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| The Fylde - Around Garstang | ||||
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This page is a personal view of the villages around Garstang, and lying within the Borough of Wyre on the north-eastern quadrant of the Fylde plain. | ||||
Winmarleigh Winmarleigh Church | Winmarleigh is really just a school, a church, and a small cluster of houses gathered around Winmarleigh Hall, an impressive red brick country residence which is less than 200 years old, but looks much older. The hall was built on the orders of a textile magnate called Patten, and the local pub (The Patten Arms) also bears testament to his importance. For many of the postwar years, the hall was an agricultural college, providing training for young farmers. Winmarleigh church is quite unusual in that it has a wooden spire. | |||
Bowgreave
 Garstang Road, Bowgreave | Bowgreave is a small hill on the southern approach to Garstang. It used to be part of the living accommodation for those working in and around the town. Recently however, a golf course and country hotel has been built, and this has upped the profile somewhat. Bowgreave spills over into Caterall to the south, where the farmers auction mart has given way to light industrial use. | |||
Churchtown
 The Punchbowl at Churchtown | Moving west from Garstang is the hamlet of Churchtown. Off the beaten track and a very pretty place. "The Punch Bowl" does a mean pub lunch, and St Helens Church is the focus of a most attractive and desirable residential area boasting traditional cottages and not too much modern development. | |||
Bilsborrow
 Guys Thatched Hamlet | Bilsborrow is more an area than a place, and has several distinct communities. The most noticeable of these is Guys Thatched Hamlet and Ow'd Nells Tavern. Not strictly a community, this is on its way to being a man-made canal side leisure village, and is designed to attract visitors. It was initially a very good Italian restaurant, to which has been added the tavern, moorings and marina, sports facilities and overnight accommodation. It is very popular, especially on sunny days. Bilsborrow also is famous as the home of Myerscough College where training is provided in agricultural, horticultural, and other allied countryside, leisure and animal related activity. The old part of Bilsborrow has a very traditional church, serving a very traditional and considerate community. The sort of place that you just know youngsters would grow up well in. | |||
St Michaels
 St Michaels Church | Further west still, is the village of St Michaels, Somewhat larger than other villages, it sprawls a bit, but has many more facilities than you would expect of a village its size. These include two excellent stillwater angling centres and a stretch of the river Wyre where day tickets are available. The village also has a small intimate and excellent restaurant, together with good sports facilities, including tennis and bowling clubs, There is also a pub and two garages as well as some small commercial operations providing employment. As with most villages, the church is the focus, and this one lies on the side of the river Wyre in an idyllic setting. It has been less than idyllic at times however, as the river has been prone to flooding, and several times in the recent past, villagers have found themselves mopping up after winter storms. Several flood management initiatives have now been implemented that should minimise this danger in the future. | |||
Great Eccleston The White Bull in Great Eccleston Square | Great Eccleston might well be offended to be thought of as being part of Garstang. It lies about halfway between Garstang and Poulton and, being only a stones throw from its neighbour Little Eccleston is almost on the border with Over Wyre. It used to be a small village, but with considerable dormitory residential development in the last decade or so, it has begun to lose its village identity, and is changing into either commuterland or a retirement place in the countryside. It is a fairly sleepy, quiet, and safe sort of place, with the old guard of village life living sometimes a little uneasily with the newly arrived. Add to this a largish transient population of summer caravanners on holiday from East Lancashire or Manchester, and there is a healthy mix of interests to spark discussion in the three pubs of the area. | |||
Copp
 | Copp is one of those places that people talk about readily, but is difficult to define. It is really a slight hill in what is mostly a pretty flat landscape, so people of the surrounding area refer to its residents as those living up Copp - but there are only a handful of scattered farms and houses anyway. Copp is most famous for its school, a lovely traditional village school, and portal for many of the areas longer standing inhabitants. | |||
Inskip
 The Derby Arms Inskip | It's a bit difficult to say whether Inskip should be associated mostly with Garstang or Preston. There are bits of it that most locals will know - such as "The Derby Arms at Inskip" which distinguishes this hostelry from "The Derby Arms at Treales" nearby, so Inskip is locally immortalised. It is also the home of what used to be (and may still be) HMS Inskip. This curious title for an enclosed piece of land in the middle of the countryside gives a clue to what happens (at least used to happen) there. It was (and may still be) a major long wave transmitting station for the military establishment. The antennae are still there so they either work or are for sentimental reasons. These days there seems to be a lower local profile, but you get into trouble even for stopping your car on the road outside the gates, so sentiment is unlikely I guess. What is known is that in World War 2 it was a very important flying training establishment for the Royal Naval Air Service' Fleet Air Arm. | |||
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