Making the Blue Plaque Trail

In 2024, Fleetwood Civic Society was delighted to invite you to the unveiling of the first three Blue Plaques in their new series of ten. They spent twelve months making the Blue Plaque Trail, to celebrate the town’s rich history.

Launch Event

Thursday 12 September, 2pm at the North Euston Hotel – all welcome

Thursday 12th September is the first day of the National Heritage Open Days weekend 2024. Deputy Major of Wyre, Cllr Steve Nichols will unveil the plaque at the North Euston Hotel at 2pm. Dick Gillingham, local historian, will speak about the history of the three buildings with new plaques: Lower Light, Pharos Lighthouse and the North Euston Hotel, before the official unveiling.

“Guests will be able to see this wonderful new marker, saluting the town’s amazing history, and then walk to the other two plaques installed nearby,” said William Hargreaves, Chair of the Blue Plaque Project Working Group. “Made possible by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supported by Wyre Council. These plaque sites were chosen by a Community Panel, after thousands of nominations from members of the public who love Fleetwood.”

Making the Blue Plaque Trail, Leaflet & Webpages

Margaret Daniels is Chair of Fleetwood Civic Society. She added “The Fleetwood Blue Plaque Trail Leaflet and Webpages will also be launched at this event. This family-friendly Trail will introduce the cream of Fleetwood’s historic buildings to visitors and locals alike. We hope that they will encourage visits to the sites and develop a greater sense of appreciation and understanding of Fleetwood’s heritage and its historic environment.”

Another innovative feature of this project is the erection of blue and white QR Code plates adjacent to the plaques. Each code leads to an online history of the site with photographs and the reasons for the plaque’s erection. Along with details of the next nearest sites to visit, left and right. This means that anyone who scans a code can follow the trail to all ten sites, with or without the Trail Leaflet.

The Fleetwood Blue Plaques Trail leaflet will be free for visitors for many years to come. It’s available free from several sites in the town as well as online. Find all of the Blue Plaque Trail online, hosted by www.visitfleetwood.info. You can also access it from www.fleetwoodmuseum.co.uk

More Plaque Unveiling Dates

Further plaques will be unveiled later in September and October in the presence of children from the town’s Primary Schools. Several of which took part in the
nomination process. Members of the public are welcome at all of these events.

• Thursday 19 September at 1.45pm The Mount – one minute walk to: 2pm The Mount Church
• Wednesday 25 September at 1.45pm Customs House – one minute walk to: 2pm The Steamer – two-minute walk to: 2.15pm Queen’s Terrace
• Thursday 3 October at 1.45pm Fleetwood Market – five-minute walk to: 2.05pm St Mary’s RC Church

All the Blue Plaques…

Find them on these buildings, celebrating the town’s rich history.

• The North Euston Hotel and Gardens
• The Lower Lighthouse
• Pharos Lighthouse
• The Mount Pavilion
• The Mount Church
• Customs House
• Queen’s Terrace
• The Steamer Hotel
• St Mary’s Church
• Fleetwood Market

Further Interesting Facts…

Two other towns have also included QR Codes with their Blue Plaque installations but this is the first in the North West region.

Fleetwood’s project is principally driven by William Hargreaves, Margaret Daniels and Anne Carlos, here they are with the full group of volunteers.

English Heritage organises Heritage Open Days. It’s a chance to visit thousands of buildings and places across England, either usually closed to the public or charge for admission. Fleetwood Civic Society develops the Fleetwood programme each year. The 2024 programme begins on Thursday 12th September 2024 and can be viewed at www.heritageopendays.org.uk

The Fleetwood Blue Plaques Project 23/25 has received £13,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund agenda will provide £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life
chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. More information here