In Dear Old Fleetwood Town

A Memory of Fleetwood.

I was born in Fleetwood in1939 and lived in Adelaide Street; opposite the market at no 19. I remember Tommy Butler (daft Tommy) digging great holes on Ferry beach. I used to help Frank Brown (market superintendant) to set up the stalls on Tuesday and Fridays (market days). A couple of doors down was the Queens Palace Theatre which was closed during the Second World War, and at the end of the war the American Army was billeted there who watched over some German POWs. My father-in-law Bill Powell was the Engineer on the ferryboat when it blew up, killing him instantly. My pals in those halcyon years were Dave Leadbetter, Bob Abram, Bill Wright, Pat Longrigg, James Heaney, Pat Macdermott, Vic Macdermott, Gordon Robinson. I wonder if any are still around? I think of them from time to time. My family came to Fleetwood in 1840s, so we go back a long way. I remember The Fiesta Follies coming every summer and they sang a song which I can still remember the words of: IN DEAR OLD FLEETWOOD TOWN, FLEETWOOD BY THE SEA, THERE AIN'T A PLACE THAT'S TO OUR HEARTS THAN THIS OLD TOWN OF OURS. YOU MAY BE RICH, YOU MAY BE POOR, YOU MAY BE UP OR DOWN, BUT YOU'LL ALWAYS FIND A WELCOME IN DEAR OLD FLEETWOOD TOWN.