The Fame Game

Did you know that Beartrix Potter (pictured above looking surprisingly attractive and, might I add, not at all like Renee Zellweger’s annoying portrayal of her) was cremated at Carleton Crematorium?
Why?
Well, presumably because she was dead.
Ah…you mean, why Carleton and not somewhere closer to her beloved Near Sawrey? To be honest I don’t know the answer to that. All I can tell you is that the day before she died, Beartrix Potter informed her shepherd (yes, she had her own personal shepherd), Tom Storey, that she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in the fields around Hill Top Farm, so the chances are that Carleton was the nearest crematorium for the job.
The point is that Beartrix Potter was just one of numerous famous names who, in their own personal (and generally unexpected) fashion, have somehow been connected to the Fylde and Wyre.
Take John Cody Fidler, for example, who was born in Cleveleys on the 9th August 1944.
What do you mean, you don’t know who that is? Well, the chances are you’d probably know him better as John Simpson, I suspect, the BBC war correspondent. Yes, that’s the one, in the portrait below. (I figured that all the images of him scattered around the Internet were copyrighted to the BBC, so I decided to do the right thing and draw him up instead.)


Then there was John Lennon. No, of course he wasn’t born in the Fylde and Wyre. He was a Scouser through and through. However, as a child, he used to spend his summer holidays at his Aunt’s house in Fleetwood. You see, John Lennon’s cousin, Stan, used to attend Rossall School and, well, there’s nowt quite like a free holiday home when budgets are a bit stretched, is there?
Because of the amount of time he spent in Fleetwood, Lennon ended up supporting Fleetwood football team (somebody had to), became fans of the Fleetwood Flyers Speedway Club (whoever they are) and learned to swim at Fleetwood baths. He also became a lifelong fan of that other local legend and musician, George Formby (possibly because George and his missus, Beryl, used to wave at him whenever he went past on the bus to Preston).
In fact, by way of a tribute to Formby, the Beatles video ‘Free As a Bird’ concludes with a George Formby look-alike playing a banjo accompanied by the back-to-front Sgt. Pepper style message: ‘It’s turned out nice again’.
Don’t believe me?
Right…here’s the video then (and for your information I object to being called a fantasist).



If memory serves one of George Formby's catchphrases is uttered by Lennon somewhere on ‘Let it Be’…but don’t quote me on that.
As it happens one of the members of Wyre Archaeology (Mr. Colin Bliss, no less) lives just round the corner from me in what he affectionately calls ‘The John Lennon’ house. Apparently journalists not infrequently turn up on his doorstep wanting to see the childhood photographs and other memorabilia associated with our now dead Beatle, and, no doubt at some point in the not too distant future, I’ll be doing the same.
Now that you’re all in possession of this information it’ll come as no real surprise to discover that John Lennon’s first wife (as opposed to the evil pixie he later married) Cynthia was also a black pudding/sand grown un/Blackpool lass. He didn’t actually meet her in Blackpool, of course. They met at Art College in Liverpool. But she was still a Blackpudlian, regardless.
In later years, because of his fondness for the town, John returned to Fleetwood accompanied by his fellow mop tops and played the Marine Hall. Imagine that…the greatest pop group in history playing to a capacity audience of about one hundred and fifty cod heads. According to urban legend, with typical Fleetwood hospitality, they were booed off the stage.
Not that the occurrence seems to have had much impact, the Beatles’ later hit ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ (that’s the song, not the terrible and, quite frankly, embarrassing ‘Television Spectacular’) was allegedly inspired by a tram ride through Blackpool Illuminations. (A large quantity of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds consumed before hand probably helped with the more magical aspects.)
Blackpool and Fylde college has produced a few famous off-spring in its time as well. John Simm (probably best known nowadays for playing the lead role in Life On Mars, not to mention the latest reincarnation of Dr. Who’s nemesis, the Master) was born in West Yorkshire, spent most of his childhood on the move around various Lancastrian outposts, and eventually settled in St. Anne’s where, at the age of sixteen, he enrolled in the college.
Then there was John Clark, the Scientist who developed the genetic modification of livestock resulting in everybody’s favourite cloned sheep, Dolly.
To be honest, I could go on like this for hours…and on another occasion, I probably will. For now though, suffice it to say that next time anybody remarks that nobody interesting ever emerged from the Fylde and Wyre, tell them to do some more research.