Look Around Skippool Creek

Skippool is the area around and to the north of the River Wyre junction on the A585 – the main road between the coast and motorway network. It’s a fascinating, old place, where small fishing boats moor on muddy tributaries of the nearby River Wyre.

Join us for a look around on a sunny March morning –

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How to get to Skippool Creek

Once a major trading port and wharf, now you’d need to know where to look to find this fascinating place.

• The nearest postcode to Skippool Creek to use with SatNav is FY5 5LF – which is Wyre Road.
• Turn off the A585 at the River Wyre pub at Skippool Road, and head as if to Thornton.
• Not very many yards along the road, turn right onto Wyre Road, before you reach the Thornton Lodge pub. Be careful, it’s very narrow at the beginning.
• Wyre Road follows the creeks and widens out slightly.
• There is a free car park a little further along where you can leave your car to explore on foot.

Click here to explore on Google maps

Skippool Creek Today

Turn off the main road and follow the windy lane and arrive in a different world! You’ll see Shard Bridge spanning the River Wyre in the distance across the floodplain. You can imagine it’s a haven for wildlife, and the air is always alive with the sound of birdsong.

Pretty cottages and luxury houses stand on the sunny side of the river bank while the Breck weaves its way past to join the River Wyre a little further ahead. This road can be liable to flooding during high tides and bad weather, so please take care.

Small, ramshackle berths cling to the side of this small tributary – some still in use and others long abandoned. As you go along the lane you’ll see an assortment of boats moored to these landings. Some are in use and seaworthy – others are wrecks from years of fishing long gone.

The tidal tributaries are a rich source of food for the wildlife which lives there or visits. The mud flats, seen at low tide in these photos, are an excellent source of food for birds.

Carry on along the lane and you’ll get to the car park – it’s free to use – stay as long as you like. Beyond the car park is a fascinating world of history, derelict boats, amazing views and changing landscape. Don’t forget to take your wellies!

Walk the Footpaths at Skippool

Adjacent to the car park is D. Moss boatbuilders yard. Carry on walking along the footpath and the next landmark you come to is Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club. The proper tarmac road runs out at this corner, so it’s the furthest point that you can access by car.

The footpaths beyond the Yacht Club are just that – footpaths. They weave past the boat berths and moorings of Skippool with various left turns taking you into the fields of Thornton. On your right you’ll start to see the River Wyre opening up into the wide estuary which opens out eventually at sea.

Where Underbank Road forks off into a dead end, the footpath from Skippool meets the Stanah Tramper Trail. Follow this and your walk will take you to Wyre Estuary Country Park, then Fleetwood Marsh Nature Park and eventually the docks at Fleetwood.

History of Skippool

MANY THANKS to Nick Moore and his fascinating History of Blackpool for historical information used in this article. You can read it here

For hundreds of years Skippool Creek was a major trading port, along with Wardleys Creek at the other side of the River Wyre. It was in constant use by sea going vessels from the end of the Medieval period, well before the 1600’s.

Goods arrived here from all around the world. Traders plied their goods further inland at Poulton, with goods unloaded at Skippool.

Did you know? The name Skippool comes from the Old Norse word ‘skip’ meaning ship, and the Old English ‘pull’ or ‘poll’ meaning a slow moving stream.

This little port on the Wyre is called ‘Skippon’ on old maps. You’ll also see it called Skiffe-Pool, Skip Pool, Skip Pul, Skippon Flue – and probably several other names. The name ‘Poulton’ comes from “pool-town” derived from the nearby Skippool Creek.

It had been the location of a small port for Poulton for centuries. But in 1590 it began to grow. Brothers William and James Blackburne, along with William Jenkinson – all from Thistleton – began landing their trade goods of flax and tallow from Russia.

Did you know? In 1982, a Roman coin was found at Skippool, from the time of the Emperor Gracian.

Round the World Trade

Once a bustling port, ships arriving from as far away as Russia, Barbados and North America would unload their cargoes. Timber came from across the Atlantic, sugar and tobacco from the Americas and tallow from Russia. Flax arrived here, imported from Ireland and the Baltic. Stone was imported from the Lake District. Along with other cargos of imported wine, rum, sugar, cotton and tobacco.

After Marton Moss was drained in 1731, the river inlet at Skippool was made wider and deeper. With the banks strengthened it provided better wharfage.

By the 18th century, markets were held regularly in nearby Poulton. 1806-08 records show limestone and oats being imported from Ulverston, and coal which arrived via Preston. By return, salt and locally made cheese was exported via Skippool to other coastal ports.

Did you know? By the mid 1700’s, the amount of shipping passing through Skippool and Wardleys exceeded that at the Port of Liverpool.

Ye Olden Days of Shady Behaviour!

By now Skippool was also popular for all kinds of shady behaviour too! Prostitutes, known locally as ‘ambleton ookers’ plied their trade. It was popular for cock fighting, smuggling and press gangs. The ale houses infamous in fact for strong ale, contraband, spirits and drunks!

One popular Skippool drinking place was the Oozel Inn. By the time it was sold in 1839 it was simply ‘Oozel Cottage’.

Within the last two or three years the roadside cottage once known as the “Ouzel Inn” has disappeared. It stood in a narrow lane near Skippool. In its palmist days the Ouzel Inn had the reputation of being the resort of the smugglers who flourished when George III was King. It’s said that the inn was never exactly a licensed house, but carried on an illicit trade.

From the Blackpool Herald, 11 August 1882

Next door to the Ouzel was Throstle’s Nest Cottage, the beer-house home of Edward Blackburn in 1881 and still standing. By 1920 it had become a simple tea room operated by a Mrs T Cotterill.

RECOLLECTIONS OF BLACKPOOL AND THE FYLDE – A Ramble by the River Wyre [extracts].
Early last March I walked with a young friend … My friend admired the quaint appearance of two thatched cottages on the right hand side of the road after passing Skippool bridge. The first is known as “Throstle Nest”, home of Edward Blackburn and family [In 1881 a Railway Porter in Thornton]. The other has been known from time immemorial as “Ouzle Inn” – an Ouzel is a type of thrush. There’s no reason to doubt that when Skippool had its little shipping trade this was a veritable inn.

From the Blackpool Herald, 13 May 1881

Tales of smuggling…

If all tales about smuggling are true, the landlord would be able to supply his customers with something stronger than ale. 50 or 60 years ago smuggling was looked upon in a far different light than at the present time. Men of respectability and position thought it no harm to connive at it. A vicar in one of our Fylde parishes, well-known for miles around for telling his hearers to “do as he said and not as he did”, was ready at any time to give a helping hand in “landing of cargo”. Early in the present century the little cottage was a school, with pupils taught by a Peter Whiteside.

Also from the Blackpool Herald, 13 May 1881

Thomas Brockholes owned The White Horse Inn at Skippool. Used as a rum store, it housed the much-smuggled spirit when it came in from Barbados on the ship Martha and Betty. Along with its own malt-house and bowling green, the White Horse also had its own cock-pit.

Boat Building at Skippool

Skippool was also the place to have a boat built. Many ocean going vessels began life here, mostly for wealthy Kirkham mill owners. Skippool even made ships for Peter the Great of Russia.

In 1830, a Mr Lewtas had a barque called ‘Hope’ built on the Wyre at Skippool. 415 tons in weight, she was the largest ship ever to be built on the river. When she launched, the swell of water reached over the knees of the watching locals!

Evidence of all of this commercial activity can still be seen today – offshore from the nearby seafront at Anchorsholme. Look out for the ribs of the Abana, a ship wrecked just offshore in 1887. And the nearby Shipwreck Memorial documents the astonishing list of wrecks in the area.

The tradition of boat building even continues there to this day.

Did you know? In 1837 Skippool was so busy that it was known as “The Metropolis of the Fylde”.

The Demise of a Busy Port

However, nothing lasts forever. Skippool’s demise as a busy port began when the railway arrived in Fleetwood in 1840. Bit by bit, trade through this once bustling place started to ebb away.

In 1845, trade dried up suddenly when the Clifton Estate transferred all its timber imports to Preston and Liverpool. By now, the Port of Fleetwood was also open, taking even more trade.

Nowadays, the mud berths – with their rickety wooden access walkways – are moorings for small pleasure boats.

• There’s much more about the history of Poulton here.

Did you know? Built in 1896, The River Wyre Hotel is believed to be the only inn in the UK named after a river.

The Shanty Man

Many thanks to Visit Fylde Coast supporter Eryk Freethinker for this poem, originally written for the Brew at 2 crowd.

Haul up the mains’l an’ anchors aweigh boys;
We’er leavin’ Russky, bound fer Skipool Creek.
Get that capstain turnin’ all around,
Tallow in the hold we are Skipool bound.

Tallow in th’ hold we’re sailin’ bold;
Bound fer Skippool on th’ Fylde.
Be the wind set fair an the gusts be wild;
Bound fer Skipool on the Fylde.

Shipmates dizzy wi’ vodka in the grog;
Bound fer Skipool be there mist or fog.
A pub in Skipool creek be th’ Chef an’ Brewer
The crew be thinkin’ o’ th barmaid’s allure

We got sugar in th’ hold; sweet an unrefined;
Jus’ like us mariners so th’ lasses find.
We’ll anchor in th creek an’ empty our holds;
Set out fer Poulton an’ see wot unfolds!

A soft warm bed is what we seek,
Not a hammock in a ship on Skipool creek!
Sing a shanty all you sailors awhile;
We’er bound fer Skipool on th’ Fylde.

Anything to add?

Do you know anything more about the history of Skippool? Add what you know in the comments section, or you can send an email to jane@theRabbitPatch.co.uk. If you want to share any photos we’ll give you full credit, of course!

Your own view of Skippool

We’re The Rabbit Patch and we independently publish Visit Fylde Coast. Did you know that we’re also artists and makers? In 2025 we gifted all the rights to our Seaside Emporium archive to Care for Cleveleys. You can now buy prints of our originals in the Care for Cleveleys Shop, with all proceeds going to projects in town.

This is our original watercolour painting of “Boats Moored at Skippool Creek”. It’s available to buy in a variety of print formats.