Blackpool History, Mystery, Heritage and Hauntings

  I have always had an interest in the history and paranormal heritage of my town Blackpool, my late granddad ( Frank Gregson )   used to work for Blackpool Pleasure Beach and I was taken down by him to met the staff and watch what went on behind the scenes and of course watch the changing face of the park as new rides were built and constructed. He used to repair the track on the ghost train from time to time and bore testimony to the rumours that ‘Cloggy’ the former ride operator could still be heard, more on that later and what would happen when he was by himself. This meant I was incredibly lucky as sometimes I got to go on the rides for free , jolly exciting for someone who loves   the funfair. A little bit of back history in 1930 the owners had seen the ride in London and decided to build their own “Pretzel” ride (named after the Pretzel companies, which built them in the USA). The Pretzel Ride was duly opened that year. As the name, Pretzel, was unknown in th...

  So in 1897 Warley Road Congregational Church, Blackpool: This temporary church, on the corner of Warley Road and Gynn Avenue was founded: the members of the Victoria Congregational Church had raised £2,096 in their Jubilee fund which was used to establish the Warley Road church.  Renamed as Claremont Congregational Church was then opened there on the 30 th of August 1901. The chapel cost £5,000 and the land another £1,000. It was built by the Mayor, Alderman T H Smith, from the designs of Anderson, Simon, and Crawford, architects, of Edinburgh. The church was not consecrated until 1932. The Claremont Congregational Lecture Hall and Assembly Rooms opened on the 18 th of March 1908. In 1972, the church became the Claremont United Reformed Church , but closed in 1994. The building later became the Kings Christian Centre , but this had closed down by 2014. It was demolished in October 2017, to be replaced by 15 apartments.  ( extra information by Nick Moore )  ...