A day out in Lytham

A gloriously sunny and very warm day just over two weeks ago prompted me into a drive over to Lytham St. Annes; there was somewhere I’d been meaning to go to for ages and looking at the live webcams it seemed the weather was perfect for it. I was on the road before 9am and for once, unlike my previous visit to Lytham in February, there were no roadworks to delay me so it was a pleasant drive to my first stop, a creek off the Ribble estuary on the outskirts of the town.

My first walk along the creek was almost four years ago but nothing much had changed in the intervening time. I’d just missed the high tide but there was still enough water to make the creek look interesting and after walking along the raised bank as far as I could go I made my way round to the minor creek at the far side of the boatyard. Disappointingly I couldn’t get anywhere near the few small fishing boats which were moored down there so I could only take a couple of zoom shots.

The next stop was at Church Scar to photograph the old tractors by the slipway. The nearby playing field was alive with hundreds of kids playing multiple games of football while the surrounding streets were full of parked cars but I just about managed to find a space in the avenue across from the slipway. The old tractors looked just as scruffy as the last time I saw them though there was a new addition to the boats on the beach, the red and silver ‘Grumpy Goldfish’

Just along the road was Lowther Gardens where I found the life-size statue of comedian Bobby Ball close to the Pavilion theatre. Created by London-based sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies and unveiled in August 2022 it was commissioned in memory of Bobby who lived in Lytham for 25 years and was a patron of the theatre. In the rose garden, which actually had very few roses, I found a commemorative sundial while time stood still at the Cobble Clock as it still has no hands.

‘‘A Token of Gratitude – The gift of those soldiers wounded in the Great War 1914-1919 who were restored to health by the skilful nursing of the ladies of the Starr Hills V.A.D hospitals and to the generous residents of this district who ministered to their comfort”

After a long wait to get served in the Pavilion cafe and a very mediocre steak pie meal with tasteless veg and equally tasteless oven chips (this was my first, and very definitely last, visit to this cafe) my final stop was Fairhaven Lake at St. Annes. It was a place I hadn’t been to for over 15 years and with a new seafront walk stretching all the way back to Church Scar and new features around the lake itself, including a recently restored Japanese garden, it was a very pleasant walk all the way round, starting and ending at the Spitfire memorial.

A wartime fundraising effort by the residents of Lytham and St. Annes raised £6,500 to buy a plane and in March 1941 a cheque was sent to Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production; a Mk Vb Spitfire was commissioned in the Borough’s name, with the allocated tail number W3644, and it went into service with 19 Squadron in April 1942. The aircraft had only served a couple of months with the squadron and was returning from escorting bombers to France on June 23rd when it went missing, presumably shot down, over the sea about six miles from the Devon coast. The pilot, 20-year old Alan Lever-Ridings, had family connections to Lytham but no trace of him or the Spitfire was ever found.

In 2009 the Lytham St Annes Spitfire Display Team was established at Blackpool Airport to help raise funds for an RAF Memorial and the 9-metre full size exact replica Spitfire W3644, with the official title of ‘Lytham St. Annes RAF Fighter, Bomber & Coastal Command Memorial’, was unveiled at Fairhaven Lake on August 19th 2012, along with several information panels which make very interesting reading.

With over a dozen family friendly outdoor activities, a cafe and lots of areas for picnics the lake is a very popular place. Perfect weather made my walk all the way round very enjoyable and it’s one I’ll most certainly do again before too long.