A Brief History

Fr Formby

The foundation stone for St Joseph's church was laid on 22nd August 1909 by Dr Whiteside, Bishop of Liverpool, in which diocese the parish was at that time. The church was erected by trustees in memory of Mgr. James Taylor and his brother, Fr Roger Taylor. They had been in charge of the adjacent parish, St Peter's, Lytham, from 1873 until1908 and saw the need for a new parish in the neighbourhood. They generously paid for the new church, which cost £12,000 including furnishings

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Before work started on the main church, a small mission church, now the parish hall, was erected and the first Mass was said on 16th August 1908.

The magnificent church was designed in the style of the architect Pugin, and stone quarried from Yorkshire was used to build the mission church, the present church and the presbytery. The church was officially opened by (now) Archbishop Whiteside on 20th September 1914.

The first parish priest was Fr. Robert Formby who was in charge of the parish for 31 years until his death on 21st July 1945. It was he who was responsible for the installation of the stained glass window above the high altar and the statues which line both sides of the body of the church. The church was registered for solemnising marriages on 5th December 1917.

Fr. Fred Gillett was the second parish priest until his retirement in either 1952 or 1953, when he was succeeded by Canon Arthur Gracey. Because the Canon suffered from ill-health, the parish had its only official curates during this time. He was assisted for a short time by Fr. Timon, and then for several years by Fr. Leo Cafferty

Canon Gracey died in 1957, to be succeeded by Fr. (later Canon) Arthur Fleming who, like Fr. Formby, was parish priest for over 31 years until his retirement in 1989. It was Canon Fleming who was responsible for the restoration of the magnificent Willis organ. He also arranged for the underpinning of the bell tower, thus enabling the bells to be rung again. Almost exactly fifty years after the opening of the church, St Joseph's was consecrated on 8th September 1964 in a ceremony performed by the Bishop of Lancaster, Bishop Foley.

The parish hall was a place of frequent use by many organisations within the parish, but perhaps its most unusual use was when for many years Canon Fleming allowed the boys from St Vincent's orphanage in Preston to use it as a dormitory during their annual summer holiday at the seaside. The 'Butterfly' nuns who accompanied the boys, slept in the attic rooms in the presbytery.

Fr. Michael Turner was appointed parish priest on 14th February 1989 and one of his first acts was to organise a Parish Mission to reinforce the ethos of a caring community within the parish. It was Fr Michael who re-ordered the sanctuary to allow for the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, which until then had largely 'passed by' the parish. He also moved the baptismal font to its present prominent position near the high altar, where there is a large painting of the remains of St Cuthbert being carried around the country. The painting was formerly displayed at Upholland College. The other significant change Fr Michael made to the running of the parish was to 'open up' the ground floor of the presbytery to the parishioners for meetings, etc.

In August 1992, there was the unusual sight of fire engines in the church grounds, with their ladders extended to the top of the bell tower; it had been abruptly discovered that the pinnacles at the top of the tower were unsafe when pieces fell to the ground. The upper parts of the pinnacles were removed, and this resulted in a small, but significant, change to the skyline of the area.
Although the sole priest in charge of the parish, Fr Michael Turner welcomed the assistance of retired priests, notably Fr Kevin Connolly and the Mill Hill Fathers William (Bill) Dowd and Joe Geoghegan, all of whom played an important part in the life of the parish. Fr Turner's generosity and hard work were cut short by his premature death in September 1998, following which Fr Joe kept the parish running smoothly until the appointment of Fr Aidan Turner, in February 1999.

It was in 1958, during Aidan Turner's last year at Ushaw college, a letter arrived from the Bishop saying that he was being sent for six years to the English College in Valladoid, Spain, to study philosophy and theology. He had no idea where Valladolid was and had to look it up on the map. Spain at that time was still recovering from the civil war, and the poverty the war had left. General Franco was in charge, and whilst the cost of living was cheap the standard of life was quite primitive. The climate was 6 month bitterly cold winter 6 months hellish hot, so they roasted in summer and froze in winter. There were only three stoves in the college, no central heating, no running water in their rooms. The only hot water available was a quarter of a bathful every two weeks. But cigarettes were cheap, wine plentiful and the company of 40 fellow students excellent. Lectures were at the diocesan Spanish seminary, 10 minutes walk away, and they were in Latin, till the second Vatican Council introduced the vernacular - Spanish.
It was a monastic life, of prayer study and community life, incarcerated for nine months each year till the trap was sprung in June and they transferred to a country house for three months holiday under the Spanish sun. His first visit home to England, came after three years. In May 1960 another letter from the Bishop told him to go to Downing College, Cambridge in October to read Classic, so he left in June, and began a very different sort of existence. He still lived with about 40 priests, and a sprinkling of laymen, from all over the world who were also studying at Cambridge in St. Edmund's house. Three happy years flew by, and he had a chance to look over the, so to speak, to see that there was another way of life than the priesthood. But in 1963 he returned to the English College in Spain for four further wears of theology. After Cambridge, and its freedom, back to the monastery was a big contrast and took a while to get used to. But good friends were still there, and the simplicity of life was attractive. It was good to be back in Spain.
After four years, the Bishop decided he was to be part of the opening week of ceremonies at the new Cathedral in Liverpool, where he was ordained in May 1967.
After he was ordained, Father Aidan was sent to St. Michael's Underley Hall, the diocesan junior seminary; he was there for eight years then moved to Upholland with the students for another year after which the Bishop in his wisdom let him loose for four years at Cambridge University. The change from teaching juniors to that of teenagers was quite harsh but agreeable. A visit each year with the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust kept most of them sane. Then he was asked to become the Chaplin to our own University at Lancaster where he stayed for six happy years.
Father Aidan says that it was his diminishing scoring rate in front of goal that persuaded Bishop Brewer to move him to Walney Island as parish priest of St. Columba's. There for thirteen rich years, the local community welcomed and cared for him, until yet again the Bishop decided that the lush pastures of the Fylde called him back to the land of his birth ( well, almost: he was born in Wesham which is only 7 miles away) here at St. Joseph's Ansdell and Fr. Joe Geoghegan welcomed him. After eleven years with Father Michael Turner, the parish virtually ran itself. But after settling in, his insatiable desire to tinker with things lead to the formation of a Faith and Light community, and later a parish Development Team, Both of which served him with great moments of delight and relaxation. Tom Hoole, from the Beda College, Hilary from the Methodists, and Michael Doherty from the Venerable English College all did placements at the Parish and helped Father Joe to continue to do the lion's share of the work.
He says that his only failure was not to achieve his predecessor's ambition for St. Joseph's parish priest to become the first in the diocese where the parish priest could have the week end off.
For five blissful years, and with the help of the Blossoms, Fylde Rugby Club and parishioners who realized their main religious duty was to spoil the parish priest, he wallowed in Ansdell; then at the request of the new Bishop, Bishop Patrick, he moved down the road to attempt to fill the shoes of Cannon Carey, at our Lady Star of the Sea.

Fr Harry Holden moved from Morecambe to become parish priest of Ansdell in September 2005.

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