Category: 1928

The Big Wheel Cafe

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The Big Wheel was built in 1896 as part of Winter Gardens manager Bill Holland’s bold response to the arrival of Blackpool Tower in 1894. Holland recognised that the Tower would transform the resort and sought to create rival attractions that would keep visitors within the Winter Gardens complex. Alongside the construction of the Empress Ballroom — which proved an immediate and enduring success — the 220-foot-high Big Wheel was erected as a dramatic new skyline feature. While the Empress Ballroom flourished and even prompted the Tower Company to upgrade its own assembly rooms into what became the famous Tower…

Thompson Family Takes Over Pleasure Beach

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Blackpool Pleasure Beach was founded in 1896 by Alderman William George Bean, a man with an entrepreneurial spirit who initially aspired to make his mark in advertising on New York’s Madison Avenue. After an unsuccessful attempt to break into the advertising world, Bean returned to the UK in 1897, bringing with him a vision inspired by the bustling amusements he’d seen in the U.S. He set up two amusement ventures: one in Great Yarmouth near Euston Road, and the other in Blackpool, located near the tram terminus. While the Great Yarmouth park struggled to attract visitors, the Blackpool location flourished…. Read more »