Fleetwood dates back over 150 years, it was first founded by Sir Peter Fleetwood Hesketh and was designed by the legendary designer of the time Sir Decimus Burton who famously designed St Paul Cathedral in London. That is not the only connection to the capital we have, the well known other hotel in Fleetwood The Euston Hotel was originally the railway stop and was called North Euston as Fleetwood is North of London.
What is special about the design of Fleetwood is that if you go to the only natural hill in Fleetwood, lovingly called the Mount, all the roads spoke outwards from the Mount as the centre of origin. This was done on purpose by the designer as the Mount was originally the private garden of Sir Hesketh, before becoming open to the public later in the 20th Century.
Fleetwood has a rich history of fishing and was once the third biggest port in Great Britain, however sadly due to the Icelandic Cod Wars of 1973 and the EU, the port no longer can boast that claim, even though there are still fishing boats that leave the port, it is sadly no where near as busy as other ports in the UK.
Fleetwood also has a rich Military history, during the First World War, there was a Soilders Garrison here and echoes of this era can still be seen today, from the rifle buts at Rossal School to the old wall surrounding parts of the town and the North Euston hotel was once the officer's mess.
During the Second World War sadly, a crew of an American aircraft lost there lives after engine trouble and they nearly crashed into the Mount, the wreckage can be seen about a mile or so out on the sand flats when the tide is right. During the Second World War there was a huge Military presence, as Hitler had given specific orders to the Military not to bomb the area, as he wanted Blackpool to be his personal play area.
So the British and US Military took full advantage of this and trained Lincoln pilots here as well as Radio Operators and other large aircraft pilots. One famous crash of a US aircrew in Warton was part of an expedition dig on the channel 4 famous TV show Time Team.
All this history can be shown to you personally for a small fee as a family walk around the town by Ben who is not only a Military Veteran but also was brought up in the town, so he has a unique insight to the area alongside his 40 years of knowledge.
Picture Credit: Ian Brierley showing the unique ariel footage of the Mount,
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