Author: Ed

St Annes College Moves to Current Location

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St. Annes College is an independent co-educational day school for students from 2 to 18 years of age. There are three main departments; a Nursery for children aged 2 to 4+, an Infant and Junior School for children aged 4+ to 11 and a Grammar School for students aged from 11 to 18+. One of the main features of the College and one of its greatest strengths is the individual attention given to the students by virtue of the small classes. Classes in the College generally do not exceed 16 pupils and in such a small community both staff and…

Amanda Barrie Comes to Blackpool

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Amanda Barrie (born Shirley Anne Broadbent; 14 September 1935) is an English actress. She appeared in two of the Carry On films before being cast as Alma Halliwell in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played on and off for 20 years. Between 2003 and 2006, she played the role of Bev Tull in the ITV prison drama, Bad Girls. Barrie has since enjoyed a varied stage and television career. Barrie is a distant cousin of Coronation Street co-star Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Bradley. Barrie was born Shirley Anne Broadbent in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, to Hubert…

The First Brick House in St Annes

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In May, 1875, there wasn’t a brick house in St. Annes, though the hotel was in course of erection, and the first permanent house tenanted was occupied by Mr. Clement Rawstron in August, 1875. Left: Clement Rawstron, St.Annes First Postmaster. Right: Arthur Rawstron, St. Annes oldest native – at the time. Photo by F. Heyworth, St. Annes. The house was built in 1875 but converted to shops in 1907.  Photo by F. Heyworth, St. Annes. That house was in St. Andrew’s Road South. It has yielded to the march of progress, and is, along with its neighbour, being turned into…

Official Opening of St Annes’s Public Offices

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St Annes’s Public Offices is a municipal building in Clifton Drive, St Anne’s-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, England. The building, which was the headquarters of St Anne’s-on-the-Sea Urban District Council, is Grade II listed. A local board of health was established in the rapidly developing town of St Anne’s-on-the-Sea in 1878. Following significant population growth, largely associated with seaside tourism, the town became an urban district in 1894 In this context civic leaders decided to procure new public offices: the site they chose formed part of the garden of an adjacent residential property. The new building was designed by Thomas Muirhead in the…

Blackpool Born Pioneer Develops Contact Lens in St Annes

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Frank Dickinson (1906-1978) was an Optometrist and contact lens pioneer, researcher and writer, who developed the micro-corneal lens and was born in Blackpool in 1906. In 1921, he was articled to his aunt, Maud Farnworth, who had an optical practice in Lytham St Annes. He obtained a diploma of the British Optical Association from the College of Technology in Manchester at the age of nineteen, though he was not able to use this professional qualification until he reached twenty-one. In 1930 he set up his own optical practice, moving premises two years’ later to 35 The Square in St Annes…

Lytham St Annes Tramway Passenger Shelter

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The tramway passenger shelter in St Annes, originally built in 1918, served as a waiting room for passengers of the Lytham St Annes Corporation Tramways. Constructed by the original tramway company, the shelter was located at the junction of A584 Clifton Drive North and St Annes Road West. It was later extended in 1984 and used as the Clock House Café but it is now used as a Spud Hut. The shelter features the words “WAITING ROOM” engraved above the original entrance and a later-added clock. The shelter has a “WAITING ROOM” inscription above the entrance and a later-added clock.

Hollywood Icon Mae West Lights up Blackpool

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Mae West visited Blackpool several times during the late 1940s, with well-documented appearances at both the Blackpool Hippodrome and the New Opera House between 1947 and 1948. The Hippodrome’s archives record her performances alongside screenings of her films, including I’m No Angel, featured during the Blackpool Film Festival. The town’s lively theatrical atmosphere clearly appealed to her, and she later joined other prominent entertainers in supporting St Stephen-on-the-Cliffs Church, contributing as one of its notable celebrity donors. Mae West’s likeness appeared on the front cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. When first asked for…

Noël Coward Comes to Blackpool

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Noël Coward had a notable connection with Blackpool, particularly with the Grand Theatre. He first came to Blackpool in October 1942 to present his “Play Parade” featuring “Present Laughter”, “Blithe Spirit”, and “This Happy Breed” at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. This was part of his wartime tour of Britain. Amongst many other things, Coward was also a donor at Blackpool’s St Stephen’s on-the-Cliffs Church. Though not taken in Blackpool, this terrific photo shows Coward with Norman Hackforth at the piano, performing for sailors aboard HMS Victorious in Ceylon, August 1944. It was taken by a Royal Navy official photographer –…

Watson Road Park is Brimming With History

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The Loos Trenches Underneath this park lies an important WWI archaeological site. It is important because whilst most trench training sites in the UK were out in remote areas, this one was on the edge of a growing town; What also makes this this site remarkable is that when it was no longer needed by the army, it became a tourist attraction raising money, for the nearby Lancashire Military Convalescent hospital at the old Clifton Racecourse. There are very few photographs or images of the trenches except those contained within the 1916 guidebook, but the fact that the guidebook has…

St Stephen-on-the-Cliffs and The Actor’s Chapel

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The Church of St Stephen-on-the-Cliffs on Holmfield Road, Blackpool, is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Blackpool, the archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the diocese of Blackburn. St Stephen’s originated as a mission church to All Hallows Church, Bispham, and was opened in 1912. It became known as “The Church on the Cliffs”. In 1919 St Stephen’s became a parish in its own right. The mission church was too small to accommodate its growing congregation, and money was raised to build a new, larger church on a site to the north of the mission church. Its foundation stone…