St Michael’s-on-Wyre and the Fylde Coast, Lancashire

Friday 7th to Sunday 9th March 2025

We had an unexpectedly free weekend, so decided to visit St Michael’s-on-Wyre, staying with the Ribblesdale British Caravanners Club, which is a section of the Camping and Caravanning Club. They were holding their AGM at Turnover Hall Farm and Caravan Site and they allowed us to piggy-back onto their booking, making us feel very welcome. Our thanks go to the stewards, Karen and Keith.

Friday 7th March:

On Friday afternoon, we visited the nearby small village of Great Eccleston, enjoying a pint at the White Bull pub. It was lovely to finally be able to sit outside in comfort enjoying the sunshine. Some of the buildings in this quite pretty village are fairly old, as testified by the wall plaque.

The Ribblesdale BCC are a friendly group and they made the most of their meet, holding an evening social in the site function room, to which we were invited. We received a warm welcome and made some new friends.

Saturday 8th March:

On Saturday, we enjoyed a very nice walk along the river bank, towards St. Michael’s village. It helped, of course that the weather was fine, if cold. The river here, is prone to flooding so the banks are raised up on both sides of the river. This affords a nice elevated path.

Along the way, we came across several folk indulging in their hobby of teaching worms to swim.

The village of St Michaels on Wyre, is a small hamlet built right on the river-bank.

Alongside the bridge, is the very attractive and ancient, parish church of St. Michael which occupies the site of a church which was originally built here in 640AD. It is cited in the Domesday Book in 1086, one of just three churches recorded in the Amounderness area of Lancashire.

Reconstructed in the 15th century, the church can be described in architectural terms as “Late Perpendicular”. This may be the case, but at least one of the supporting pillars is anything but perpendicular!

There are several commemorative plaques in the church, one of which is dedicated to the victims of the Abbeystead disaster of 1984, which at least for me, is within living memory. I was surprised to learn that one of the victims was called Frank Coupe. Coupe is quite a local name to the Preston area and it was my mother’s maiden name. Being 50% Coupe myself, I could easily be related to Frank.

I just love this time of year, with everything springing back into life.

A poignant reminder of the fragility of life is the grave of Nicola Bulley in the churchyard. She tragically drowned in the river nearby, just over two years ago. This made national headlines at the time. On her grave is written: “A last goodbye you did not say, but in our hearts you will always stay”. So sad.

That evening, we again joined the Ribblesdale BCC members and were treated to a fine buffet which followed the conclusion of their AGM. Suffice to say that we were again made to feel welcome and as a result have become members.

Sunday 9th March:

This was just a two-night meet, so we departed St. Michaels-on-Wyre and drove to the coast, to nearby Fleetwood where the Coastguard Lookout tower can be seen across the golf course.

Conveniently, the tower was open for visitors, so we climbed up to see the great views from the top.

We later moved down the coast to Cleveleys, then on to Blackpool:

Blackpool is, of course, famous for its tower, which now has the “Comedy Carpet” in front of it.

TTFN, Peter