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Blackpool Tower
celebrated its 110th birthday in May 2004. Here are 110 facts about
the world famous attraction and the history so far.....
BLACKPOOL
TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (1 - 10)
1. Part of the aquarium pre-dates the rest of the Tower
building by 20 years. It was kept open to earn revenue while
the Tower building went up around it.
2. An aviary as part of Dr Cockers Menagerie accompanied the
aquarium. When the Tower was completed the aviary moved up to
the area now occupied by Jungle Jims.
3. The menagerie featured wild animals, tropical birds and
fish – all of which were relatively unknown to the Lancashire
mill workers.
4. An orchestrion was installed at the entrance of the
aquarium to attract the public into the building. The
orchestrion worked on the principle of a large barrel organ
and was originally powered by weights, similar to a
grandfather clock. It is now displayed in a Birmingham museum.
5. The aquarium was modelled on the limestone caverns of
Derbyshire.
6. In February 1895 a severe frost killed all the fish and new
stocks were imported from Germany .
7. In 2003 the turtles had to be found a new home because they
had become too large for their tank.
8. The largest tank in the aquarium holds 32,000 litres of
salt water.
9. There are currently 57 species of fish in the aquarium.
10. There are both fresh water and salt-water fish in the
aquarium. The water in the tropical fish tanks is kept at 75
degrees Fahrenheit.
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BLACKPOOL
TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (11 - 20)
1. The Circus first opened to the public on 14 May 1894.
Admission was from 6d.
2. The Circus has never missed a season since it began in
1894.
3. The Circus is positioned at the base of the Tower between
its four legs.
4. The present interior of the Circus was created by the
famous theatre designer, Frank Matcham, and was completed in
1900.
5. Animals have not appeared in the Tower Circus performances
since 1990.
6. For each era of the Tower Circus there has been a resident
Clown. Today it is Mooky, but previous generations laughed at
the antics of August & September, Doodles and the well
remembered Charlie Cairoli.
7. Long before he became famous as a Hollywood film star, the
comedian, W.C. Fields, spent a season before the First World
War at the Circus as a juggler.
8. The Circus ring when flooded can hold up to 42,000 gallons
of water to a depth of 4ft 6 inches.
9. Sporting events that have been held in the Circus ring
include boxing, wrestling and snooker.
10. The Tower Circus has been voted by the Circus Friends
Association as the best Circus in Britain for the past four
years.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (21 - 30)
1. The original Ballroom was a smaller pavilion opened in
August 1894. Its stage was on the south side of the room.
2. The present Ballroom was designed by Frank Matcham and
opened in 1899.
3. The first marriage to be performed in the Ballroom was in
February 1996.
4. The first Wurlitzer organ was installed in the Ballroom in
1929. It was replaced in 1935 with one to Reginald Dixon’s
specification. The first organ went to the Empress
Ballroom at the Winter Gardens.
5. The Ballroom floor measures 120ft by 102ft.
It comprises 30,602 separate blocks of mahogany, oak and
walnut.
6. In hot weather, the roof of the Ballroom can slide open to
release excess heat.
7. Children’s Ballets are performed in the Ballroom. Madame
Pauline Rivers started these in 1902.
8. Excluding his time in the RAF during World War Two,
Reginald Dixon played the Ballroom’s Wurlitzer organ from 1930
until his retirement in 1969.
9. Phil Kelsall has played the organ at the Tower since 1975.
He began playing in the Circus.
10. For many years, the BBC televised the popular programme,
‘Come Dancing’ from the Tower Ballroom.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (31 - 40)
1. Since 1964 an international dance tournament known as the
Junior Dance Festival has been held annually in the Ballroom.
2. Among the Ballroom’s one time strict rules were: -
‘Gentlemen may not dance unless with a Lady’ and ‘Disorderly
conduct means immediate expulsion’.
3. In the Ballroom from the early 1900’s, dancing was
interspersed with variety entertainment, moving picture shows,
aerial gymnasts and even swimming displays in a crystal tank.
4. The inscription above the Ballroom stage, ‘Bid me
discourse, I will enchant thine ear’, is from a sonnet by
Shakespeare – Venus and Adonis.
5. The names of sixteen composers are to be found around the
Ballroom.
6. In December 1956, the Ballroom was badly damaged by fire,
during which the dance floor was destroyed, along with the
restaurant below. It took two years and £500,000 to restore
the Ballroom to its former splendour. The restaurant became
the Tower Lounge.
7. Each of the large crystal chandeliers in the Ballroom can
be lowered to the floor and takes over a week to clean.
8. Originally dancing was not permitted on Sundays. Instead of
dancing, an evening of sacred music was performed.
9. Music from the Tower has been broadcast on the radio for
many years. Reginald Dixon at the Wurlitzer, the Resident
Dance bands of the Tower and more recently ‘Friday Night is
music Night’ on BBC Radio 2.
10. Live music could be heard and played by resident musicians
in the Ballroom, Restaurant, Roof Gardens and the Circus.
Around thirty musicians were employed.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (41 - 50)
1. The Silver Model of the Tower was presented to the Chairman
of the Tower Company, Alderman (later Sir) John Bickerstaffe
by the Shareholders in 1898, in appreciation of his role in
ensuring the Tower was built and its commercial success.
2. The Silver Tower was commissioned from Steinberg & Co. of
Manchester and was made by Messrs. Round & Son Ltd. Of Leeds.
3. John Bickerstaffe was Chairman of the Tower Company from
its formation and his family remained in control until 1964
when the company, which by then owned many of Blackpool’s
entertainment centre's, was sold to EMI.
4. In 1951 the Silver Tower was taken to London and displayed
in a shop in Regent Street. This was to advertise Blackpool’s
attractions to the many visitors in the capital that year to
see the Festival of Britain.
5. When the BBC programme Antiques Road Show was staged in the
Tower in 1989, its experts were asked to give a valuation of
the Silver Tower, but they would not hazard a guess.
6. In 1949 the Tower was photographed as it was struck by
lightning.
7. After the death of Sir John Bickerstaffe it was stipulated
in his will that the Silver Tower should remain in the Tower
building.
8. During the 1950’s a large tree was put up in the Ballroom
at Christmas. An entrance fee entitled local children to
collect a present from around the base.
9. Chinatown, surrounding the Tower ascent, opened in 1904
replacing “Ye Olde Englyshe Vyllage”. It later became the
Oriental Lounge.
10. In the wake of the moon landings, what remained of the
Oriental Lounge was ripped out in 1970 to create the Apollo
Playground, the Tower Ascent being likened to a rocket
blast-off.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (51 - 60)
1. In September 1893 local journalists became the first
members of the public to ascend the Tower using constructors’
ladders.
2. The top of the Tower caught fire in July 1897 as a result
of an electrical fault.
3. In 1940 the crow’s nest was removed to allow the structure
to be operated as a radar station. This was not a success.
4. During World War Two the Tower ascent was closed. It
reopened in August 1946.
5. In 1949 a Post Box was placed at the top of the Tower, with
letters and postcards being franked ‘Posted at the top of
Blackpool Tower’.
6. Escapologist Karl Bartoni and his bride were married,
suspended in a cage from the Tower in 1985.
7. The ‘Walk of Faith’ glass floor panel was placed at the
Tower top in 1998.
8. The glass floor weighs half a tonne and is made up of two
sheets of laminated glass.
9. The glass floor is two inches thick.
10. The ‘Walk of Faith’ can withstand the weight equivalent to
five baby elephants.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (61 - 70)
1. Jungle Jims was originally the Tower Roof Gardens with
palms, ferns and a concert area.
2. In 1956 it became the Roof Gardens Zoo.
3. From 1927 to 1930 the Roof Gardens was also Midget Town,
which included a sports club, town hall, post office and
garage. It was ‘populated’ by a troupe of midgets.
4. Jungle Jims is the UK’s biggest indoor adventure
playground.
5. The area occupied by the Dawn of Time ride was until 1963,
the Tower Menagerie. It then became the ‘Ocean Room’ cabaret
bar and later the ‘Good Time Emporium’.
6. The Menagerie was immortalized in Stanley Holloway’s famous
monologue ‘Albert and the Lion’.
7. In 1992 the Tower complex was renamed ‘Tower World’ and was
opened by Diana, Princess of Wales.
8. Among the famous artistes who have performed at the Tower
during its 110 years are Arthur Askey, Duke Ellington,
Paderewski, Dame Clara Butt, Cleo Laine, Peter Dawson and more
recently teenage heart throbs, Busted.
9. To celebrate the end of the Boer War in 1900 the building
was open free of charge with a special concert.
10. The Circus mosaics, which are now inside on a stairwell,
were originally outside along the Promenade entrance from
1970. The artist was Jean Mount.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (71 - 80)
1. Blackpool Tower was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
which was built for the 1889 International Exposition.
2. The Blackpool Tower Company was formed in February 1891.
3. The foundation stone of Blackpool Tower was laid on 25th
September 1891 and a time capsule was buried beneath it.
4. The Architects of the Tower and Buildings were Maxwell &
Tuke of Manchester. Both men died in 1893 before the Tower was
completed.
5. The contracts to build the Tower’s structure were awarded
to Heenan & Froude of Newton Heath, Manchester. They
manufactured the steel girders.
6. The Tower first opened to the public on 14 May 1894
(Whitsuntide).
7. Over 3,000 people ascended the Tower on the opening day.
8. When first opened the Tower generated it’s own electricity.
9. The Tower and buildings cost approximately £290,000 by
1896. The original tender for the Tower itself had been
£42,000, but extra steel was needed to make it perfectly safe
and this raised the figure to about £65,000.
10. The original admission charge to the Tower Buildings was
6d and a further 6d to go up in the lifts to the Tower top.
The Circus admission was also extra. Nowadays, one
all-inclusive price covers all attractions in the complex.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (81 - 90)
1. Blackpool Tower is a Grade One Listed Building.
2. Blackpool is a member of the World Federation of Great
Towers. The 2004 AGM took place at Blackpool Tower in October.
3. The Tower featured in the film ‘Dick Barton Strikes Back’
in 1947. It featured a fight scene on the structure.
4. The total area occupied by the Tower buildings is 6,040
square yards.
5. It takes 15,000 yards of carpet to cover the floor.
6. In 1977 the top of the Tower was painted silver as part of
the celebrations for HRH The Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
7. In 1994 the sides of the Tower were painted gold for its
Centenary Celebrations by abseiling painters.
8. Bolton comedian Peter Kay performed his show which later
became ‘Live from the Top of the Tower’ on 10th and 11th April
2000. It was performed in the Tower Circus arena.
9. The Hydraulic lifts to the Tower Top were rebuilt and
winding gear replaced by electric in 1956-57. Completely new
lifts and winding gear were installed in 1991.
10. In 1984 a giant inflatable model of King Kong was placed
against the Tower. It came from San-Diego, California.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (91 - 100)
1. There are more than five million bricks in the Tower
Buildings.
2. The Tower alone contains 2,493 tons of steel and 93 tons of
cast iron. The building at the base contains 985 tons of steel
and 259 tons of cast iron.
3. Each of the four legs of the Tower rest on concrete
foundations 35ft square and 12ft deep.
4. The height to the top of the flagpole is 518ft 9inches.
5. The original Tower was only going to be 450ft high.
6. There are 563 steps from the roof of the Tower building to
the flagpole at the Tower Top. The steps are used by the
maintenance teams for upkeep of the structure.
7. The men who maintain the steel structure are known as
“Stick Men”.
8. Blackpool Venture Scouts camped out at the top of the Tower
on 23rd February 1990. Their aim was to contact other towers
around the world by radio link whilst also raising monies for
charity.
9. Due to lack of maintenance it was found necessary to
replace much of the Tower’s steelwork between 1920 and 1924.
The original contractors carried out the work.
10. The Tower Top is closed if the wind speed exceeds 45 miles
per hour.
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BLACKPOOL TOWER HERITAGE TRAIL (101 - 110)
1. It takes seven years to paint the Tower structure from top
to bottom. This time includes the replacement of any steel
work.
2. Ten thousand light bulbs are used to illuminate the Tower.
3. It takes five miles of cable to feed the bulbs carrying 150
kilowatts per hour.
4. Between 1913 and 1946 the Tower’s telephone number was
“Blackpool 1”.
5. The Tower Ascent lifts travel approximately 3,500 miles
every year.
6. Over 650,000 people visit the Tower every year.
7. In a 70 miles per hour wind, the Tower Top sways by one
inch.
8. On a clear day you can see the Tower from North Wales and
the Lake District.
9. At peak times up to 250 employees form the Tower team, to
ensure your visit is as enjoyable as possible.
10. The Tower has had five owners to date: Blackpool Tower
Company, EMI, Trust House Forte, First Leisure and the present
owners Leisure Parcs Ltd. |
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