The Highway from Preston Into the Fylde
H» \ 1f»f.M4^4W^ *^ >!>' ^i .. ** < * ""//*//'/rrii » Wi -i//w ' ! ^' l!t U v '|«) A« f #*»$(«*/ |4§; ^*W7 'iAHf, !r»'4 . i »**<«**»pi*mMt MI if**'" m " r/ * % ".J«Ht»//w, ".J«Ht»//w, f T ., ., ,«. iS 3 ' o; *oi/s ' ** * fj^"«*** i f>nv ill «i s" "Ufa < * * "J. J f | ^ .,,. '**"t' '**"t' ' rut .«., **?* **?* 'C't/> w i.»S^-tF.«ioi Hi' THE HIGHWAY FROM PRESTON INTO THE FYLDE. By R. Sharpe France, F.R.Hist.S. Read 28 July 1945. INTRODUCTION. N his manuscript reminiscences, William Hutton of Birmingham I records that on 13 October 1788 he lost his way between Preston and Blackpool. To us, who know so well that road which runs, if not like the broad highway which leadeth to ' destruction, at least with some of its attributes, the idea of getting lost between Preston and Blackpool is somewhat ludicrous. Possibly Hutton would have been more accurate if he had written that he had lost his way between Kirkham and Blackpool ; for if one examines Yates' map of Lancashire the first surveyed map, on the scale of one inch to a mile, published in 1786 one sees that although the road from Preston to Kirkham is shown as a well-marked highway, westward of Kirkham it dissolves into a maze of country lanes, among which ij; was doubtless most easy to become lost. At this time the highway to Blackpool was unpaved, thus being in winter and often in a rainy summer almost impassable. It has been stated that about 1770 the horse was the only mode of conveyance for goods and passengers.
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