Sepia Saturday - Scary Views from Blackpool Tower

Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history  and personal memories through photographs

With this week's prompt, I have gone for scary heights, scary views, and a look over the sea  from the high point in my home town - Blackpool Tower. 

Blackpool Tower from the North Pier

Yes I am a Blackpudlian,   born in this  seaside  resort on the north west coast of England.  Its tower, built in 1894, was modelled on the Eiffel Tower in parish and rises to 520 feet - facts drummed into us at school.   

Until the 19th century, Blackpool was just a small hamlet.  It rose to prominence with the building of the railway linking  it to the mill towns of industrial Lancashire and Yorkshire and soon became England's  most popular  holiday resort. The unique Blackpool Illuminations were first switched on in 1879 to extend  the season well into late autumn. 

You can get a cranky lift to the top of the Tower and stand on a scary glass floor to view the town below. 

View over the North Pier

Many  seaside towns have one pier - but Blackpool goes two better with the North, Central and South Piers. A visit to Blackpool would not be complete without buying  an ice-cream cone  and walking  to the end of the pier  - an often very breezy experience. 

Looking towards the North Shore and North Promenade

North Shore  was regarded as the more "select" bit of Blackpool, whereas the  South Shore had the attractions of the Golden Mile with its  amusement arcades,  fortune tellers,  food stalls and souvenir stalls.

The view down onto the Winter Gardens - the white building with the arched roof.  

Opened in 1878, the Winter Gardens is a large entertainment complex including  a theatre  ballroom and meeting facilities, once the regular venue for the annual party political conferences.  

This is where my parents first met - as told by my father:

"One Saturday night I was in the Winter Gardens when I saw a young lady sitting on a settee. She got up and we said "Hello". I tried to find her again in the evening without success, even going to the exit door to watch people leave. 

Two weeks later I was at the Tower Ballroom and who should come along but two ladies - and you have guessed that was your Mum and Aunt. Mum stopped to say "Hello" and we started talking and had a good chat. I asked if she would come to the cinema the next night and offered to come for her and take her home. She agreed. I thought it was rather brave of her to come with me when we had only just met to talk together.

The date was 13th October 1936 and we married 18th April 1938." 

Two Generations later on the North Pier: 

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