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Lytham St Annes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map sources for Lytham St Annes at grid reference SD342278
Lytham St Annes is a town in the Fylde district of Lancashire, England. The original twin towns of Lytham and St-Annes-on-Sea (the latter nearly always abbreviated to St Annes)have grown together and now form a seaside resort, sometimes seen as a smaller but grander alternative to nearby Blackpool.
St Annes was originally called Kilgrimol (there is still the family name Kilgrimol living in St Annes to this day) although few people that live in St Annes realise this is true history. St Annes was originally founded by Vikings.
The town is situated on the Lancashire coast south of Blackpool at the point where the coast line turns east to form the estuary of the River Ribble leading inland to Preston. St Annes is situated on the northern side of the turning and, like Blackpool, overlooks the Irish Sea, whereas Lytham is on the eastern side and overlooks the Ribble estuary.
St-Annes-on-Sea was a 19th century planned town. The town of St Annes was mostly laid out according to a plan drawn up by businessmen who saw the economic benefits of attracting large numbers of visitors from the mill towns to the east. It retains much of its original character today, but has less style than Lytham, its near neighbour. St Annes has had a lot of property development over recent decades and as a result many property construction development companies have destroyed many old historic building that had grand architecture that will never be built again to the same standards. It is a traditional quiet Victorian / Edwardian seaside resort with up-market hotels, a sandy beach, donkeys, a small pier and ice cream stalls. Sand dunes fringe the beach, and the town has an excellent, but little known sand dune nature reserve, and very good floral displays. St Annes beach hosts a number of kite flying events each year. The beach to the north of St Annes has been an internationally-renowned sand yachting location for many years, although there is currently a moratorium on the sport since 2002, when a vistor to the beach died after being hit by a sand yacht.
Lytham's tree-lined streets are flanked by small shops that are still family businesses. There are some particularly good speciality food shops. Lytham brims with old fashioned charm. Lytham Windmill is a local landmark on the green by the beach.
The town's history has seafaring links, the economy previously being founded on fishing and shrimping. Later, wealthy industrialists moved from the east of the county.
Today Lytham St Annes is famous for golf, The Green, the recently restored Windmill and Old Lifeboat House Museum, and Lytham Club Day, a local festival each June. The Green overlooks the estuary of the river Ribble and the Welsh mountains.
Rather unusually for a small town, there are four golf courses, the most notable being the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, which is one of the host courses for the British Open championships. The coming of this major sporting event (approximately once every 4 years) brings a major influx of visitors, including the world's media, into what is a fairly peaceful community.
The population of the town is considered somewhat aged, and it is a popular place to retire to. There is a considerable number of nursing and retirement homes, many located in former large houses along Clifton Drive, one of the main roads linking Lytham and St Annes.
It has been suggested that the town has more churches than pubs (another unusual feature), but this has not been verified quantatively.
One of its minor claims to fame is the boat used in the film The African Queen was made in a small Lytham St Annes boat yard.
Ansdell is a small district between Lytham and St Annes. It has its own railway station (shared with Fairhaven), the "Ansdell Institute" club and a small library. It is famous because of Richard Ansdell RA, an artist who lived in the area and painted a large number of oil pictures of dead pheasants held by spaniel dogs and other similar hunting and shooting subjects. In fact, Ansdell enjoys the distinction of being the only place in England to be named after an artist.
Fairhaven, another district between Lytham and St Annes, lies between Ansdell and the coast. It is named after Thomas Fair, an early resident of Lytham St Annes. Its main claim to fame is its artificial lake, known as Fairhaven Lake or more formally as the Ashton Marine Park, which is an important wildfowl habitat. Its other famous landmark is the Fairhaven United Reformed Church, which is of unusual design, being built in Byzantine style and faced with glazed white tiles, and commonly known as the White Church, or 'the mosque' due to the dome shaped towers protruding from its sides.
Since 1984 Lytham St Annes has been twinned with the German town of Werne.
Lytham library is a particularly notable aspect of this town.
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External links
Pictures of Lytham Windmill
Defend Lytham
Defend The Dunes
Viking History of St Annes
Categories: Seaside resorts in England | Towns in Lancashire
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