Taking a trip back in time to the Kirkham and Wesham of the past

A view of Kirkham looking along Poulton Street from the Market Square in the 1950s with the spire of the United Reformed Church in the distance.

Today’s Memory Lane front cover shows a scene from the 1979 Kirkham Club Day procession.

And an early Kirkham and Wesham Club Day procession, dating back to the early 1900s, can be seen on this page. It shows the procession being led by the little flower girls, with brass bands in the background, along Poulton Street, in Kirkham.

Also from the 1900s is a view of Ribby Road in Kirkham, looking towards the town centre. The trees on the left of the picture are in St John The Evangelist Churchyard.

The Market Square, Kirkham in 1914 was bounded by cottages, today these have been replaced by flat roofed two storey shops and offices.

In 1914, Market Square in Kirkham was bounded by cottages. Today, these have been replaced by flat-roofed two storey shops and offices.

Damaged houses in Preston Street, Kirkham, can be seen in another of our black-and-white archive photos – dated September 28, 1941, after bombs were dropped by the Luftwaffe.

Another view of old Kirkham looks along Poulton Street, from Market Square in the 1950s, with the spire of the United Reformed Church in the distance. The lamp in the centre of the ancient Fishstones was removed in 1955, but was restored and replaced in November 1982.

Wesham Park Hospital, formerly a workhouse, on Derby Road, is pictured in 1934. During both the First and Second World Wars, the building was used as a military hospital. In 1948, it was taken over by the newly-formed National Health Service, and then started to develop as a hospital. It had 380 beds and a staff of more than 500 on its old-style Florence Nightingale wards.

Wesham War Memorial is shown in a photograph taken on Remembrance Day, November 11, 1924.

There is also a shot of Garstang Road North, in Wesham, in 1910.