_westminster= [Blackpool North and Fleetwood (UK Parliament constituency) | shire_district= [Wyre | shire_county= [Lancashire -->

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 United Kingdom Census 2001.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/monitors/populationurban.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 --> It forms part of the [Greater Blackpool.

Location and Geography Fleetwood is located on the Fylde peninsula, eight miles north of Blackpool, on the western side of the mouth of the River Wyre. The town itself is on a peninsula, almost two miles 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 sea-front pleasure park built on a large sand-dune in the northern part of the town. 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.

History Ptolemy's Geographia (Ptolemy) 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, Lancashire (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 Viking 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 (county subdivision) 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 Cardinal Allen was born at the Manor House in 1532. It was ultimately sold to Thomas Fleetwood, 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 Member of Parliament (UK) for Preston, who later changed his name to (Sir) Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. Hesketh believed that the sheltered harbour and views over Morecambe Bay gave the area the makings of a busy sea port and popular resort. With no rail link between London and Scotland, Hesketh 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 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. Housing stock from as early as 1838 still exists in the town on Custom House Lane. The crown jewel was the North Euston Hotel, built in 1841, a fine semi-circular building next to the railway station. This was to mark the northernmost point of the train service from Euston Railway Station, 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 Lighthouse (Fleetwood) and Lower Lighthouse, both built 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 (engineer) at 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, the construction of rival cargo ports in the North-West, and the rise of neighbouring Blackpool as a prominent seaside resort signalled a decline in the town's fortunes.

From the late 1860s Fleetwood expanded its port activities. Steamers began pleasure and commercial services to the Isle of Man, Ardrossan, and Belfast. Fishing vessels began expanding 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. All the other major fishing ports, Kingston upon Hull, Grimsby and Aberdeen, were on the east coast, so there was a competitive advantage for a west-coast port with good rail links. Wyre Dock was built in 1877 and Fleetwood's position as one of the three major fishing ports in England was cemented. In 1891, the first steam-powered trawler, the Lark was launched, and a further period of rapid expansion began. 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. By the turn of the century, James Marr had 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. 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. An electric Blackpool 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.

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 Imperial Chemical Industries), 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 1963 as a result of the Beeching Axe cuts. 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 Media:Family waving goodbye.JPG 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 containerization 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 continues to this day.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Larne-Fleetwood at 30 | work = | publisher = Larne Ferry Web | date = [2005-03-26 | url = http://www.larneferryweb.com/routes/lafr/fw_30/fleetwood30.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-09 -->

Since the 1970s there are been several attempts to enhance Fleetwood's economic profile, Most recently, in July 2007, a new Masterplan for revitalizing the waterfront and town centre was submitted to the Wyre Borough Council.

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 British Government report in 2006 stated that three of the towns five wards fall into the 5% to 10% most deprived wards in England.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Memorandum by Wyre Borough Council (CT 49) | work = | publisher = Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions | date = [2006-04-18 | url = http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmodpm/1023/1023we65.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

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.

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){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/unemployment/cccomments.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 --> the figures for [August 2007 are {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = County Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancscc.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/unemployment/ccwy.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

{| class="wikitable"! || Male || Female || Total|-| United Kingdom ] || 2.6%|| 1.0% || 1.8%|-| Wyre ] as of August 2007 is as follows){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/areas/wyincome.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

{| class="wikitable"! || Average household income in Pound (currency)|-| United Kingdom ] || 31,200|-| Wyre ] — a menthol Throat 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 European Union cash grant. The Masterplan was funded by Wyre Council, the Northwest Development Agency and English Heritage.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Your chance to shape the future | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-09-07 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/fleetwood-news?articleid=3014253 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The plan has three main areas for development:







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 neighboring 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 Party (UK) 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 of the United Kingdoms, Mount, Pharos, Warren, Park and Rossall.

Fleetwood has been part of the Blackpool North and Fleetwood (UK Parliament constituency) since 1997. During that time the seat has been held by Labour Party (UK)'s Joan Humble. Prior to 1997, Fleewood was part of the constituencies of Fylde North (UK Parliament constituency) and Wyre (UK Parliament constituency), whose boundaries more closely matched those of Wyre Borough, and which consistently returned a Conservative Party (UK) 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 (UK Parliament constituency).

Demographics As of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Fleetwood had a population of 26,840. This is a decline of approximately 6% from the figures in 1971, at a time when the overall population of the Borough of Wyre rose by 11%.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Local Plan Review Chapter 1 | work = | publisher = [Wyre Borough Council | date = | url = http://www.wyrebc.gov.uk/Council_Services/Planning_Services/Planning_Policy_and_Conservation/Wyre's_Development_Plan/Local_Plan_Review/Chapter_1_-_Introduction.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->.

Wyre Borough is 98.8% Caucasian race in ethnic makeup. The remainder is split between British Asian (0.4%), Mixed race (0.4%) British African-Caribbean community (0.1%) and Other (0.3%){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/monitors/ethnicitycensus.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

Attractions Attractions in the town include

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = No-one has come up with a better scheme | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-07-14 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/fleetwood-news?articleid=3203481 | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->



{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Marine Hall The Waterfront Venue | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.marinehall.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Shopping mecca a huge boost for jobs | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-03-29 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/business/Shopping-mecca-a-huge-boost.1408048.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Museum | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Museum Trust | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmuseum.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Museums, Fleetwood Museum: A Voyage of Discovery | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/museums/fleetwood/index.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->In January 2006, the museum was threatened with closure by owners [Lancashire County Council (LCC). {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Museum fate could lead to paintings row | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-01-30 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Museum-fate-could-lead-to.1332404.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Back to future with museum's website | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-04-06 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Back-to-future-with-museum39s.2230220.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Market | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmarket.com/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Museums: Netting the Bay: Trawlers - Fishing | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancscc.gov.uk/education/museums/netting/galleries/boat/deepsea/fullsize/tw81.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Jacinta welcomes public from Friday | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-04-04 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/fleetwood/Jacinta-welcomes-public-from-Friday.2221454.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = What's on in September | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-08-22 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/fleetwood-events/What39s-on-in-September.3138197.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The opening concert each year is staged aboard ''Jacinta'', the towns heritage trawler. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Heritage trawler hosts folk event | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-08-22 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/seascape/Heritage-trawler-hosts-folk-event.3138066.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The 2008 festival is set to run from 29 - 31 August. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fylde 2008 36th Anniversary | work = | publisher = Fylde Folk Festival | date = | url = http://www.fylde-folk-festival.com/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Transport Festival Official Website | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodtransportfestival.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

Gallery Image:Fwd-Mount-2004-06-30(2).jpg|The Mount Pavilion and ClockImage:Fwd-Mount-2003-06-24.jpg|The Mount from the EsplanadeImage:Fwd-Mount-2004-06-30.jpg|The Esplanade looking west from the MountImage:PharosFwdJun2004.jpg|Pharos LighthouseImage:Fwd-Lower Light 2004-06-30.jpg|Lower LighthouseImage:Fwd-NorthEuston-1996.jpg|The North Euston HotelImage:Fwd Marina and Freeport Jul06.jpg|Harbour Marina and Freeport

Transport Fleetwood lies at the northern end of the Blackpool tramway. Ferries sail from Fleetwood across the River Wyre to Knott End-on-Sea. There has also been a service, more recently in summer only, to Douglas, Isle of Man on the Isle of Man. There is also a daily service to Larne in Northern Ireland.

The town was also for many years the northern terminus of the Fleetwood Branch Line to London, hence the hotel opposite the site of the now demolished Fleetwood railway station is called The North Euston railway station.

Education Schools in Fleetwood include Rossall School, Fleetwood Sports College (formerly Fleetwood High School){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Sports College | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Sports College | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodsc.org.uk | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> and Cardinal Allen Catholic High School. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Welcome to Cardinal Allen Catholic High School | work = | publisher = Cardinal Allen Catholic High School | date = | url = http://www.cardinalallen.lancs.sch.uk | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> [Blackpool and The Fylde College's Nautical Campus is located at Broadwater.

Sport Fleetwood has had several Football (soccer) clubs over its history. The current club, dating from 1997, is now known as Fleetwood Town F.C.,{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Brief History | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Town Football Club | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodtownfc.com | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-02 --> and plays in the [Northern Premier League Premier Division. 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. 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. Fleetwood Rangers, the town's first club, spent ten seasons in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Combination from 1889 to 1899. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Rangers | work = | publisher = Football Club History Database | date = | url = http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/FLEETWOR.HTM | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-02 -->. Since 1924, home games have been played at [Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood. [Blackpool F.C. Reserves also use the stadium for their home matches.

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged at Highbury Stadium from 1948 to 1952, with Fleetwood Flyers riding in the Second Division of the National Speedway league.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Town's stand hit by hold-up | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-10-03 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=64&ArticleID=1801146 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Motorbiking ace dies at 90 | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2003-08-08 | url = http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=572864 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Speedway Researcher, Fleetwood | work = | publisher = The Speedway Researcher | date = | url = http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/fleetwood.html | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

Fleetwood Rugby Union Football Club is an ameteur Rugby union club, first registered in 1932 as Fleetwood Old Boys, with the Old Boys title being dropped in the 1950s.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = History of the club | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Rugby Union Football Club | date = | url = http://www.frufc.com/tpg.php?tid=clubh&p=clubh | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> Fleetwood Cricket Club, based at Broadwater, are affiliated with the Lancashire Cricket Board and compete in the [Northern League (cricket). {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = About Us | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Cricket Club | date = | url = http://fleetwood.play-cricket.com/home/aboutUs.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

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.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Club History Page | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Model Yacht and Power Boat Club. | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmypbc.org.uk/html/history.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-05 -->

Miscellany Fleetwood was a holiday destination for a young John Lennon.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Where I Live - Lancashire | work = | publisher = [BBC | date = [2006-06-30 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2005/06/30/coast05walks_stage6_feature.shtml | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-09 --> [Alan Partridge writer [Peter Baynham is a former student of the Nautical College. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Oscar Site | work = | publisher = | date = |url = http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho9/baynham_p.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-01 --> Novelist [Robert Carter (English novelist) also went to school in the town.{{fact|date= September 2007-->

The town was the home of the first fully automated telephone exchange in Britain.

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.

Notable people

References External links

See Fleetwood (disambiguation) for other meanings {{Infobox UK place| official_name= Fleetwood |map_type= Lancashire | country= England | map_type= Lancashire | region= North West England | population= 26,840 | os_grid_reference= SD333479 | latitude= 53.9232 | longitude= -3.0150 | post_town= FLEETWOOD | postcode_area= FY | postcode_district= FY7 | dial_code= | constituency_westminster= [Blackpool North and Fleetwood (UK Parliament constituency) | shire_district= [Wyre | shire_county= [Lancashire -->

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 United Kingdom Census 2001.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/monitors/populationurban.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 --> It forms part of the [Greater Blackpool.

Location and Geography Fleetwood is located on the Fylde peninsula, eight miles north of Blackpool, on the western side of the mouth of the River Wyre. The town itself is on a peninsula, almost two miles 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 sea-front pleasure park built on a large sand-dune in the northern part of the town. 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.

History Ptolemy's Geographia (Ptolemy) 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, Lancashire (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 Viking 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 (county subdivision) 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 Cardinal Allen was born at the Manor House in 1532. It was ultimately sold to Thomas Fleetwood, 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 Member of Parliament (UK) for Preston, who later changed his name to (Sir) Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. Hesketh believed that the sheltered harbour and views over Morecambe Bay gave the area the makings of a busy sea port and popular resort. With no rail link between London and Scotland, Hesketh 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 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. Housing stock from as early as 1838 still exists in the town on Custom House Lane. The crown jewel was the North Euston Hotel, built in 1841, a fine semi-circular building next to the railway station. This was to mark the northernmost point of the train service from Euston Railway Station, 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 Lighthouse (Fleetwood) and Lower Lighthouse, both built 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 (engineer) at 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, the construction of rival cargo ports in the North-West, and the rise of neighbouring Blackpool as a prominent seaside resort signalled a decline in the town's fortunes.

From the late 1860s Fleetwood expanded its port activities. Steamers began pleasure and commercial services to the Isle of Man, Ardrossan, and Belfast. Fishing vessels began expanding 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. All the other major fishing ports, Kingston upon Hull, Grimsby and Aberdeen, were on the east coast, so there was a competitive advantage for a west-coast port with good rail links. Wyre Dock was built in 1877 and Fleetwood's position as one of the three major fishing ports in England was cemented. In 1891, the first steam-powered trawler, the Lark was launched, and a further period of rapid expansion began. 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. By the turn of the century, James Marr had 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. 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. An electric Blackpool 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.

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 Imperial Chemical Industries), 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 1963 as a result of the Beeching Axe cuts. 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 Media:Family waving goodbye.JPG 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 containerization 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 continues to this day.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Larne-Fleetwood at 30 | work = | publisher = Larne Ferry Web | date = [2005-03-26 | url = http://www.larneferryweb.com/routes/lafr/fw_30/fleetwood30.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-09 -->

Since the 1970s there are been several attempts to enhance Fleetwood's economic profile, Most recently, in July 2007, a new Masterplan for revitalizing the waterfront and town centre was submitted to the Wyre Borough Council.

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 British Government report in 2006 stated that three of the towns five wards fall into the 5% to 10% most deprived wards in England.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Memorandum by Wyre Borough Council (CT 49) | work = | publisher = Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions | date = [2006-04-18 | url = http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmodpm/1023/1023we65.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

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.

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){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/unemployment/cccomments.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 --> the figures for [August 2007 are {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = County Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancscc.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/unemployment/ccwy.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

{| class="wikitable"! || Male || Female || Total|-| United Kingdom ] || 2.6%|| 1.0% || 1.8%|-| Wyre ] as of August 2007 is as follows){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/areas/wyincome.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

{| class="wikitable"! || Average household income in Pound (currency)|-| United Kingdom ] || 31,200|-| Wyre ] — a menthol Throat 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 European Union cash grant. The Masterplan was funded by Wyre Council, the Northwest Development Agency and English Heritage.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Your chance to shape the future | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-09-07 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/fleetwood-news?articleid=3014253 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The plan has three main areas for development:







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 neighboring 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 Party (UK) 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 of the United Kingdoms, Mount, Pharos, Warren, Park and Rossall.

Fleetwood has been part of the Blackpool North and Fleetwood (UK Parliament constituency) since 1997. During that time the seat has been held by Labour Party (UK)'s Joan Humble. Prior to 1997, Fleewood was part of the constituencies of Fylde North (UK Parliament constituency) and Wyre (UK Parliament constituency), whose boundaries more closely matched those of Wyre Borough, and which consistently returned a Conservative Party (UK) 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 (UK Parliament constituency).

Demographics As of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Fleetwood had a population of 26,840. This is a decline of approximately 6% from the figures in 1971, at a time when the overall population of the Borough of Wyre rose by 11%.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Local Plan Review Chapter 1 | work = | publisher = [Wyre Borough Council | date = | url = http://www.wyrebc.gov.uk/Council_Services/Planning_Services/Planning_Policy_and_Conservation/Wyre's_Development_Plan/Local_Plan_Review/Chapter_1_-_Introduction.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->.

Wyre Borough is 98.8% Caucasian race in ethnic makeup. The remainder is split between British Asian (0.4%), Mixed race (0.4%) British African-Caribbean community (0.1%) and Other (0.3%){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Profile | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://lancashire.gov.uk/office_of_the_chief_executive/lancashireprofile/monitors/ethnicitycensus.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-19 -->

Attractions Attractions in the town include

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = No-one has come up with a better scheme | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-07-14 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/fleetwood-news?articleid=3203481 | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->



{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Marine Hall The Waterfront Venue | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.marinehall.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Shopping mecca a huge boost for jobs | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-03-29 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/business/Shopping-mecca-a-huge-boost.1408048.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Museum | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Museum Trust | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmuseum.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Lancashire Museums, Fleetwood Museum: A Voyage of Discovery | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/museums/fleetwood/index.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->In January 2006, the museum was threatened with closure by owners [Lancashire County Council (LCC). {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Museum fate could lead to paintings row | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-01-30 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Museum-fate-could-lead-to.1332404.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Back to future with museum's website | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-04-06 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Back-to-future-with-museum39s.2230220.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Market | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmarket.com/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Museums: Netting the Bay: Trawlers - Fishing | work = | publisher = [Lancashire County Council | date = | url = http://www.lancscc.gov.uk/education/museums/netting/galleries/boat/deepsea/fullsize/tw81.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Jacinta welcomes public from Friday | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-04-04 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/fleetwood/Jacinta-welcomes-public-from-Friday.2221454.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = What's on in September | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-08-22 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/fleetwood-events/What39s-on-in-September.3138197.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The opening concert each year is staged aboard ''Jacinta'', the towns heritage trawler. {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Heritage trawler hosts folk event | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2007-08-22 | url = http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/seascape/Heritage-trawler-hosts-folk-event.3138066.jp | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> The 2008 festival is set to run from 29 - 31 August. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fylde 2008 36th Anniversary | work = | publisher = Fylde Folk Festival | date = | url = http://www.fylde-folk-festival.com/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Transport Festival Official Website | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodtransportfestival.co.uk/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-18 -->

Gallery Image:Fwd-Mount-2004-06-30(2).jpg|The Mount Pavilion and ClockImage:Fwd-Mount-2003-06-24.jpg|The Mount from the EsplanadeImage:Fwd-Mount-2004-06-30.jpg|The Esplanade looking west from the MountImage:PharosFwdJun2004.jpg|Pharos LighthouseImage:Fwd-Lower Light 2004-06-30.jpg|Lower LighthouseImage:Fwd-NorthEuston-1996.jpg|The North Euston HotelImage:Fwd Marina and Freeport Jul06.jpg|Harbour Marina and Freeport

Transport Fleetwood lies at the northern end of the Blackpool tramway. Ferries sail from Fleetwood across the River Wyre to Knott End-on-Sea. There has also been a service, more recently in summer only, to Douglas, Isle of Man on the Isle of Man. There is also a daily service to Larne in Northern Ireland.

The town was also for many years the northern terminus of the Fleetwood Branch Line to London, hence the hotel opposite the site of the now demolished Fleetwood railway station is called The North Euston railway station.

Education Schools in Fleetwood include Rossall School, Fleetwood Sports College (formerly Fleetwood High School){{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Sports College | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Sports College | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodsc.org.uk | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> and Cardinal Allen Catholic High School. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Welcome to Cardinal Allen Catholic High School | work = | publisher = Cardinal Allen Catholic High School | date = | url = http://www.cardinalallen.lancs.sch.uk | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> [Blackpool and The Fylde College's Nautical Campus is located at Broadwater.

Sport Fleetwood has had several Football (soccer) clubs over its history. The current club, dating from 1997, is now known as Fleetwood Town F.C.,{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Brief History | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Town Football Club | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodtownfc.com | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-02 --> and plays in the [Northern Premier League Premier Division. 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. 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. Fleetwood Rangers, the town's first club, spent ten seasons in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Combination from 1889 to 1899. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Rangers | work = | publisher = Football Club History Database | date = | url = http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/FLEETWOR.HTM | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-02 -->. Since 1924, home games have been played at [Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood. [Blackpool F.C. Reserves also use the stadium for their home matches.

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged at Highbury Stadium from 1948 to 1952, with Fleetwood Flyers riding in the Second Division of the National Speedway league.{{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Fleetwood Town's stand hit by hold-up | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2006-10-03 | url = http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=64&ArticleID=1801146 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> {{cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Motorbiking ace dies at 90 | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [Blackpool Gazette | date = [2003-08-08 | url = http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=572864 | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> 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. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Speedway Researcher, Fleetwood | work = | publisher = The Speedway Researcher | date = | url = http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/fleetwood.html | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

Fleetwood Rugby Union Football Club is an ameteur Rugby union club, first registered in 1932 as Fleetwood Old Boys, with the Old Boys title being dropped in the 1950s.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = History of the club | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Rugby Union Football Club | date = | url = http://www.frufc.com/tpg.php?tid=clubh&p=clubh | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 --> Fleetwood Cricket Club, based at Broadwater, are affiliated with the Lancashire Cricket Board and compete in the [Northern League (cricket). {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = About Us | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Cricket Club | date = | url = http://fleetwood.play-cricket.com/home/aboutUs.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-09-16 -->

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.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Club History Page | work = | publisher = Fleetwood Model Yacht and Power Boat Club. | date = | url = http://www.fleetwoodmypbc.org.uk/html/history.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-05 -->

Miscellany Fleetwood was a holiday destination for a young John Lennon.{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Where I Live - Lancashire | work = | publisher = [BBC | date = [2006-06-30 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2005/06/30/coast05walks_stage6_feature.shtml | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-09 --> [Alan Partridge writer [Peter Baynham is a former student of the Nautical College. {{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Oscar Site | work = | publisher = | date = |url = http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho9/baynham_p.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-10-01 --> Novelist [Robert Carter (English novelist) also went to school in the town.{{fact|date= September 2007-->

The town was the home of the first fully automated telephone exchange in Britain.

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.

Notable people

References External links



Fleetwood Lifeboat Station
Information about the boats, station and crew; also includes an events list, and information about local coastguard.

Fleetwood Town FC | Home
The official site with results, fixtures, news, and club information.

Freeport Fleetwood Outlet Shopping Centre
An outlet shopping centre on the Fylde Coast offers over 50 stores, restaurants and cafes, plus entertain the whole family.

Fleetwood, Lancashire, UK
Fleetwood.Web ... first planned town of Queen Victoria's era ... Fleetwood has three lighthouses, two actually in the town, with the third the first of its kind to be built in ...

Fleetwood Caravans
Fleetwood Caravans Ltd, Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk CO10 9JP Tel: 0870 7740008 Fax: 0870 7740009 info@fleetwoodcaravans.co.uk

Fleetwood Computers - Case Mods and Modding parts
Supplier of case mods and modding parts ... provides you with the personal touch when dealing with your Personal Computers and Laptops problems.

Fleetwood Caravan Sales - Dealer
Massive Range of New & Used Fleetwood Caravans. Unbeatable prices on Fleetwood Caravans. Instant Online Quotes.

FLEETWOOD SPORTS COLLEGE

Fleetwood Enterprises
Manufacturer of all types of RV products.

Fleetwood caravan owners club
Fleetwood caravan owners club ... Formed in 1989, the club is open to all owners of caravans manufactured by Fleetwood caravans (see conditions) The Fleetwood owners club is fully ...

 

Fleetwood



 
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