Medlar With Wesham - Industry and Amenities

Industry and Amenities

At the centre of the town is the small War Memorial, with its stone statue of a First World War soldier, which enjoys attractive floral displays throughout the year and a service of remembrance on Remembrance Sunday. Around it are located the old Fire Station, the busy Post Office, the Co-Op supermarket, the Fish and Chip shop and an Off License. The Post Office recently campaigned successfully to remain open.

Wesham Bakery, now the home of Fox's Biscuits and the largest current commercial concern, was opened in 1957, on the site previously occupied by Phoenix Mill. Near Salisbury's electrical showroom, on Garstang Road South, is a Chinese restaurant. Other small businesses on Station Road, include a garage/tyre fitters, car sales centre, beautician, sandwich bar, hairdressers, veterinary surgeon, pharmacy and a fast-food outlet. There has been some recent light industrial and small business development in the north of the parish near Junction 3 of the M55 motorway, where a Premier Inn motel and restaurant are also situated. A private residence on Fleetwood Road is the base for a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, the only flying HUEY in the UK.

On Church Road is a popular Community Centre and nearby are the outdoor Bowling Club and the newly re-built Scout Hut. The centre is used by, amongst others, Wesham Road Runners, Medlar and Wesham Town Council, Wesham Community Pride Trust and Blackpool and The Fylde College. It is also used as the town's electoral Polling Station. On Fleetwood Road there is a modern Fire Station and adjoining Ambulance Station.

The town also has a recreation field, equipped with a newly-built skateboard park, on Fleetwood Road, where football is regularly played by local teams. The playground has recently been re-equipped with modern new play equipment and the perimeter of the field equipped with sturdy all-weather fitness stations. A doorstep green has recently been created on Derby Road near the former Fylde Borough Council offices. There are public allotments between St. Joseph's churchyard and the recreation ground.

The town has three busy public houses - The Lane Ends, The Stanley Arms and The Royal Oak Hotel. There are three Biological Heritage Sites at Medlar Ditch, Medlar Meadows and Wesham Marsh.

The town's annual Club Day is held in early June, jointly with Kirkham. The day involves the various churches and their chosen "Rose Queens", together with biblical tableau floats, civic dignitaries and brass bands, walking in procession through the town in the morning. In 2011 Club Day was held on Saturday 11 June.

In January 2011, as part of a £6m savings review by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust, the purpose-built 40-bed rehabilitation unit for the elderly on Mowbreck Lane, which had been built in 2001, was closed.

Regular bus services are provided by the Ribble branch of Stagecoach Buses. In March 2011 the railway station, which the town shares with Kirkham, was given a makeover with a major modernisation and refurbishment of the staircase.