Author: Ed

Illuminasia Opens its Doors to Visitors

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Parents queue with their children on the first day of half term for the opening of Iluminasia, the Worlds Largest Indoor Illuminations, opened on 18 April 2014. Combining ancient Chinese tradition with modern production; this awe-inspiring display offers something for everyone. With the play of light and colour, artists of every medium gain inspiration from this beautiful Far Eastern art form. Children delight in the adventure of exploring through a garden filled with towering exotic flowers and giant butterflies, almost as much as mums and dads enjoy basking in the serenity of time spent in the Jade Palace!

Iconic Warbreck Water Tower is Built

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Warbreck Water Tower was built in 1932 for the Fylde Water Board to be able to supply water to the households in Blackpool. It was built on the highest point to be able to keep up a good water feed and good pressure to the households When the water tank is full it is estimated that the weight of water in it is 43.8 times the weight of the steelwork in Blackpool Tower. Two reservoirs at the side of the water tower feed water via pumps into the tank at the top of the tower and these reservoirs are fed…

Little Bispham Underground Boat Store

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The underground boat store at Little Bispham has a fascinating and multi-layered history. Originally constructed in 1935 as a subterranean car park, it was designed to accommodate around 90 vehicles. However, its location beneath the promenade made it highly susceptible to flooding during high tides. This persistent issue led Blackpool Town Council to abandon the facility not long after it was built. During World War II, the structure found a new purpose when the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers Armstrong utilised it as a secret storage facility. The enclosed, hidden nature of the underground space made it ideal for keeping wartime…

Two Blackpool Metro Trams Find a New Home

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For a true taste of Blackpool Metro heritage, you can visit the two historic trams now located at Brickhouse Farm Cottages, a family-operated holiday retreat dedicated to accessibility and inclusivity. The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust had been seeking to find new homes for their trams for some time. While many were dismantled for parts, set 3 was fortunate to be preserved at Brickhouse Farm Cottages in Hambleton. On 6 December 2023, the final two 1930s Fylde Coast trams were saved from what has locally become known as ‘the tram graveyard’. According to a Facebook post, the trams, which were the…

Lilias Munro is Spotted in Blackpool by Dancer Miss Bluebell

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LILIAS MUNRO former Bluebell girl, head of make-up at BBC Television in the north of England and step mother of deceased Disney movie actress JANET MUNRO, died at 2am on 19 July 2004 at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool of cancer. Lilias (Lily) Smith was born in Wigan on 24 January 1917. She was spotted by Miss Bluebell (Margaret Kelly) on a visit to Blackpool in 1935 and brought to Paris to dance as one of the famous Bluebell Girls. Margaret Kelly. Photo taken by Teddy Piaz (1899 – 1966). Madam Bluebell with the Bluebell Girls at the Ritz Hotel for…

Feature Film AWAY Focuses on Blackpool

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Away is a 2016 British drama film directed by David Blair and starring Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. It premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was released in the United Kingdom digitally on 8 May 2017 by 101 Films and on DVD on 15 May 2017 by Metrodome. The story takes place in Blackpool, where an unlikely friendship blossoms between a lonely, suicidal widower and a young woman trying to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend. In a nutshell, this is a grim drama set in Blackpool where the older of the two is Joseph (Timothy Spall), a boozy,…

Susan Varley’s Badger’s Parting Gifts Gets Published

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Susan Varley is a British illustrator and author of children’s picture books. She was born in 1961 in Blackpool. Her best known book is Badger’s Parting Gifts, a story which aims to be a gentle introduction to old age and bereavement for young children. She both wrote and illustrated the book, and it was awarded the Mother Goose Award in 1985. Susan – who attended Baines Endowed Primary and Elmslie Girls School (background image). Varley studied graphic design and illustration at Manchester Polytechnic. Badger’s Parting Gifts was Susan Varley’s first book, it was published by Andersen Press in 1984. A…

Nathan Parker Releases First Book

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Nathan Parker is an independent author and spoken artist from Blackpool. Proud of his northern roots, Nathan is a keen champion of northern voices, committed to enabling people of all ages to engage with words, stories and conversations. He has a background in Youth Work, having worked in the community, schools, colleges and hostels in Blackpool and the North-West for over 13 years. His vision is to combine youth work values and approaches with the topic of literacy to engage and motivate people to access reading, writing and storytelling, removing barriers and enabling confidence. Nathan is proud of his northern roots…

Roy Calley’s Blackpool: A Complete Record is Published

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Roy Calley is a journalist who works for the BBC in Salford but was brought up in Blackpool, but now lives full-time in Nice, France. He joined the BBC in 1990 at Radio Lancashire, working as a sports journalist. Three years later he joined BBC GMR in Manchester and was the morning sports reporter on the breakfast programme, as well as presenting his own sports preview show every Friday night. He then moved to BBC Radio Leeds, where, despite being a Lancastrian, he reported on the fortunes of Yorkshire County Cricket Club for the local stations. That was followed by…

Roy Fuller Gets His First Poetry Book Published

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Roy Broadbent Fuller CBE (11 February 1912 – 27 September 1991) was an English poet and writer, best known for his contributions to poetry. Born in Failsworth, Lancashire, to Leopold Charles Fuller and Nellie Broadbent, his early life was shaped by a lower-middle-class background. His father, who had a difficult start in life as the illegitimate son of Minnie Augusta Fuller, worked his way up to become the works manager and later a director of a rubber-proofing mill in Hollinwood, Greater Manchester, before passing away in 1920. After his father’s death, Fuller was raised in Blackpool and attended Blackpool High…