ABSTRACT
Lytham had been a fishing village and resort for many years before the development of the new health and luxury resort of St. Annes on the Sea further along the Ribble estuar. St. Annes was seen from its conception as a health resort, not just a centre for entertainment like Blackpool or Southport. Initially, St. Annes was seen by the middle classes of central and eastern Lancashire as an ideal retirement home and significantly, the political constituency remains one of the most strongly Tory areas of the country. Lytham St. Annes as the two towns became known, including also the addition of the adjoining area of Ansdell and Fairhaven now makes up most of the estuary and sea coast of the Fylde between Blackpool and Preston. The decline of the British seaside began to come about through vagaries of the climate and the success of post war British industry.
