Blackpool History, Mystery, Heritage and Hauntings

Robertson Construction has been given the go-ahead to start demolition work next week for phase two of Blackpool’s £100m Talbot Gateway city centre regeneration. This phase will see the town’s existing Wilko store torn down, the completion of the new tramway interchange at Blackpool North Station, a new underpass, a four-star Holiday Inn hotel and restaurant, and new retail outlets. Robertson Construction Group has been appointed jointly by Blackpool Council and development partner, Muse Developments to carry out construction work which is expected to take around two years. Dirk Pittaway, Managing Director, Robertson North West, said: “Both Blackpool Council and Muse Developments have shown real commitment and drive in continuing to progress the project during recent months. “Clear procedures, including social distancing, will be in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved on site.” Proposed Schedule of Works Demolition of Wilko’

Your may remeber my last blog on this subject if not ... https://juliettegregsonheritagephotographer.blogspot.com/2018/03/star-pub-derelict-and-now-gone.html So what has gone on since then .. Well now on the site of the old Star pub is the new Hotel from Amanda Thompson https://www.boulevardhotel.co.uk The Hotel blurb has the following to say - Located on Ocean Boulevard, Blackpool. Boulevard Hotel is a brand new seafront property at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Boasting 120 stylish rooms, including 08 junior suites, 02 park view suites, 08 coastal suites and family rooms with a mixture of coastal and park facing rooms. We offer everything you need for your conference or celebration, catering for up to 200 delegates or guests. The Shoreside Conference Centre provides unique meeting places with state of the art technology and turnkey event planning. Complemented by an innovative culinary team to provide the perfect menu to suit your event.  So basic

NEWS from the council website today !  Talbot Gateway/Tram Extension work to resume next week. Some good news as demolition of the Wilko store will commence next week (1 June) paving the way for the long awaited tramway extension to be completed. According to the council, the works schedule will be as follows: -Demolition of Wilko’s building, Talbot Road - June to December 2020 -Construction of the high street underpass - November 2020 to 30th April 2021 -Construction of the Holiday Inn Hotel - October 2020 to April 2022 -Tram extension and track completion - January to May 2021 We will strive to bring back our weekly updates series while maintaining current guidelines and social distancing measures. The following was posted -  The next phase of Blackpool’s town centre regeneration is set to get underway in the first week of June as contractors prepare to start on site at Talbot Gateway.  This phase of development will see the demolition of the e

Scrooges Closed !!!!  So on social media the lovely owners posted the following 22.5.2020 The rumours are true... It is with a VERY heavy heart 💔 that we have to announce, that the award winning Scrooges Bar will not open its friendly doors again 😔 . The council have been wanting Scrooges Bar, Reform Health Club and several other land & properties we own in the town centre for redevelopment for some time now.... and a deal has finally been done.. It is always hard to walk away from a hugely successful business, but even harder to walk away from a way of life and probably losing contact with some of THE SOUNDEST CUSTOMERS any bar could ask for ❤ . Scrooges will miss you all loads. Xxx The worst thing for us is that due to Covid, we don’t get to have one last party. You don’t get to have one last mental sesh with all your mates. There will be no photographs on socials of an amazing sending off party... and that is always gonna be sad for us

You can come in , and out and in and out , it's like the hokey cokey ! What is a lockdown photographer to do ... In my case I have been sorting out my slides, photo's and postcards , I also thought I had about or around 15, 000 saved....BIG no ! it's now closer to 93,000 ! That was a shock and a new hard drive and more backups were done in the most quick of manners. I had great fun looking back on what I actually had/have some published and some have yet to see the light of day ... below is one I had written about before for a now out of print magazine and redone for the E-Zine OLM  Made me think about the things I do in my spare time and what photos am I actually aiming for in the long run?  Do I want to appear on the weather channels - nice - but folks you just get the kudos and no pay! The 'nationals' are a better bet, but again the shots used on a regular basis are quite niche, say we both took one of Blackpool Tower, one was a drone