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Glasson Dock

Glasson Dock photos (8 available)

Old photo of Glasson Dock

Glasson Dock maps (2 available)

Old map of Glasson Dock

Glasson Dock books (19 available)

Glasson Dock memories

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You can also read memories of nearby places in Lancashire below.

Lancashire memories

Vacation

Cannot remember to much of this vacation as I was only 4 years old at the time. But as I was growing up Mum used to talk a lot about this holiday and only recently I was looking through some old snap shots and I came across one taken sitting on a wall with my Dad I presume it was the Promanade in Heysham. Mum always wrote on the back of the photo saying the place they were taken.
A memory of Heysham contributed by Brenda Vanderwert

Heysham Towers

Morecambe Bay Holiday Camp, aka Heysham Towers, in the early sixties as a teenager. The Towers were owned by the Holdens, I especially remember Derek and Jean. We were roused by the 'phantom buglar' and didn't have a minute to spare until 'Goodnight Campers'. We danced to Norman Robinson's band, and Jack Winston playing the organ. The activities were organised by Reg Kerr and Jimmy MacHugh. We had some good times in the 'Nip Inn'. Sometimes we would go into the village to drink Mrs Holmes' nettle beer or have delicious knickerbocker glories at the tea gardens opposite St Peter's Church. Such happy times, never forgotten.
Sadly, the towers are gone, but the memory lingers on.
A memory of Heysham contributed by kathleen wilson

childhood 60s memeoreis

I have fond memories of Heysham as a child, during the 1960s, drinking nettle beer with my brother and sisters.  My auntie Hilda and uncle Billy lived in Ulverston, and my uncle worked at the ICI works, I think it was Half Moon Bay, we used to go and sit on the rocks while my uncle used to bring us our dinner which I presume he got from the works.  I've not been back to Heysham since being a child.  I'm now 57 years old and will be going back in the summer maybe its all changed now but nevertheless I'll go to see and relive some of my childhood.  PS I remember once going aboard a destroyer to have a ...read more here
A memory of Heysham contributed by john midgley

chapel

Lancaster, County Asylum 1891

Each week, as a 15 - 16 year-old, I used to cycle from Morecambe on a Sunday morning for an organ lesson at the chapel of the Moor Hospital. It was uphill there and downhill home. My teacher was the organist there, also Director of Music at LRGS, and my lesson started after the Sunday morning service. As I progressed I was allowed to play the recesssional after the service. Every few years I come back to look at that magnificant building (the Annex) and think of all those thousands of people, staff and patients, who kept that sanctuary alive - a city within a city - which care within the community cannot now hope to replicate. I regret its demise ...read more here
A memory of Lancaster contributed by IAN GERRARD

Extracts From Glasson Dock & Lancashire books

Glasson Dock, the Docks c1955

A further boost to the port’s success came with the construction of a spur to the Lancaster Canal in 1826, and a huge basin was built to accommodate the barges that transported the cargoes inland. Shortly after, a shipyard also opened, and although some new boats were commissioned, it profited more from repairs and refitting work.
An extract from from"Lancashire - A Second Selection Photographic Memories".

Glasson Dock, the Docks c1955

This view shows the main dock, with the River Lune beyond. Our photographer is standing on the bridge over the lock which separates the dock from the Lancaster Canal basin. At the time of our photograph, ship repairing was still going on at Glasson, and the graving or dry dock was still in use. We see behind the dock a busy little port, though it was mostly used by coasters and Irish cargo boats.
An extract from from"Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham Pocket Album".

Glasson Dock, the Docks c1950

This view shows the main dock, with the River Lune beyond. Our photographer is standing on the bridge over the lock which separates the dock from the Lancaster Canal basin. At the time of our photograph, ship repairing was still going on at Glasson, and the graving or dry dock was still in use. We see behind the dock a busy little port, though it was mostly used by coasters and Irish cargo boats.
An extract from from"Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham Pocket Album".

Glasson Dock, Victoria Terrace c1955

We can take a closer look at that terrace. On the right you can see the Nissen huts put up in the 1939-45 war for soldiers and the Home Guard, who were based here to keep supplies flowing during the war years. This area is now the main car park for visitors. One of the gondolas from the big wheel at Blackpool ended its life as a cafe here, and stood just to the right of our picture.
An extract from from"Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham Pocket Album".

Glasson Dock, the Docks c1955

By the1750s, Lancaster had become the fourth busiest port in the country, but the increasing tonnage of ships and the shallowness of the Lune threatened its downfall. The problem was solved in 1787 by the construction of a three-acre dock here. Warehouses, offices and a customs house sprang up around the quayside, with cottages nearby for the stevedores who handled the cargoes.
An extract from from"Lancashire - A Second Selection Photographic Memories".