Some Things I’ve Learned About St.Annes

1. If you’re born and bred local you’re a ‘sand-grown-un’ and if you’ve moved here you’re known to locals as a ‘wind-blown-un’. This saying is more Blackpool than St.Annes but I have heard it used here so I guess it’s maybe a Fylde coast thing.

2. St.Annes is as flat as the proverbial pancake. The only hills are the road bridges which cross the railway line.

3. Snow will only lie in St.Annes for more than half a day about once every ten years thanks to the Gulf Stream and the prevailing westerly winds. This is a shame if you want to use your sledge … but as there are no hills it was going to be tough for you anyway.

4. When I came down to work and live here in ‘87 a young Irish lad that worked alongside me gave this stunning observation, “The only reason people come to live in St.Annes is to die”. That was perhaps the case up until the nineties but the population has changed a fair bit since then and the town has tried its best to change as well. It must be doing something because there’s a definite split between those who like the redevelopment the council have made to the Square and Wood Street and those who don’t.

5. If you want a choice of television provider you are restricted to satellite or terrestrial/freeview. There is no cable operator that I am aware of in St.Annes although you can get cable in Blackpool or even in Freckleton down the coast. I suspect there are two reasons for this. The first is the technical one, that this town is mostly built on sand and as a result laying the piping and cables could be costly for the possible take-up and financial return. The second is the preponderance of nursing homes and hotels. I guess that the possible income for a cable operator would be restricted by the lack of private residences to serve.

Fylde Borough Council provide a potted history of St.Annes here.