The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Volume I Part 15

In referring to this watering-place for a second time we feel some difficulty; not that we have said all that can be put forth in connexion with its claims to the patronage of the health-seeking and pleasure-loving population of Lancas.h.i.+re and the surrounding counties, but because our desire has been to introduce, wherever possible, some historical notice of the places which form the subject of our artist's pencil, especially where, as in the present instance, more than one ill.u.s.tration has been given of the same town or port. We must, however, confess, that of Blackpool, historically considered, we have nothing to record. Its chronicles, if ever it possessed any, have been swallowed up by the encroaching waves, which have taken a large portion of what was once dry land to augment their liquid domains.

About half-a-mile from the beach, the stranger's attention is directed to a small rock in the sea, called the "Pennystone," which, according to local tradition, marks the place where a public-house once stood on dry land. In this stone, it is added, were fixed iron hooks, to which travellers usually fastened their horses' bridles while they alighted to refresh themselves with "penny pots of beer,"--a circ.u.mstance perpetuated in the name which it still retains.

At the south end of the town is the now dilapidated building called Vauxhall, where, in 1715, the Chevalier St. George lay for some time concealed, while the secret measures were concocting by his adherents for a general insurrection. This house belonged to the family of the Tyldesleys, who at that time, and long previously, had considerable possessions in this country; but being faithful adherents of the House of Stuart, they embraced the desperate cause of the royal exile with undissembled zeal. Sir Thomas Tyldesley, the head of the family at that moment, prepared this house for the reception of the royal adventurer; but this open declaration of his attachment proved ruinous to himself and his descendants. The last male heir joined the standard of the Chevalier in 1745. One of his ancestors was slain at the battle of Wigan Lane, in that county, while marching to the a.s.sistance of Charles II.; a monument to his memory was erected by one of his officers in 1679. It is still in tolerable preservation, and bears an appropriate inscription.

East of Blackpool are situated the towns.h.i.+ps of Great and Little Marton, where a subterraneous forest has been discovered, by digging out the timber from which many of the peasantry obtain considerable sums. Some of the trees are sound enough to make agricultural instruments, barn roofs and fences, and even articles of ornamental furniture. Much of the land in this neighbourhood has been reclaimed from a state of marsh; and there are still remaining, within a few miles, a Moss comprising several thousand acres--so extensive, indeed, as to have pa.s.sed into a local aphorism, "As inexhaustible as Pilling Moss," being an ordinary mode of expressing anything that is supposed to be without limit. This moss is reported to have, as lately as 1745, altered considerably in its level, and, by a movement to the south, to have destroyed one hundred acres of improved land. It affords a large supply of fuel for the district, and seems likely to continue to do so for generations to come.

The little watering-place, from which we have thus wandered away, owes its name to a pool of water of more than ordinary darkness of colour, caused by the decaying vegetation of the marshes. It has now, however, disappeared under the hand of modern improvement, and given place to a supply of water more than usually pure, and which is not to be often found in such close proximity to the coast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BLACKPOOL SANDS.]

BLACKPOOL.

THE SANDS.

"Southward--old Cambria's Alpine charm Cast their broad shadows o'er the plain; Northward--the Cambrian summits swell In many a glittering pinnacle; In front--the waves, so darkly blue, Refresh the heart and cheer the view; While further--Mona's mountains swim Like clouds upon the horizon's rim."

Blackpool is a favourable instance of that spirit of enterprise which is at work on almost every point of the British coast, and under the creative influence of which so many obscure or little-frequented localities have suddenly risen into provincial, and even national importance. Wherever nature had thrown out any encouraging hint, it has been eagerly taken advantage of by the hand of art, and, under the guidance of taste and liberality, been turned into a source of public emolument. It is, comparatively, only a few years ago since Blackpool exhibited in its appearance nothing superior to that of an inconsiderable hamlet, with few visitors, less trade, and little opportunity of extending the sources of native industry. It is now a fas.h.i.+onable and well-frequented watering-place, deriving a certain annual revenue from its visitors, and enjoying a considerable share of trade, with every reasonable prospect of a progressive increase. These are gratifying facts which abundantly prove the healthful vigour with which the country is animated, and the boundless resources which are everywhere thrown open to native industry and talent.

The line of coast at Blackpool runs in a nearly straight direction for several miles; and the cliffs which form the sea boundary, mostly clay, rise to various heights--the greatest elevation above high-water mark being about twenty yards. The sea-bank is lined with houses at considerable intervals to the extent of a mile or more; not grouped together as in villages, but each occupying a position independent of its neighbour. Most of those houses intended for the accommodation of visitors have an aspect due west, so as to command an uninterrupted marine view, which at this point presents a field of interest of which the mind and the eye are never weary. The land, gradually rising as it recedes from the beach, acquires a degree of elevation which excludes the eastern landscape; but for this defect the other points of the compa.s.s make ample amends, and present landscapes so varied and extensive as can be rarely met with on the coast of Great Britain. To the southward, at the distance of fifty miles or more, and gradually stretching forward till lost in the horizon, the "Cambrian Alps" present a grand and imposing feature, connected with glimpses of Ches.h.i.+re, Flint, Caernarvon, and the Isle of Anglesea. On the north, the promontory of Furness, the mountainous features of Westmoreland, c.u.mberland, and the craggy summits of Lancas.h.i.+re, give a bold transition to the picture; while in front the dimly-visioned Mona finishes the panorama, and conjures up many a slumbering image and recollection of the past.

The sea on this point of the coast retreats nearly half a mile at ebb-tide, so that an ample s.p.a.ce of nearly twenty miles, on a bed of hard sand, is left for the enjoyment of pedestrian, horse, and carriage exercise. These, indeed, are the princ.i.p.al out-door resources during the fine season, and, with the additional luxury of a salubrious and bracing atmosphere, produce a highly invigorating effect upon the const.i.tution of invalids,--particularly dyspeptics, who derive great and almost uniform benefit from this new and salutary mode of life. The air of Blackpool is proverbial for its salubrious quality; the best evidence of which is afforded by the patriarchal age of many of its inhabitants.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LYTHAM]

LYTHAM.

"All places that the eye of Heaven visits Are to the wise man ports and happy havens."

SHAKESPEARE.

Lytham is another of those delightful watering-places to which, in our brief survey of the Lancas.h.i.+re coast, we have so often had occasion to refer. There is not a bay, indeed, along the whole line of sand which forms our ocean frontier on the west, but offers some pleasing summer retreat, where the invalid may repair his const.i.tution, and return with renovated strength to the active duties of life.

Lytham is about twelve miles west from Preston, and offers every accommodation to visitors which is either usual or desirable in sea-bathing quarters. The town is cheerful, well-built, containing about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and is a place of considerable antiquity.

It was here, that in the reign of Richard the First, Baron Fitz-Roger founded, in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert, a cell of Benedictine monks; the annual revenues of which, at the dissolution of religious houses, amounted to fifty-four pounds--equal in the present day to at least three hundred and twenty pounds. The site of this ancient cell was shortly after granted by Parliament to Sir Thomas Holcroft. Lytham Hall, the seat of John Clifton, Esq., is an object of considerable interest in the neighbourhood, and familiar to all who have ever listened to the "La.s.s of Lytham Hall."[17]

The country around Lytham abounds in fine drives; and, independently of the minor points, which cannot fail to engage the attention of visitors, the ancient town of Preston will offer a full day's entertainment to all who are curious in historical sites. The lords.h.i.+p of Preston was granted by Richard the First to Theobald Walter, seneschal of Ireland, ancestor of the dukes of Ormond, and sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re; and by Edward the Third it was const.i.tuted the chief seat of the duchy and palatinate courts. King James the First honoured it with a visit in his progress to Scotland, in 1617; and on Ribbleton Moor, on the east side of the town, the Scottish forces, under the Duke of Hamilton, sustained a serious defeat in 1648--the last operation of the civil war in this country. In 1715 the Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed at the Market-cross, by the t.i.tle of James the Third; and in 1745 the troops, under Prince Charles Edward, marched through the town to the Jacobin air of "The king shall have his sin again." This lively tune, however, as the reader knows, was changed into a melancholy dirge on his return through Preston--only a fortnight afterwards. The celebrated Preston Guild, which is held once in twenty years, is considered to be one of the most splendid provincial festivals in England. The inst.i.tution of this ancient and unique pageant is five centuries old, the first having taken place in the reign of Edward III. It commences on the Monday after the day set apart by the Church in commemoration of the beheading of St.

John the Baptist (the 29th August), and continues about a fortnight. By the charter which renders the celebration necessary twenty-eight days are allowed to all who are disposed to renew their freedom. On the first day the different trades muster in number, form processions, and attend the mayor and corporation to church; the following day the ladies of Preston, with the mayoress, are escorted in the like manner, and various festivities are encouraged during the time. On Wednesday the races commence; the race ground is about two miles distant, on Falwood Moor, anciently a part of the royal forest of the same name. Preston Guild was celebrated three times during the reign of George III., an event that never occurred in the reign of any other king of England.

[17]

"I've climb'd the Alps,--I've cross'd the seas, And travers'd many a land, Where summer smiles on spicy isles, And coral decks the strand: But the fairest spot that Earth can boast, Is here, by the blue sea-wall, And the fairest maid on her native coast Is the La.s.s of Lytham Hall," &c. &c.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SANDS AT SOUTHPORT.]

SOUTHPORT SANDS.

LANCAs.h.i.+RE.

There's Buxton bath for gout and spleen; There's Cheltenham for wealth; There's Matlock vale for Beauty's queen; And SOUTHPORT SANDS for health.

Southport--formerly South Hawes--is about two miles to the southward of North Meols, near the estuary of the Ribble, and opens upon a magnificent bay. Its situation among the dry sand-hills, or _meols_, contributes much to the salubrity of the place, and it appears to gain in popularity as it becomes more generally known.

This popular watering-place is of modern erection, as in the year 1809 it contained only eighty-eight houses, but it no sooner obtained the patronage of the wealthy and active merchants of Lancas.h.i.+re, than it sprung up with rapid strides, and those numerous appliances of luxury which its patrons know so well how to appreciate were produced in abundance, while the low, barren sand-hills of this part of the coast were soon covered with s.p.a.cious hotels, boarding-houses, baths, and all the essentials of a fas.h.i.+onable sea-bathing town. There is no doubt but that at some period the sea must have covered much of what is now dry land, as in the churchyard of North Meols, sea sh.e.l.ls, in considerable numbers, are frequently found when the ground is opened for graves, to the depth of five or six feet.

In the vicinity of Southport, and forming part of the same parish, is Martin (or more properly Merton) Meer, once an extensive mora.s.s. In Leland's time, it was four miles long and two broad, and emptied itself into the sea. About 1692, Mr. Fleetwood, of Bank Hall, commenced draining this meer by a sluice, shutting and opening with the tide, and died with the idea that he had completed the work. When the water was drained off, eight canoes were found, scooped out of the trunks of trees, in the same mode as they are made among the Indians of the Pacific at this day; one of them had plates of iron fixed upon it, and all were constructed probably before the Roman possession of Britain. In 1755, the Meer was again inundated by a very high tide, owing to the insufficiency of the sluice-gates, and Mr. Eccleston, of Scarisbrick, made a second attempt to drain it, and succeeded until 1789, when a partial inundation from the river Douglas did some mischief, but more extensive injury was prevented by the action of some floodgates, which had been erected to guard against such accidents. In 1813, the sea-gates were again swept away, but the land was protected by the stop-gates as before. Since that time a great improvement has taken place in the Meer, and much of it is now good land.

The practice of sea-bathing--if we may judge by the much improved accommodations at Southport and along the coast--appears to be on the increase. There are many, indeed, who a few years ago would hardly have been persuaded to dip their fingers in salt-water; but, having once become converts to that salutary habit, they would now suffer many privations rather than forego their annual visits to the cheerful "sands" and sea-breezes of their native coast. After an indulgence of this nature, the man of business returns fresh-braced to his counting-house, the student to his books, each with renewed strength and resolution to perform their several duties in the great drama of active life. We are in hopes that those of our compatriots who have really the means of such enjoyment at their command, will at length do justice to the beauty of their own sh.o.r.es. The millions that are squandered in perambulating foreign lands, under the specious pretext of recovering health, or in pursuit of amus.e.m.e.nt, if spent in England would secure for their owners at least something like an equivalent for their money, and testify in their own persons and in everything around them, not only proofs of good judgment, but praise for their patriotism. This mania, which for so many years has deprived our native watering-places of their legitimate revenue, is certainly on the decline; and we speak from much experience in foreign travel, when we state that, to a well regulated mind, England alone presents, in the greatest proportion, the true requisites for health and rational enjoyment. In no other country of the world is the word "comfort" so well understood; and in no other climate--"damp and dripping" as it has been p.r.o.nounced by certain morbid peripatetics--can we promise ourselves so much out-door luxury and enjoyment as at "home." But to him who still entertains a doubt on this point, and prefers, with Lucullus, to change his quarters, we recommend Southport by way of experiment, and have no doubt that he will soon make a voluntary surrender of his prejudices.