With Westcliffe Drive running through the centre, it has its own shopping centre and still has rows of shops either side of the road. With help from Google Street View, these then and now images show, as near as possible, key sites in Layton comparing how they were in decades past to how they look today. Buildings which are long gone feature in a couple of the photos, but they show how Layton has thrived in its own right through the years.
1. Layton - how it used to be
Westcliffe Drive in 1963 and how it is today Photo: National World
2. Layton - how it used to be
The No4 on Newton Drive. The original Inn on this site was known as 'The Eagle's Nest', it was replaced by the Number Four and Freemason'. It is thought it got it's name as it was the fourth inn from the sea up Church Street. This photograph was probably taken in the 1870s when the area was still considered as countryside Photo: National World
3. Layton - how it used to be
The original Layton Railway Station still stands to this day Photo: National World
4. Layton - how it used to be
This is Westcliffe Drive looking towards the junction with Talbot Road and Layton Road. The 1963 photo shows a £33,000 scheme underway to create the central reservation which is still in place today. It was to make the stretch of road safer following 51 accidents including two fatalities in a five year period. Note bus on the wrong side of the road because of road works. The Jewish cemetery can be seen on the right Photo: National World
5. Layton - how it used to be
Talbot Road close to the junction with Mather Street (centre) . Layton Bingo , Kia-Ora nurseries and D&M Textiles are all in the building which was once Blackpool Laundry and stables. Talbot Showrooms (later Talbot Salerooms) took over part of the building in 1969 selling carpets and furniture and expanded through the whole building in the following years Photo: National World
6. Layton - how it used to be
When these houses, on Caunce Street near the junction with Collingwood Avenue, were demolished, Lowes Forbes expanded their builders merchants yard onto the site. It is still occupied by building and timber merchants Firwood Photo: National World