Fleetwood’s first library was built on Dock Street and stands out from a lot of the other buildings in the area. The builder was Thomas Drummond, who the local Wetherspoons was named after. Completed in 1863 as the Whitworth Insitute it changed hands in 1867 and became the Fielden Free Library where the famous Lancashire Verse poet Samuel Laycock.
Mi gronfeyther
‘Aw ‘VE just bin a havin’ a peep at th’ farm-heawse
Wheer mi gronfeyther lived at so long ;
So aw’ll draw eawt a bit ov a sketch o’ th’ owd spot,
An’ work it up into a song.
An’ furst let me tell yo’ aw ‘m sorry to foind
‘At th’ place isn’t same as it wur;
As well as housing the town’s library it used to house the town’s museum, which is now at the old Custom’s house designed by Decimus Burton. It is an amazing building to draw an paint, it has a lot going on that makes it interesting.
The building itself is now a house, but was the library until 1988 I borrowed books there when I was very young and I remember when the new library opened. Which is a good place to head from here. We want to head around Dock Street to til we get to The Steamer pub and then head down Victoria Street. WE will go alongside the market as we go down the street.
Approaching from the rear of the building we can see that the building looks like it was inspired by a church with a trio of arched windows on the ground floor and five arched windows on the first floor of the building. I was once told it was designed by one of the council’s building surveyors and his daughter became one of the head librarians locally.
We are going to sit in the little garden across the road to sketch the library. This has been a really short. What would you like to see from a modern library? design an area in the library to appeal to people your age, what would it have in it?
