Hopes of Lytham boost

By BARBARA CROSSLEY

FYLDE leisure chiefs are hoping to have Lytham's famous windmill fully repaired in the next financial year.
But it is extremely doubt¬ful that the mill will once more be grinding corn as it did last century.
The mill has been stricken by persistent rising damp — so much so that it has been closed to the public for two years. It was previously used as a tourist information centre.
A team of engineers has drawn up a scheme for solving the damp problem at a cost of £80,000 — £100,000.
It would cost around £100,000 more to have the machinery installed to make the sails turn and the stones grind once again.
Built around 1805, it has not ground corn since it was devastated by fire in 1919. It is, however, a distinctive landmark and one of the most well-known listed buildings on the Fylde Coast.
Fylde Borough Council will have to decide whether just to do the essential repairs, or to go the whole hog and put in the machin¬ery to make it a tourist attraction.
Alternatively it could just settle for a "cosmetic" saint job as it did this year.
Some councillors — espe¬cially those from Lytham — would love to see it working again.
But leisure chairman Councillor Eileen Hall is doubtful.
"I think we have more important things on our books than to actually get it turning and grinding again," she said. "That is not on my priority list.
"Obviously we will have to cure the dampness problem because otherwise we would actually start to lose the fabric of the building, and I do want to see it retained — but there's a lot of difference between maintaining the fabric and getting it working again."
In her estimation the modernisation of St Annes' 70-year-old open air baths would have higher priority. "We've got to do something with the open air pool, now that we've got the new indoor pool being built alongside it. If we want to make it a leisure complex then that must come in front of the windmill.'