Blackpool Tower opened on 14th May 1894 and is 518ft 9" tall including the flagstaff. 9 Tons of paint are needed to cover the Tower. It was painted Gold in its centenary year. The steel structure weighs a staggering 2943 Tons.
During the Second World War the Tower was used as a Radar Station and part of the top was removed. The Post Office put in a letter box at the top of the Tower in 1949. The Tower sways 1" in a 70mph wind. 10,000 lightbulbs decorate the Tower during the lluminations.
The Blackpool Grand Theatre was built by the renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham at a cost of £20,000. It is known as "Matcham's Masterpiece". The theatre opened on 23rd July 1894 with a performance of Hamlet by Wilson Barrett and his company.
The first substantial ride on Blackpool South Shore Fairground, advertised as the Pleasure Beach in 1905, was Sir Hiram S Maxim's Captive Flying Machine which opened in 1904 at a cost of £7,000.
|
