Tramway shelter 23 in Lytham St Annes, originally built in 1923 by John Heap & Sons, is a notable relic from the former tramway that once connected Lytham and Blackpool via St. Annes. It served as a passenger shelter for both trams and later, buses, until road changes in the mid-1990s rendered it disused. The shelter was restored in 2009 by Fylde Borough Council and Lytham Civic Society and remains a local landmark, though no longer used for public transport.
The shelter was built in 1923 by John Heap & Sons at the request of the Lytham St. Annes Borough Council, shortly after the council took over the tramway system. It served as a waiting area for tram passengers traveling between Lytham and St. Annes, and later, for bus passengers when the tramway was closed in 1936. The tramway shelter is a physical reminder of the area’s tramway history, which began with compressed gas trams in 1896, transitioned to electric trams in 1903, and eventually closed in 1937.
After the tramway’s closure, the shelter was used by bus passengers until road alterations made it obsolete. It was restored in 2009 by Fylde Borough Council and Lytham Civic Society, preserving it as a historical point of interest. The shelter is an octagonal brick structure located at the junction of Marine Drive and Clifton Drive South in Ansdell. It is smaller and less ornate than other similar shelters in St. Annes, with a steeply pitched roof, a ball roof finial, and no decorative stonework above the entrance. The shelter, though no longer used for its original purpose, is a well-maintained landmark in Lytham St. Annes.
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