VirtualGlobetrotting: United Kingdom: Blackpool

VirtualGlobetrotting Live View

'Thunderbird Three'
daggerwell (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: daggerwell.
Read more...
Rocket from the TV series 'Thunderbirds' erected as part of 'Blackpool Illuminations Festival of Light'.
Originally red and white but now painted with images from Pablo Picasso's 'Guernica' and renamed 'Guernica Three'.

Skeleton
daggerwell (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: daggerwell.
Read more...
At an amusement park.

Family Bar
daggerwell (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: daggerwell.
Read more...

Short 360 at Blackpool Airport

Vulcan bomber XL391 sold for £15,102.03 on Ebay
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
First flown in May 1963 from Avro's plant at Woodford, she was fitted with the highest-rated Vulcan engines, the Rolls-Royce Olympus 301. During her operational career XL391 was used for Blue Steel 'stand-off' nuclear weapons trials with the A&AEE Boscombe Down, Wiltshire before moving on to be stationed at Cottesmore, Akrotiri and Waddington.
In service with 44 Squadron at RAF Waddington she was selected along with five other Vulcans as one of the better airframes the RAF still had operational for use in the Falklands War. Following the end of hostilities in the Falklands XL391 returned to Waddington until being taken out of service and offered for tender following 44 Squadron's disbandment in December 1982. Like many other Vulcans offered for tender around this time she was successfully acquired for a reported sum of £5,000 by "The Manchester Vulcan Bomber Society" and was delivered ex-Waddington to Blackpool airport on 16 February 1983.

The Krusty Krab
tallturtle82 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: tallturtle82.
Attraction at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach park.
In the cartoon series, SpongeBob Squarepants, SBob works with Squidward at the Krusty Krab resturaunt owned by Mr Krabs. The KK is known for its Krabby Patties.

Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force, based at RAF Scampton, United Kingdom. They were formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various RAF commands.
The Red Arrows badge shows the aircraft in their trademark diamond nine formation, with the motto Eclat, meaning "brilliance" or "excellence".
Initially, the Red Arrows were equipped with seven Folland Gnat trainers which were inherited from another RAF display team, The Yellowjacks, and had been chosen because they were less expensive to operate than the front-line fighters. In their first season, they flew at 65 shows across Europe. In 1966, the team was increased to nine members, enabling them to develop their Diamond Nine formation. In late 1979, they switched to the BAE Hawk trainer. The Red Arrows have now performed nearly 4,000 displays world-wide, in over fifty countries, and are widely regarded as one of the world's most skilled and famous military aerobatics teams.

Central Pier
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.

Coral Island Skull
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.

Blackpool Tower
stuartwr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: stuartwr.

Skull and Crossbones
Coral Island Entertainment Complex

South Pier
As the 19th century drew to a close the popularity of Blackpool as a holiday resort knew no bounds, and by 1890 the sparse south shore was next in line for development. Work began on Blackpool's third pier in 1892 to the design of T P Worthington, using the Worthington Screwpile System. This system utilised the jetting technique developed by men like Brunlees, whereby a pile would be driven into the seabed by the action of water passed down its centre and agitating the sand below. As the sand is disturbed the pile sinks lower until it is at the required depth when the water is switched off. The natural contraction of the disturbed sands then hold the pile firmly in place. Worthington's method improved on this with the use of a steam-fired pump increasing the water pressure, thus sinking the piles faster.
Having cost £50,000 the iron and steel South Pier (originally known as the Victoria Pier but renamed in 1930) opened a year later. On Good Friday 1893 the new pier was given a musical welcome by a choir, two brass bands, and a full 50-piece orchestra. The Grand Pavilion, with seating capacity for 3000 people, opened several weeks later on 20th May. This pier, though much shorter at only 492ft (149m), contained a wide variety of facilities, including 36 shops, a bandstand, an ice-cream vendor and a photograph stall. Considered very 'up market', the pier did not provide much entertainment in the early days, although a 40-piece orchestra and a select choir apparently gave superb renditions of Handel's 'Messiah' during the summer season.
Holidaymakers were first introduced to the south shore in 1896 when John Outhwaite erected a famous American carousel amongst the sand dunes. He later formed a partnership with George Bean, who leased an adjacent 32-acre site for an amusement park, and the first seeds of the modern pleasure beach were sown. The south entrance of the promenade was widened in 1902 requiring the pier entrance to be moved back. In 1938 this entrance was widened, and the Regal Pavilion was constructed.
After the Second World War the face of the pier changed dramatically when two fires, in 195

Reliant Robin - three wheeled car
The 3-wheeled car was popular in the UK because annual taxing fees were cheaper. Tax categories are based on the number of wheels on the vehicle so, the three wheeled car is taxed less than a four wheeled car.
The Reliant Robin is a small three wheeled car formerly manufactured by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. Being a three-wheeler with an official weight below 450 kg (992 lb), and, despite its size, the Robin can be driven by holders of a B1 category licence or car licence in the United Kingdom, can be registered and taxed at motorcycle rates, which gives considerable savings over a conventional car. The single wheel in the front steers, while the engine (also in the front) drives the rear axle.
The Robin was first manufactured in November 1973, and the final original Robin rolled off the production line in 1981. The vehicle was also produced under licence in Greece by MEBEA between 1974 and 1978. It was also manufactured in India by Sunrise Automotive Industries Limited as Badal.

Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire in England which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris it rises to 158m (518 ft 9 inches). The Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers. The tower can be seen from most places within a 30 mile radius including Barrow-in-Furness, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Southport.

Rollercoaster park
gamma (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: gamma.

Beneath the Pepsi Max Big One
"When it opened on May 28, 1994, the Pepsi Max Big One roller coaster was the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster of any park in the world."

Blackpool Illuminations 'Venus Reborn'
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.
Illuminated trawler tram at Blackpool
Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for sixty six days, from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts' seasons are coming to an end. Dubbed as The greatest free light show on earth, they are 6 miles (10 km) long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen - Designer: Decodance, Venus Reborn (2007, 2008)

Horse drawn carriage

New Kimberley Hotel in Blackpool
Fab (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Fab.

Anatov AN-2 in Britain
Pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Pdunn.

St. Annes Pier
A conventional promenade pier constructed of iron columns with lattice girder work, St Annes Pier was a relatively modest affair built to a length of 914ft (277m) at a cost of £18,000. Designed by A Mawson and commissioned by the Land and Building Company Ltd, the Pier was opened by Lord Stanley on June 15th 1885. In 1904 further, much more ornate, work was carried out with the construction of a fabulous 1000 seat 'Moorish' pavilion along with various kiosks along the neck of the pier, and a red brick mock-Tudor entrance building, complete with imitation wooden beams and gables, at the shoreward end. The whole complex was completed in 1910 with the construction of the 'Floral Hall' at the pier-head that was built for concerts, opera's and vaudeville acts.

Mermaid

Bob the Builder

Dinosaur Safari

Morrison's
A supermarket chain.

Central Pier
Central Pier is one of three piers in the town of Blackpool, England.

TVR factory
alfjon (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: alfjon.
TVR headquarter in Blackpool.

The Saddle Inn, oldest pub in Blackpool
LancelotLink (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: LancelotLink.

Westair
Westair Flying Services t the Blackpool Airport.

'The Wheel' on Central Pier
This addition to Central Pier came in 1990 when a 33 metre high Ferris wheel was erected, a half-scale reference to the Victorian attraction that had been part of the Winter Gardens complex a century earlier.

Elephants at the Blackpool Zoo

Surf board sunglasses display

Former Blackpool Railway Station
Drudii (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Drudii.
Opened in in 1853 and closed in 1964. Demolished Coral Island amusment acade sits on the site of the former ticket hall and a road runs over where the buffer stops used to be. Blue plaques are located on Coral Island explaining what was on the site. The station toilets survived for many years as a public toilet but the block was demolished in 2009 despite the blue plaque on this building as well. The trackbed has been filled up to platform level. You could still see the platforms for a few years but now the platforms have been covered by in tarmac.

Bloomfield Road
boothy443 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: boothy443.
Home pitch to Blackpool F.C.

Giant parrot

African Grey Parrot and an Amazon Parrot
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
The two parrots of Pets Paradise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Grey_Parrot

C & A
gamma (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: gamma.

Layton Cemetery
kkeps (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kkeps.
Layton Cemetery is a graveyard located at Talbot Road in Blackpool, Lancashire in England. It was opened in 1873 when Blackpool parish church was replete with burying. The site encompasses 30 acres (120,000 m2), having been regularly expanded during its history. It is administered by Blackpool Council. A number of memorials in the cemetery are executed in Portland stone.
The cemetery was designed and laid out by Garlick, Park and Sykes, architects of Preston. Originally there were three mortuary chapels, Anglican, Catholic and Non-Conformist but only the Anglican remains. There was a lodge at the entrance which provided a residence and office for the custodian. The original part of the cemetery was surrounded a stone wall, topped with iron railings with a double iron gate at the entrance. These structures are extant. A World War I memorial is centrally situated.

Google Trike reflection
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.

Horse
kuressaare (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kuressaare.

Poseidon

Millennium Car - Blackpool tramway
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.
These are double deck cars which were rebuilt from Balloon cars between 2002 and 2005 to an in-house design. They have a much more rectangular shape which gives the upper decks increased capacity. The trams retain the numbers they carried in the Balloon series.

Event at Blackpool Sports Centre
I can't tell what the event is though. Perhaps try-outs of some sort.

Roller Coaster
Matheus_ (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Matheus_.

Giant Mirror Ball
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.
a.k.a. 'They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?' by Michael Trainor

Balloon car - Blackpool tramway
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.
Commissioned in 1933 by Walter Luff, the controller of the network, in a bid to modernise the tramway's fleet, they were intended to replace the Dreadnought cars that had been in service since the opening of the tramway. They were built by English Electric during 1934 and 1935, the first being presented to Blackpool on 10 December 1934. 27 were delivered, of which thirteen were open-topped. Numbered 237-263 and used on both summer and winter services.
In 1968 they were re-numbered to 700-726.

Superheroes
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.

World's Largest Mirror-Ball

Stan Mortensen Statue
Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 — 22 May 1991), commonly referred to as Stan Mortensen, was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as "The Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a hat-trick in a Wembley FA Cup Final. He was also both the first player to score for England in a FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and the first England player to score in the tournament proper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Mortensen

'The Extinct' light display
The Blackpool Illuminations consist of almost every kind of light display you can imagine: lasers, neon, light bulbs, fibre optics, searchlights and floodlighting.
This is just one of many displays set up for the annual illuminations festival.

Squares chocolate bar

Open Boat tram - Blackpool tramway
Built by English Electric in 1934, these cars are single deck open-topped models with central doors and gangway. They are numbered 600-607 and have a passenger capacity of between 52 and 56. These cars are known as "the boats" due to their ship-like streamlined appearance and are one of the most iconic Blackpool trams. All cars are virtually identical, except for 600 which has shorter body panels.

Blackpool War memorial
Blackpool War Memorial is dedicated to those who fell in both world wars and in subsequent conflicts. The 90ft (27m) high granite obelisk stands on the seafront close to the Metropole Hotel and is a Grade II listed structure. It was unveiled by Brigadier T. E. Topping, D.S.O., on Armistice Day, 11th November 1923.

Blackpool War memorial
Note the pier in the background of the image in the 'more info link.' It shows up in GM map-mode but seems to have been destroyed recently.

Bloomfield Road Under Construction
LancelotLink (VirtualGlobetrotting)

Blackpool Model Village

Blackpool Jubilee car
n the late 1970s, Blackpool Corporation decided that the tramway fleet needed modernising after the closure of the inland routes during the 1960s. Attention was drawn to two Balloon Cars, 714 and 725, which had been mothballed as they were in dire need of an overhaul. It was felt that these would be useful on the promenade during the summer due to their high seating capacity and reliability. So, with funds left over from their One-Man Operated (OMO) programme[clarification needed] the corporation set about rebuilding these old Balloons into "Jubilee Cars".

TVR Cerbera & TVR Griffith 500
Rene73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Rene73.

Blackpool Central Mosque
Mike1989 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mike1989.
Blackpool Central Mosque and Islamic Community Centre is a Mosque in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

Roulette Wheel
seenonstreetview (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: seenonstreetview.

Roundabout art

Blackpool Centenary car
The centenary cars are single deck trams with flat ends and doors positioned at both the front and centre giving them a more bus-like appearance. They are numbered 641–648 and have a capacity of 52 passengers (of which 16 is standing). They are classed as One Man Operation (OMO) as the position of the doors means that the tram can be solely operated by the driver, as opposed to a team of three. This is useful during low season and early morning/late night services when there is little demand, as it allows the network to keep labour costs down.
They were built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 1985, the tramway's centenary year, hence their name.

The Grand Theatre
seenonstreetview (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: seenonstreetview.

Slot machines

Creations

Getting Tattoo
seenonstreetview (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: seenonstreetview.

Tattoo in progress
Mike1989 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mike1989.
Direct link; http://goo.gl/maps/TYHzq

Blackpool Transport – Tram #001
Mike_bjm (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mike_bjm.
Tram #001 was the first of 16 new trams built by Bombardier Transportation for Blackpool Transport the town council run tram service.
It is like the heritage trams that used to operate in the town a bi-direction tram although to meet new regulations on accessibility it is a single-deck low vehicle with access from low platforms rather than street level as was historically the case.
The new trams are Bombardier Flexity 2’s with each tram having 5 articulated cars. The first and fifth cars have powered Flexx Urban 3000 bogies with power being picked-up from a single pantograph from an overhead 600V DC line.
Each of the new trams carries the distinctive purple and white livery rather than the traditional green and cream.
Here on Street View in July 2017, tram #001 is seen at Starr Gate not far from the new purpose-built depot for the new trams.

Ian Anderson's first gig black plaque
hhgygy (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hhgygy.
Ian Anderson, founder of Jethro Tull gave his first concert here with his first band The Blades.

Big One Station
maccate (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: maccate.
Big One Roller Coaster station at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Opened in 1994 it was at the time the tallest roller coaster in the world.