Ignore the snobs – derided Fleetwood is well worth a visit

Telegraph

2 days ago

Was it the amazing weather or is everybody in Fleetwood just really happy? It's hard to be certain, but when I parked in the underrated, overlooked beach town on a Tuesday in May – at the end of the unseasonably sunny period – everyone I chatted to or bumped into seemed utterly content.
'It's a beautiful place to live,' said Kathy Kelly, visiting from nearby Cleveleys with her husband Jeff. 'We're both from Leeds but we moved here donkeys years ago. We come to Fleetwood because parking is free.'
I was pleased about this too. It's free of charge in car parks and along the seafront. Campervans can stay overnight for £7.50 per night for three nights; plenty were parked up in the central car park. A couple of miles to the south, in Blackpool, it's all yellow lines and pesky parking meters. There's something civilised about not extracting money from visitors on arrival.
And something very Fleetwood, too. Because this seaside resort is nothing like its bigger neighbours – not just Blackpool, but Morecambe and Lytham too – and perhaps unlike any other seaside town in the UK. Sometimes derided – Which? ranked it ninth from bottom in a recent survey – and touted by tabloids as the cheapest seaside town to visit and to buy a house in, it's actually rather lovely. It just doesn't shout about it.
From fishing hamlet to thriving port
Maritime history explains some of Fleetwood's peculiarities. The excellent, volunteer-run museum, inside the columned former Customs House, has a cracking short film, From Nothing to Now that runs through key dates, showing how a tiny fishing hamlet became a major fishing port. Exhibits take visitors through the details, with tableaux showing sou'westers and nets, and lots of models and pictures of beautiful ships.
An annex contains a fishing smack, The Harriet, launched in 1893. I chatted to a volunteer, Peter Leadbetter, born in 1936, who has intimate connections with the vessel.
'My great uncle Richard Leadbetter created a consortium, with local men putting £140 each in to build the Harriet in oak, with pine trunnels [pegs],' he said. 'I myself worked on the dock but the tales I heard about fishing put me off.' The Harriet was used in full sail for decades, until an engine was added. Employed inshore and around Ireland, its main catches included dab, other flatfish and haddock. 'She is a symbol of Fleetwood,' said Peter. 'Paid for here. Born here. Fished here. And retired here.'
A popular room in the museum tells the story of Fisherman's Friends, which began as a linctus to help sailors keep their throats clear. I bought a few packets and felt the sea breezes whistle through my pipes immediately. The modern Lofthouse's factory is on Maritime Street outside the town centre.
'I built Fisherman's Friends,' said Jeff Kelly, husband of the aforementioned Kathy. 'Not single-handed, but I helped. They used to send a skip-full of lozenges to Australia every week. They love 'em over there.'
Museum manager Sophie Adamson said she was a relative newcomer to Fleetwood. 'I'm loving discovering the area,' she added. 'Fleetwood is a hidden gem. We are a bit cut off. I think the whole of Morecambe Bay is a bit overlooked which does make it more tranquil.'
As I was exiting, I bumped into a retired couple who had travelled from Chesterfield to stay at a terraced house they had bought in Fleetwood 23 years ago. It's not your typical second-home choice, I thought. The man explained: 'My wife's grandfather was a skipper on The Harriet and she feels a powerful nostalgia about the place. She always wanted to have somewhere here.'
Fisherman's Friends annihilate the taste buds. So save them till you've explored Fleetwood's best fish and chips. Pisces at 92 Poulton Rd was listed among the Top 50 takeaways in the 2025 Fry Magazine Awards – a good place to start.
On the Esplanade, Fleetwood Beach Kiosk is a popular place for ice creams and coffee. Owner Craig McOmish set it up in 2007, and later added a more traditional café, FBKafé, on the promenade. The kiosk enjoys uninterrupted views across the beach – on clear days you can see Lake District fells.
A group of walkers from various Lancashire towns – Accrington, Rawtenstall, Chorley – said they had a plan to walk to Blackpool and come back to Fleetwood for lunch, on the bus or tram; Fleetwood is at the northern end of the 11-mile tramway. They were all of retirement age, which I know not only because of their handsome silver hairstyles, but because of their lunch choice.
'We'll come back to the Ferry Café where we can get fish, chips, mushy peas, bread and butter and a cup of tea for £7.50 – the pensioner's special,' said one. 'You should try one,' piped up another, looking at me. 'They don't ask for ID'.
A £16m spruce-up
Wyre council has prepared a bid for £16 million of Government money to redevelop coastal Fleetwood, starting with a major refurb of the Marine Hall. A splendid Art Deco building on the front, built in 1935, it needs some TLC, and the surrounding gardens could do with a spruce-up too.
Once inside you can admire the star feature – a leaded, stained-glass dome, like a big Tiffany lamp when the sun makes it light up. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited in the late 1930s. The Beatles played but were booed by audiences who preferred local bands. During the Second World War, servicemen and local women came to catch big band concerts, wearing the dancefloor away such that it needed replacing in the Fifties.
'Our local residents and visitors love Marine Hall,' says heritage and audience development manager Alexandra Holt. 'She's iconic and resplendent, sat on the beautiful Fleetwood seafront – and she brings communities and visitors together.' Upcoming concerts include shows by The Bryan Adams Experience, Take That Rule The World, Jive Talkin Play Bee Gees and a pool event helmed by Steve Davis.
Victorian relics
Across the coast road from the Marine Hall is The Mount, topped by a pavilion, and the North Euston Hotel. In front of the latter is a statue of the town's visionary (or delusional) founder Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. Predeceased by an older brother, Hesketh inherited the family estate at Rossall Hall in 1824. He changed his name to Hesketh-Fleetwood to incorporate the posher name of his ancestors.
As a student, he had holidayed on the south coast. At St Leonards-on-Sea he befriended Decimus Burton, who had built the East Sussex resort.
Hesketh-Fleetwood hired Burton as chief architect for his planned new town. Hoping to cash in on the seaside holiday boom, he also saw Fleetwood as a prospective transport hub. As there was no London-to-Scotland railway, it could be an embarkation point for steamers to the Clyde, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Building Fleetwood cost him his fortune. He ran up huge debts and the train he had built to Fleetwood proved to be more helpful to Blackpool. When a mainline to Scotland was opened fully in the 1880s, the idea of the grand terminus hit the buffers.
The architectural legacy of Victorian Fleetwood is all around, in the period houses around the Mount, in the Customs House, later becoming the town hall, as well as two lighthouses, Queen's Terrace and St Peter's Church.
The name of the stately North Euston Hotel (doubles B&B from £104) was obviously meant to remind locals and visitors alike of the high-speed links to the capital. The nearby Mount Hotel, equally grand-looking, is currently shuttered.
A lot of people stay in Blackpool, where there's a wide choice of hotels. But the Savoy (doubles from £70; 29, The Esplanade) is a well-run converted Victorian villa with sea views. Owner Eric Smallman moved to Fleetwood from Manchester 22 years ago. 'We are always full, and rooms are booked a year ahead,' he said. 'It's an older clientele, with lots of northerners. Many come for the festivals.' Not Blackpool-style punk extravaganzas – Fleetwood is known for its dog shows, bowling events and a major festival of model boating.
Local resident Barbara Thornton said: 'Fleetwood has a good shopping precinct [ Affinity ], the promenade and the boating lake. It's quiet here… people love it.'