Queens Park, Layton

"Demolition teams have moved on to a high rise housing estate to begin its transformation into a £22m development.
Workmen and diggers have begun to take down maisonette flats on Healey Street as part of redevelopment work on Queens Park estate in Layton.
The scheme will change Blackpool’s skyline forever as the first two towers, Charles Court and Ashworth Court, will come down in the coming weeks."

This is the report from the Evening Gazette in November 2013.

I have been in these flats and although the actual flat I visited was really good inside, the tenant hated going back there. It is an Iconic landscape. It also overshadows much of North Shore.

View from East - Collingwood Avenue

I have a collection of photos on my datastore page here. I will continue to add and update the page as I get the opportunity to.

Heyhouses School St Annes

Heyhouses school is being rebuilt, these are pictures of the old school together with the framework to the rear of the school. Maybe I will get inside before they flatten it!

Panorama from the rear of the school.
The old school is visible through the framework.

The entrance

The pictures were taken during the Christmas break in 2013.

Palm Beach Hotel

Situated on the seafront of Blackpool this slowly developing eyesore is earmarked for demolition by cash hungry developers!

Directly ripped from the Evening Gazette but found on a Bulletin board!

BOLD plans for an 11-storey hotel on Blackpool’s seafront have re-emerged.

The scheme to demolish the Palm Beach Hotel on New South Promenade in South Shore and replace it with a £14m new property is earmarked to have its planning permission renewed.

Since it was first approved in 2009, no work has been carried out on the development and the Palm Beach has been closed for around a year.

Blackpool Council’s planning committee is being recommended to renew the permission when its meets on Monday.

A report to the committee, chaired by Coun David Owen, says: “The introduction of relatively tall buildings in this location is to be welcomed in principle as it shows a level of investment and confidence in the area.”

However, some residents of nearby Arundel Court, St Martins Court and Clifton Drive have submitted fresh objections to the proposals.

They claim the buildings are too high, will be over-dominant and lead to a loss of privacy.

The Palm Beach scheme is one element of a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the whole of Bourne Crescent.

Outline planning permission was also granted in 2009 for hotels including The Colwyn, The Skye, The Trafford, The Sandpiper and The Headlands, which would see a mixture of residential and holiday accommodation built at each end of Bourne Crescent.

A third application for an 11-storey high residential development on the site of The Kimberley, The Waldorf and the Henderson hotels was refused because it did not include any holiday accommodation.

Hoteliers on Bourne Crescent say redevelopment is needed because of a decline in the number of guests choosing to stay in that part of Blackpool. 

 These are the Panoramas, there are some individual pix which will get uploaded. From a distance they look OK but from close up and from the rear they are ghastly

Head on from the prom. The Palm Beach complex is to the right
The actual building is a gentle curve away from the prom which is straight

The rear of the Palm Beach, the part that guests never see.
Can't believe that all this random plumbing for waste water is legal!
Grass growing !

The palm beach hotel - looks pretty elegant!
GET UP CLOSE!

Books on Historical Blackpool 

 

The link above will find plenty of extra and interesting reading on this wonderfull town!

Imperial Hydropathic Hotel, St Annes - what's left?

Imperial Hotel Gate

View towards square

 The Imperial Hydropathic Hotel was erected in 1909 to 1910. It was renamed the Majestic Hotel in 1920 and continued up to the war when it was requisitioned for Government offices. The hotel was bought after the war along with two other hotels and was refurbished. The hotel had 143 bedrooms and was clearly the finest accommodation in the area. In its heyday it attracted, celebrities like Tommy Steel and Robin Day(Sir). The American Ryder Cup team stayed when the Ryder cup was staged at Royal Lytham. In the 1920's Geraldo had a 5 year residency at the hotel. (Gerald Bright and his Majestic Celebrity Orchestra.) He made his first radio broadcast from the Hotel.

Gate with flats

In 1972 the hotel was pulled down. I do recall the hotel in the late '60's when I moved to the area. Regrettably it looked very tired then. It was said that this was the largest seaside hotel in the UK when it was first opened. Sadly all that is left is the entrance gates on St Annes Road West. They face the town hall.This is another piece of St Annes history which is facing the threat of closure and ultimately demolition.


Into my possesion has come a postcard  dated the 7th of August 1946 and it must have been taken from the roof of the Imperial Hotel. This is the text on the card.

"Dear Mary.

Having a good time. Bet you wish you were enjoying yourself. Plenty of men, including George been dancing every night . Will see you Monday.

Love Jean"


This was sent to a Miss Parker in Halifax and it fixes the date of the photo very nicely!

St Annes Pier from the Imperial Hotel 1946

The post card was quite damaged so it has been repaired digitally. Please feel free to contact me for a better scan, or the original scan. or just use it from here! Jol

This print is actually the reverse of the previous  postcard: looking from the space between the carpark and the shelter towards the hotel!

Hotel Majestic from the car park below on the pier. Old print, not a great card! 1930's perhaps