Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/252

 constructed in the shipyard there. Ten years later, on the 27th of February, 1862, this ill-fated barque was abandoned on the high seas in a sinking condition.

In 1854 sundry improvements were effected in the extent and condition of the place, and consisted in part of the erection of a row of model cottages in Poulton Road, near the entrance to the town, as well as a new police Station in West Street, comprising two dwellings for the constables and cells for prisoners. The streets were also put in better order, and efforts made to render the aspect of Fleetwood more finished and pleasing than it had been during the two or three previous seasons. A scheme for the partial drainage of the town was proposed at the assembly of commissioners, and arrangements were entered into for the work to be promptly carried out at an estimated cost of £1,200. Altogether a sudden spirit of activity seemed to have superseded the lethargy or indifference which lately had been too much visible amongst the inhabitants in all matters of public interest, and which had already exercised a serious and baneful influence upon the prospects of the place as a sea-side resort. In the ensuing year the body of Primitive Methodists, which had now become rather numerous, chiefly owing to the prosperity of the fishing trade attracting many followers of that calling to the port, most of whom were members of this sect, commenced and completed a chapel in West Street. Recently it has been found necessary considerably to enlarge the edifice, in order to furnish more accommodation for the increasing congregation. Although the erection of this chapel and of the other buildings mentioned above mark undoubtedly an era of progress in the history of the town, still we are constrained to admit that the wants they supplied were not brought about by the spread of Fleetwood's reputation as a watering-place. From the first little had been done to supplement its natural attractions by laying out elegant promenades, or improving the state of the Cops or Poulton Road, so as to render them agreeable rural walks for many who, after a time, grew weary of watching the eddies and dimples of the river's current

"Play round the bows of ships, That steadily at anchor rode;"

or of daily rambling where the receding waves left a broad floor