Blackpool Heritage Trams Return

Balloon 715 at North Pier with Boat 227 passing by on a Promenade Tour on 30th May

The Spring Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May saw the return of Blackpool Heritage Trams to the Promenade, and because of the Covid pandemic, pre-booking, social distancing and mask wearing were the order of the day. The format for the three day weekend was a Promenade Tour every hour, starting at North Pier then running via Little Bisham and Pleasure Beach back to North Pier, with no intermediate boarding or alighting. The second option was a Coastal Tour, again commencing at North Pier but running all the way to Fleetwood, before returning via the Pleasure Beach and finishing at North Pier again, three of these tours ran on each day, operated by either a Boat, a single decker or a double decker. Saturday was a rather dismal and overcast day, but the Sunday and Monday saw warm weather with wall to wall sunshine from morning until night, with the Promenade being extremely busy with visitors on the Sunday in particular.

Balloon 715 southbound on a Promenade Tour at the Gynn on 30th May

Brush Car 621 heading north past St Peter's Church in Fleetwood on the 12:45 Coastal Tour on 30th May

Boat 600 passing St Peter's Church in Fleetwood on the 10:45 Coastal Tour on 30th May

Balloon 715 arriving at Bold Street in Fleetwood on the 15:30 Coastal Tour on 31st May

Balloon 717 passing Tiffany's Hotel on North Promenade on a Coastal Tour on 30th May

Boat 227 at Anchorsholme crossing on the 10:45 Coastal Tour on 31st May

Brush Car 621 on the last leg of its 12:45 Coastal Tour at the Tower on 30th May

Brush Car 621, Boat 227 and Flexity 003 at North Pier on 30th May

Boat 227 at Lowther Avenue on the last Promenade Tour of the day on 30th May

Boat 600 at North Albert Street in Fleetwood on the 10:45 Coastal Tour on 30th May

Balloon 715 at Fleetwood Ferry on the 15:30 Coastal Tour on 31st May

Centenary 642 at Bold Street in Fleetwood on the 12:45 Coastal Tour on 29th May

Balloon 717 passing Flexity 017 at the Foxhall on 30th May

Bolton 66 on a Promenade Tour passing Flexity 011 at North Pier on 29th May

Blackpool Routes 14 and 74 Diversion

Blackpool Enviro 420 turning south from West Drive onto Fleetwood Road North

A section of Fleetwood Road North in Thornton was subject to a daytime closure between 09:00 and 15:00 from 24th to 27th May due to road resurfacing. The road closure affected Blackpool Transport routes 14 and 74, northbound buses had to turn left from Fleetwood Road onto West Drive, then at the junction with Amounderness Way they turned right at the traffic lights on to the A585, a right turn at the next set of lights took buses along Bourne Way, where they continued until turning left back onto Fleetwood Road North at the next crossroads. Southbound buses followed the same diversion but in the reverse direction. An accident and motorway closure on the M6 on Wednesday 26th May created a severe delay in the delivery of essential asphalt, causing the resurfacing work and associated bus diversions to continue for several hours into the evening.

Enviro 447 on the partially resurfaced Fleetwood Road North on the morning of 27th May

Northbound Enviro 421 turning from Fleetwood Road onto West Drive on 25th May

Enviro 566 turning right out of West Drive onto Amounderness Way on 27th May

Northbound Enviro 408 turning right out of West Drive onto Amounderness Way

Enviro 405 heading north, turning right from Amounderness Way into Bourne Way

Enviro 230 after turning right from Fleetwood Road onto Bourne Way on route 74 to Preston

Enviro 451 turning south out of Bourne Way onto Amounderness Way on 25th May

Enviro 223 southbound on Amounderness Way on route 74 to Preston on 25th May

Enviro 421 heading south along Amounderness Way on 27th May

Enviro 405 turning right out of West Drive past the Volvo P6870D ABG road paver

The Volvo P6870D ABG Paver laying the new tarmac surface on Fleetwood Road North

The Port of Heysham

Stena Hibernia arriving on the Ro-Ro freight service from Belfast on 1st May

The Port of Heysham was developed by the Midland Railway company at the end of the 19th Century. The newly constructed harbour opened to shipping in 1904, and the first passenger sailing was a day trip to Douglas in the Isle of Man by the Midland Railway steamship Londonderry on 13th August 1904. Heysham is currently home to several ferry routes, the vehicle and passenger service to Douglas operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, the Stena Line Ro-Ro freight ferry to Belfast and the Seatruck Ro-Ro freight services to Dublin and Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland.

The Manannan on the 0845 sailing from Douglas in the Isle of Man on 1st May

Seatruck Precision Ro-Ro freight ferry leaving Heysham Harbour on 1st May

The standby safety vessel Forties Sentinel arriving at Heysham on 1st May

Dredgers Wyre Sand and Admiral Day at work in Heysham Harbour

Stena Hibernia and Seatruck Precision passing near the cooling water outfall of Heysham 1 Nuclear Power Station

The Liverpool Pilot boat Fulmar paying a visit to Heysham Port on 1st May

Seatruck Precision leaving through the harbour entrance on 1st May

Stena Hibernia on a morning sailing to Belfast on 29th April

Heysham 2 Nuclear Power Station and the sea wall footpath leading to Heysham Harbour

Heysham 2 (left) and Heysham 1 (right) Nuclear Power Stations

The S.S. Londonderry on the first ever passenger sailing from the newly constructed Heysham Harbour in 1904

Coastliner route 24 diversion due to Star Wars filming

Optare Versa YJ61JHH southbound on the route 24 diversion along Thornton Gate

Due to filming work taking place on Cleveleys Promenade for the new Disney 'Star Wars: Andor' TV series, route 24 of Coastliner Buses had to be diverted from 1st May. Cleveleys sea front was transformed into a fully blown film set for a week during the beginning of May, the Cafe Cove (opposite The Venue) was given a complete makeover to resemble an alien restaurant in a galaxy far, far away. Imperial Stormtroopers were spotted along with other cast and extras on set during filming of this 'Rogue One' Star Wars prequel. Due to the promenade being closed for the week, Coastliner service 24 had to divert away from its usual route along the sea front and use Rossall Road and Thornton Gate (in both directions) instead. Northbound route 21 had to operate via Fleetwood Road and Rossall Road for the duration of the Promenade closure.

Mini Pointer Dart CE02UUY diverting along Rossall Road at the Beach Road roundabout

Coastliner Dart KP04GZM on the Thornton Gate diversion on 7th May

Dart GX54DWO turning left from Green Drive onto the Thornton Gate diversion

Imperial Stormtroopers and cast next to Cafe Cove during the filming on Cleveleys Promenade

Cafe Cove transformed into an alien building from a galaxy far, far away

False doors, windows and alien writing complete the Star Wars transformation of Cafe Cove

Alien writing surrounding a film set doorway attached to the front of Cafe Cove

Optare Versa YJ10EYZ turning from Thornton Gate onto the Promenade on 29th April

Coastliner Dart KP04GZM turning off Cleveleys Promenade on 29th April