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Nowadays some 16 million people make an annual trip to Blackpool, but the
tourist trade was thriving during the Edwardian era too, with over two million
visitors a year. This encouraged massive investment in the entertainment industries, to
the extent that the Lancashire town's funfair attractions became the envy of the
world. Just 400 metres from the Blackpool Tower, the North Pier is now recognised as a
fantastic example of Victorian seaside architecture, providing 'pleasure,
novelty, excitement and stimulation'. The Tower and the Bassett Big Wheel are
seen in this film's stunning concluding panoramic shot.
The North Pier was opened in May 1863 and was the second of 14 piers around
the English and Welsh coasts designed by the influential architect and engineer
Eugenius Birch in what was something of a craze for 'pleasure piers' in the late
19th Century. Of the three piers in Blackpool, the North attracted the most
well-to-do tourists, whose delighted faces, pipe-smoking habits and array of
hats are captured successfully on celluloid by early filmmakers James Kenyon and
Sagar Mitchell. Participants were encouraged to come and see themselves on film
at the local entertainment complex the Alhambra, soon to be renamed the Palace
following a financial collapse.
Rebecca Vick
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Complete film (2:45)
