C.W English was the civil servant who created this painting. His signature is in the bottom left hand corner of the painting. He worked for the old Thornton Cleveleys Urban District Council as a draughtsman to the Planning Department during 1928. This work is C.W English’s interpretation of what Cleveleys Promenade would have looked like had a swimming lido been built as a new facility for residents and visitors in that year.
There are lots of interesting details in the painting, such as the pencilled tramway lines in the top right hand corner, the big open field that dominates the centre of the picture on the spot where the former Cleveleys Police Station was, and that the buildings only reach for a few yards up Victoria Road after crossing Rossall Road and thereafter it is fields all the way until Thornton village centre.
Sadly all C.W English’s inventiveness came to nothing as the Council decided against erecting this addition to its local leisure amenities, it was likely to costly to afford. Thereafter the painting spent its days in the Thornton Council Offices at Four Lane Ends before ending up in storage once all Wyre’s operations transferred to the Civic Centre in Poulton-le-Fylde during the formation of Wyre in 1988.
In 1994 the painting was spotted in a skip by an eagle eyed member of staff who rescued and restored it. It was then placed back on the wall of Cleveleys Area Office for 14 years. One of C.W English’s descendants lived locally and was very pleased to see the work on display.
When Cleveleys Area Office closed its doors for the final time the artwork was moved and put on display at Wyre Council and it can be viewed by those attending meetings at the Civic Centre.