Blackpool History, Mystery, Heritage and Hauntings

Every Year the Winter Gardens have a free open day for the public - of course I do attend and see what new area's I can capture to share of course ! 

  I like Fleetwood - There ! I have said it ( will wait for a comment from Brian about this !! )  After the lovely birthday present back in January 2017 ( Nikon B500 ) bridge camera I could finally get long distance shots of the Wyre Light ( come on folks - someone must know who owns it ! )  Fleetwood is so full of history and I urge you to visit the local museum http://www.fleetwoodmuseum.co.uk/ and also facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Fleetwood-Museum-Trust-Friends-1013816528668977/  

Social media has a lot to answer for since the inception of Yahoo groups, MSN chat , My Space and of course Facebook. This in turn has created a positive effect with the local 'Past' groups for the local area's that we all live - I am very much guilty of this and admin on quite a few !   Six years ago , I created one for Blackpool with the idea that I was sick of reading rather negative remarks   about my home town and wanted to share my love of vintage photographs and local heritage and history. Even now with my Past group I still think it's me and about 30 friends in a room going ohhh do you remember this !  *Look up, down and around you Juliette ! * - words from my wise mother Kath Gregson , I do this today and have been known to wander off and see what lies behind a door or tunnel... My father David Gregson has a great interest in aviation and camera's - this boded very well for me in later years , as he took many slides of the area on his fligh

From the fab *Phil Barker* Collection a selection of Fleetwood related postcards and photographs  How super does this look ! I would think by the design round about the 1920's/30's.  Ohh ! Pay heed !  The 'Fleetwood to Knott End' Ferry - the following link is for more information about the history if you wish to read !  http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/FleetwoodFerries.html From April 2017 onwards the following was posted on facebook - Dear customers we regret to inform you that from the 1st April 2017 all adults will be £2 each way this includes over 65 with passes, £2 children, £1 babies, 50p bikes, 50p dogs . IMPORTANT NOTICE Summer time running times every 30 minutes on the quarter too and quarter past the hour The tender will not be sorted till after the election in May both Conservative and Labour are saving the Ferry . What made me very happy to read was the following -

Talbot Gateway had the following *blurb* advertised before it was built .... 159,972 sq m of mixed-use development 10 hectares of brownfield land developed £218m of private sector funding levered 2471 jobs created or safeguarded new urban district with a strong civic core; vibrant gateway for residents, workers and visitors arriving by car, bus, tram, and train; improved integration with the existing urban fabric; busy and secure external environment with active street frontages; mix of complementary uses that will grow employment in the town centre and increase daytime and evening footfall; pedestrian friendly environment incorporating sharedsurfaces;

Poolfoot farm has now long gone , but Poolfoot Cottage ( 1675 ) is still on the corner of Crabtree road. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101281132-poolfoot-cottage-wyre   for the link to the British Listed Buildings Website ! Grade 2 listed -  Pair of cottages, probably C18 or earlier, now bungalow. Cobble walls, rendered and whitewashed, formerly thatched and now covered with slate. On the front however is a more modern porch. Map provided by Brian Hughes Below kindly provided by Andy Ball from the excellent sister site on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThorntonCleveleysPast/ Would love to know who lives there now - Just so I could say - would a lovely place that you live in !  ( in case your wondering why the watermark ( now 2020 update ) I am rather upset that people steal and use my photos without the credit - sorry )

UFO -  first thing I think of or rather hear is the music from the 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson, loved the music - very funky and the outfits and purple wigs!  In my youth I attended with fellow friends sky watches with a brilliant group - Lapis  https://www.facebook.com/groups/74153407108/ Below the location - Warbreck Water Tower, Blackpool  - we would all visit on a Saturday night,  (now in 2017 a housing estate)  clear skies, laughter and ale were the order of the evening, theories were discussed, debated , bonfires were made, education was shared. Potted history taken from the group - LAPIS - Lancashire Anomalous Phenomena Investigation Society – is based in Blackpool, and was founded in the mid 1980s by Joseph & June Dormer who were among the leading UK investigators at the time and has been involved with many exciting cases over the years, some of which ha

Running on from the first part of my previous blog just to refresh you memory - My interests range from and very much including heritage photography, archeology, local history, ghosts and the paranormal, hypnotism, ufology, conspiracy theories. Lets talk about the *money grabbers*, emotional vampires and fakers in the paranormal world. I have just read on my facebook newsfeed about a good friend of mine with regards to a ghost hunt at their house.... ( not giving location and others details as will be all too obvious who and where - forgive me - respecting the privacy of the said couple.) What annoys me is that a very good friend who actually runs events for a living told said couple not really anything there in your house..more with the coach house nearby.  REALLY annoys me that people and friends are being taken in and being given false information. Makes a mockery of investigators with real talent and skills, who are not in it for the kudos and *who can I befriend and b

Over the years I have popped in and out of the sphere that some call 'The paranormal' - hell I actually have an A level in this from my local college ! Can prove that later on ...If I can find the cert ! My interests range from and very much including heritage photography, archeology, local history, ghosts and the paranormal, hypnotism, ufology, conspiracy theories I digress - something else I seem to be good at as well !  My name on the internet ( yes go google me if you really want to ) a while ago was  Blackpool Ghosts - my photography page was under said name for a while as well over the years  I did rather well getting photo's published, being used as a researcher, writing articles for publication, penned my first book ( started my second as well ) and even helped record  an audio series - see below and click !!  Local humor for local people and a spin on Dr Who and prob Douglas Adams Huge thanks as always to Brian Hughes & Michelle Harris 

Hackensall Hall dates back to at least 1190 when it was first recorded as Hacunesho, but, if it’s really ancient history that you’re after, then in 1926 around five hundred Roman coins were unearthed from the grounds there in a leather purse. About fifty of them can be found at the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool - let us know if they still have them hidden - or like most things of value - sold on or in a box away from history scholars. Hacun, of course, is a Norse name and the ‘ho’ of Hacunesho is also Norse, referring to a burial mound, making Hackensall ‘the burial place of a Norseman called Hacun’. And where there’s boggarts (especially helpful ones) there’s usually a keeill involved. Exactly where the keeill was it’s now difficult to say, although a suspected Roman road (such as you’d generally find next to a keeill) runs from Hackensall Brow to the base of Preesall Hill via Parrox Hall. Interesting to note - that some locals still have the coins that