Cleveleys History & Mystery!

Have you seen the new trail map and leaflet? The Cleveleys History & Mystery project showcases and shares some of the fascinating things that you’ll find in the town. Pick up or download a map and explore!

Cleveleys History and Mystery

The Cleveleys Town Centre Group events programme has received £60k from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The History and Mystery Trail is just one of the projects, along with various family friendly events.

While sharing and showcasing all of the interesting things about Cleveleys, it’s also encouraging residents and visitors to get out and about.

• Pick up a leaflet in loads of public places and shops,
• Local primary school children will all receive a copy,
• Follow the links (below) for much more information with photos about each interesting item,
• You can also download an online version of the map.

Find History & Mystery in the Bus Station!

As part of the History & Mystery project, the Town Centre Group has also installed a large-format version of the map in the bus station. The first version, created with Blackpool & the Fylde College art students, has been updated.

Cleveleys Town Centre Group/Care for Cleveleys has worked with Wyre Council to deliver a BIG improvement to Cleveleys bus station.

Wyre Council commissioned Seca One Art – street artist Christian Fenn. He painted a large format mural depicting Cleveleys scenes on the back wall. It’s brightened up the dismal space and created a focal point. It showcases some of the towns features and is an attraction/selfie-spot in its own right.

Care for Cleveleys volunteers spent a couple of days preparing the wall. They moved signs and patch-pointed some areas before base coating the wall in readiness for the mural to be created.

The mural is designed to incorporate the way finding and trail map. Now, visitors passing through this main gateway to the town receive a useful and attractive welcome!

Explore the Trail

These interesting places and moments in time can all be found on the History & Mystery Trail. Follow the links to find out much more about each one!

1. Legend has it that the lost village of Singleton Thorpe lies under the waves off Rossall School… However research does show that an inundation did happen in the 1500’s.
2. Square concrete blocks at Rossall School are the ‘Tank Traps’ – anti-invasion defences from World War II.
3. In May 2021, the other-worldly seafront cafe became a film set for Andor, a Star Wars series on Disney+.
4. Mary’s Shell, much loved by photographers and part of the Sea Swallow story.
5. Did you know that the art-deco Venue was a Polish airman’s hospital during World War II?
6. Built in 1937 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, Jubilee Gardens once had boating and paddling pools, pitch and putt, a miniature railway and typical park facilities. Redeveloped during construction of the promenade, most of it is currently being used as a beach works compound, but will be reinstated.
7. Remember the Bathing Station? Set into the sea wall and a magnet for beach goers in the 1900s.
8. Emerging from the waves, spot the Ogre with glowing red eyes!
9. Marvel at the Ogre’s giant-sized paddle – don’t forget to sit on it and snap a selfie.
10. At the end of Beach Road the Jolly Tars and Beach Pierrots once performed their summer shows. They worked from a small stage on the beach.
11. Thousands of people enjoyed entertainment at the seafront over the years. First with the Follies at The Arena then the funfair delights of Kiddies Corner. All before the site was rebuilt as the Plaza and part of the new sea wall.
12. The much-loved Clock Shelter dates to a much earlier promenade development. It’s still cherished and looked after by the community.
13. A tall and graceful landmark, the Sea Swallow sculpture marks out the promenade.
14. Designed to mimic the ships it remembers, the Shipwreck Memorial lists vessels which have succumbed to the sea.
15. Look through the hole of the Shipwreck Memorial at low tide. You’ll see the remains of the Abana shipwreck, whose bell still hangs in St Andrews Church.
16. The last local shipwreck was the Riverdance Ferry, grounded in January 2008. In a twist of fate at the side of the Abana.
17. The years have brought transformation to Victoria Road. Cleveleys Hotel and Major Nutter’s Bungalow, an early row of cottages and an early Police Station were all between Boots and Nutter Road of today. The wide pavement now at the front of the shops was once the front gardens.
18. Did you know that JL Beans is the oldest shop in Cleveleys? Continuously run by the same family for 90 years!
19. The Queens Theatre site was on the Prom on the Blackpool side of Victoria Road. Originally host of a season show then a music venue of note for a few years in the sixties.
20. The huge Cleveleys Hydro was a popular place to stay. With hydropathic baths, an 18 hole golf course, tennis courts and a resident orchestra.
21. Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition of 1906 was an ambitious competition and three month display. Designed to encourage and display the latest ideas in house design and construction. The 44 houses still stand today around West Drive and Stockdove Way.
22. Ritherham Farm near St Andrews Church was the site of early Cleveleys history. White painted buildings still stand at the now dead-end of Ritherham Avenue – amongst former farm buildings.
23. The Grade II listed Neo-gothic style St Andrews Church at Rough Lea Road was founded in 1910.
24. Remembrance is marked in Cleveleys at Poppy Corner. A Memorial Stone at nearby St Andrews remembers heroes from World War I.
25. The Towers hunting lodge was built in the late 1890s by mill owners the Horrocks family from Preston. In hte 1900s TG Lumb moved in – the visionary of Cleveleys – instrumental in the installation of the electric tramway. Lumb worked with Edwin Lutyens to develop the houses which still stand today on Rossall Road (29)
26. Cleveleys Pleasure Beach once occupied what’s now Jubilee Leisure Park and its car park. With its wonderful traditional Helter Skelter, Gallopers and originally the Dipper. After being cleared, in the 1980’s the site staged several large circus shows.
27. Today it’s a car park but do you remember one of the first B&M branches beginning here, in ramshackle garages?
28. Way offshore at low tide you might be lucky enough to spot the 7000+ year old remains of the petrified forest.
29. Lutyens houses at Rossall Road.
30. Victoria Road in the town centre – the main high street
31. Have you spotted the wide, clay like mass the snakes across the beach at low tide? It’s a huge reef, incredibly created by thousands of tiny Sabellaria (or Honeycomb) worms!

Credits

Cleveleys Town Centre Group, the official name of Care for Cleveleys, published the map and leaflet. It’s funded by the UK Government UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Thanks go to local historians Nick Moore, Richard Gillingham, David Evans and Andy Ball for fact-checking the content.

Don’t forget to join the Care for Cleveleys group on Facebook

If you love local history join Thornton Cleveleys Past. This excellent local Facebook group is packed full of photos, memories and more.