1832.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley. 1835.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley. 1837.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and Robert Townley Parker. 1841.—Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., and Sir Geo. Strickland, Bart. The year 1840 was an auspicious one in the history of the Fylde. On the 25th of July, the Preston and Wyre Railway, running through the heart of this district, was completed and declared open for traffic. By its means the farmer became enabled to convey his produce to the extensive market of Preston; and Kirkham, Poulton, and Garstang were no longer the only towns accessible to our agriculturists for the sale of their crops. The early appreciation of the utility and benefit of the line is apparent from the rapid increase of its traffic, as shown by the annexed tables, in which the official returns of passengers and goods for the week ending Dec. 14th, 1842, and the corresponding weeks of the four succeeding years are stated:— Week ending Dec. 14th, 1842. 911 Passengers. £65 10s. 5d. Goods. 62 8 1 ----------- 127 18 6 ----------- Corresponding week in 1843. 1105 Passengers. 88 1 6 Goods. 140 11 9 ----------- 228 13 3 ----------- Corresponding week in 1844. 1601 Passengers. 139 4 6 Goods. 163 18 11 ----------- 303 3 5 ----------- Corresponding week in 1845. 1997 Passengers. 144 12 1 Goods. 234 13 4 ----------- 379 5 5 ----------- Corresponding week in 1846. 2820 Passengers. 243 19 0 Goods. 308 18 5 ----------- 552 17 5 ----------- At the present date, 1876, the average weekly traffic on this railway and its branches to Lytham and Blackpool, amounts in round numbers to £1,200 for passengers, and £800 for goods.