TRANSPORT IN THE FYLDE BY ROAD, RAIL, SEA AND AIR 61 



Blackpool' (1837), states that the highway to Preston was unpaved, and in 

 winter or a wet summer became almost impassable. 



Ninety Years of Railway Transport (1831-1921). 



The most important stage in the development of transport in the nineteenth 

 century was undoubtedly the invention of the steam engine, which gave to 

 the world the locomotive and the marine engine, and from about 1840 onwards 

 the transport of passengers and merchandise rapidly reached dimensions 

 hitherto undreamed of. It is from this period that the growth and prosperity 

 of the Fylde dates, for the ensuing years were to see a complete change come 

 over the face of the landscape. 



The first step towards the penetration of the railways into the Fylde was the 

 sanctioning by Parliament in 1831 of the North Union Railway, which formed 

 an extension of the Wigan branch of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway 

 to the town of Preston. 



In 1 835 the Preston and Wyre Harbour and Dock Company, formed chiefly 

 through the efforts of Sir P. H. Fleetwood, secured the necessary Parlia- 

 mentary powers to construct a railway from the terminus of the North Union 

 Railway at Preston to Fleetwood, and to establish a harbour and docks there, 

 from which a service of steamers could be run to Scotland and Ireland. The 

 opening of the Preston and Wyre Railway on the 1 5th July, 1 840, not only 

 linked the Fylde with Preston, Manchester and many other places with railway 

 facilities, but also brought the important Preston Market within easy reach of 

 a large number of farms in the district for the sale of their produce. 



About this time Fleetwood began to outrival its coastal neighbours, Blackpool 

 and Lytham, as a holiday resort, and in 1844 the Preston and Wyre Railway 

 Company, in conjunction with the Liverpool and Manchester and North 

 Union Companies, commenced to run excursion trains to Fleetwood on 

 Sundays during the summer months at reduced fares. 



These were among the first railway excursions ever run, even if they were 

 not the first cheap trips of any kind. In July, 1846, the whole of the 1,300 

 work-people of Richard Cobden visited Fleetwood by rail, and in the same 

 month a Sunday School excursion, said to have consisted of 4,200 children and 

 adults, arrived in Fleetwood for a day trip. In 1 846 a day trip was run from 

 Oldham, and as a special inducement it was advertised that ladies accompanied 

 by gentlemen would be conveyed at half price. It is strongly suspected that 

 some of the " ladies " on the train were actually members of the sterner sex 

 masquerading in feminine garments in order to take advantage of the lower 

 fare. 



The growth of traffic on the Preston and Wyre Railway was rapid as will be 

 seen from the following extracts from the official returns of the Company 

 during its first five years of operation : — 



Passengers. Merchandise Total 



Number. Receipts. Receipts. Receipts. 



One week ended Dec. 14th, 1842 .... 

 Corresponding week, 1843 .... 



1844 .... 



1845 .... 



1846 .... 



