Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/149

 ancient port of Wardleys, the stream, much widened, flows north and a little inclined towards the west, until it reaches the harbour of Fleetwood, situated at its mouth. From that seaport, the channel of the river, unaltered in direction, lies for a distance of nearly two miles between the sand-banks of North Wharf and Bernard's Wharf, and finally terminates in Morecambe Bay, meeting the well-defined bed of the Lune at right angles. The origins of the Wyre in the hills consist of two small rivulets, and the stream formed by their union is joined near Scorton by the Grizedale Brook, whilst lower down, about two miles beyond the town of Garstang, it receives the Calder, rising on the slopes of Bleasdale. Before leaving the parish of Garstang, the Wyre is further increased by the brook springing from Fairsnape and Parlick Pike, which passes Claughton and Myerscough, not far from where it receives a small tributary from the south. At Skippool also a brook, the Skipton, which springs from the mere and marshy grounds of Marton Moss, pours its contents into the river.

The Wyre is crossed at Garstang by the aqueduct of the Preston, Lancaster, and Kendal canal, and at St. Michael's, near the Church, it is spanned by a rather narrow but substantial stone bridge. For a distance of about six miles in the neighbourhood of the latter place the stream is enclosed within artificial banks, which in some parts have a descent of thirty feet. In spite of these precautions, however, high floods occasionally occur, when the swollen waters burst over the embankments and inundate the adjoining country. At Cart Ford there is a wooden structure of very limited width, connecting the opposing banks; and a few miles further down is the Shard Bridge, built of iron, and presenting a neat and elegant appearance. The river at that spot is 500 yards in breadth, and until the erection of the bridge in 1864, was crossed by means of a ferry-boat, or forded at low water by carts and conveyances. The ancient name of this ford was Ald-wath, and we learn from the following entry in the diary of Thomas Tyldesley, that in 1713 the charge for crossing by boat was 6d. each journey:—"September 14, 1713.—Went after dinr. to ffox Hall; pd. 6d. ffor boating att Sharde; saw ye ferry man carry out of ye boat a Scot and his pack, a sight I never saw beffor, beeing 56 years off age."