The Francis Frith Collection.
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2008 Christmas Gift Guide - great gifts for your family and friends

Blackpool

Blackpool photos (102 available)

Old photo of Blackpool

Blackpool maps (2 available)

Old map of Blackpool

Blackpool books (6 available)

Blackpool memories

My memories of Blackpool

I remember my parents taking us children to see the Blackpool illuminations as a birthday treat, where we would see all kinds of animations along the prominade and all the trams where also lit up, that was some 48yrs ago. I don't know if this still happens, enjoy.
Contributed by Alan Bond

Visiting Blackpool Illuminations as a child.

Around the year 1950 a coach would take all the children in our road on a trip to see Blackpool Lights. Those days they called the coach a charabanc.  Does anybody remember that name?  How happy all the children would be going on that trip to Blackpool. I remember very well  leaving in the early evening on the coach with our parents so excited. And arriving at Blackpool and riding up the promenade so mesmerized at all the pretty lights and all the differant themes of nursery rhymes.  We would have hot baked potatoes on our trip home and always returned with a stick of Blackpool Rock. Happy memories of yesteryear!
Contributed by Brenda Vanderwert

Chubby at the Winter Gardens

Blackpool, Winter Gardens 1894

We drove to Blackpool on our way back from Gretna after getting married. Went to see Chubby Brown at the Winter Gardens. Beautiful building, a great night and a lot of laughs. x
Contributed by Tracey Barden

Days out in Blackpool in the Forties and Fifties

Blackpool, Promenade and Sands c1958

Between the years 1944 and 1956 my family and I lived in Preston, Lancashire and from there it was only a short ride on the train or bus to Blackpool, where we spent many happy days. This photo shows the sands and the wooden steps up to the promenade as I remember them. My mother preferred to go to Lytham, where it was quieter and more select, but there was far more to do at Blackpool, where we spent hours on the sands, paddling in the sea or building sandcastles. When the tide was up we played in the paddling pool or went on one of the three piers. Also there were donkey rides - I remember falling off my donkey! ...read more here
Contributed by Diana Dioszeghy

Extracts From Blackpool & Lancashire books

Blackpool, the South Jetty from the Wellington Hotel 1890

The pier opened in 1868 as the South Pier, then changed its name to Blackpool Central when the Victoria (now South) Pier opened. Over the years it became known as the ‘People’s Pier’, specialising in a vast range of amusement activities. A more genteel pier would not have been so covered in advertisements!
An extract from from"Times Gone By".

Blackpool, the South Jetty from the Wellington Hotel 1890

The pier opened in 1868 as the South Pier, then changed its name to Blackpool Central when the Victoria (now South) Pier opened. Over the years it became known as the ‘People’s Pier’, specialising in a vast range of amusement activities. A more genteel pier would not have been so covered in advertisements!
An extract from from"Countryside Poems".

Blackpool, Flying Machine 1906

Blackpool has two piers, and everything handsome about her. Both are large; the north one is the more select, and the south more popular – just a penny pier where dancing goes on all day in the summer. The promenade is lighted by electricity, and has an electric tramway. Not to be left behind in any respect, Blackpool now has an Eiffel Tower of its own.
An extract from from"50 Classics - Seaside".

St Annes, Garden Street 1895

This is the corner of St Anne’s Road West and Garden Street (right) before it was fully surfaced. The rather solitary buildings are now part of the urban sprawl that characterises every shopping centre.
An extract from from"Lytham St Anne's Town and City Memories".

St Annes, from Pier 1906

Kiosks on the beach; donkey rides; parasols; shady hats. All the ingredients for a perfect seaside holiday.
An extract from from"Lytham St Anne's Town and City Memories".