6 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF BLACKPOOL AND DISTRICT 



The growth of the town continues. Already Blackpool's buildings straggle 

 almost continuously, but not quite, to Fleetwood on the north and Lytham 

 St. Annes on the south. These towns will overlap before many years are past. 



In the meantime schemes for the betterment of Blackpool are under 

 unceasing consideration. A new Town Hall is badly needed. So are 

 adequate parking facilities for the motor-cars which flow into the town every 

 fine day in summer in embarrassing numbers. 



By a rare combination of municipal and private enterprise, Blackpool has 

 been made a prosperous holiday resort of world-wide fame in 60 years. The 

 same persistence and ingenuity will be required to adapt it to the changing 

 conditions of the past few years. 



II. 



'AMOUNDERNESS.' 

 A REGIONAL SURVEY OF THE FYLDE 



BY 



E. PRENTICE MAWSON, F.R.I.B.A., F.I.L.A., M.T.P.I. 



' We look backward that we may the better look forward ' might well be 

 adopted as the town-planner's motto. The present state of physical, 

 economical and social development reached by this country, or, indeed, any 

 part of it, has been brought about by a process of evolution dating back to the 

 commencement of the Roman occupation, if not beyond. 



Every regional planning report which has so far been published contains a 

 lengthy history of the area under review, and a close analysis of existing 

 conditions. It is only by such study that the possibilities and potentialities 

 of the future can be envisaged and guided along proper channels, and con- 

 flicting interest harmonised. 



It is a far cry from the Roman occupation of England to the present day, 

 and yet the fact remains that the foundations of our arterial road system was 

 laid by the Romans. So beautifully was this system adapted to the contours 

 of the land, so perfectly were the roads planned in relation to the natural 

 resources of the country and the linking up of deep water harbours, that some 

 of our most eminent engineers have stated that if the system had had to be 

 planned in modern times, ab initio, it could not have been improved upon. 

 In several instances in the post-war period when new arterial roads have been 

 planned and built, the foundations of Roman roads forgotten and covered with 

 the debris of centuries have been unearthed. 



