News
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Awards Ceremony Report
Blackpool Civic Trust Awards Ceremony held in the Spanish Hall at the Winter Gardens on 25th January 2012. Read our report and photographs. Click here.
New Corporate Members
Blackpool Civic Trust is proud to announce two more Corporate Members. Blackpool Tower the Grade 1 listed building operated by Merlin Entertainments including ballroom, tower eye, and dungeon. Also Blackpool Transport who will shortly begin services with the new trams and the retained adapted traditional trams.
January 2012: New members.
Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Transport
See the full list of Corporate Members. Click here.
Note changes in Venue
The Awards Ceremony will now be in the Spanish Hall.
The February meeting will now be in the Central Library.
Speakers announced for February and March 2012.
For details of meetings and speakers see our meetings and events page, click here.
Tourist trams win one year reprieve
Further to our note below under threat heritage trams have been given a lifeline by Blackpool Council.
The trams will remain in their Rigby Road depot home for another 12 months while an alternative destination is found for them.
Read the full report in the Gazette: Click here
Blackpool Tram Heritage at Risk
Lancastrian Transport Trust advise us that Blackpoool's Tram Heritage is at risk. Here is their brief:
The largest collection of vintage trams outside of the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire is at risk – and it is based here in Blackpool.
Ever since 1984, the Lancastrian Transport Trust has been collecting significant examples of Blackpool’s unique transport heritage and further examples have been added more recently as the tram fleet is thinned out ready for the new supertrams to take over. In fairness, Blackpool Transport prompted by the Council to clear redundant trams from the Rigby Road depot, gave us notice 18-months ago that we would need to remove the vehicles. We have found homes for a couple of them in museums around the country – but this means that our priceless collection is being dispersed. We began talks with Council officers as soon as Blackpool Transport gave notice but now, with less than four weeks to go the collection risks being homeless. For the past 18-months we were just passed around from one officer to another.
The Trust has not been short of ideas. Dating back to 2002, the organisation has been submitting plans to Blackpool Council for a tramway visitor centre with proposals based at Starr Gate, Blundell Street and Thornton Gate, but none of them have been taken forward by the Council. We are also concerned at the official information about the tram fleet being retained on the tramway – 24 trams are being kept but 10 of these are substantially rebuilt double deck trams, plastered in advertising and rebuilt out of all recognition of their iconic heritage status, some are illuminated trams and very few represent the genuine article – unlike our own Blackpool collection.
Blackpool Council has, this week, offered to assist with locating an alternative site but the common sense, no cost answer of keeping them in the part of the tram depot that will soon become empty has already been rejected by Blackpool Transport and the Council.
History has a habit of repeating itself. Back in the 1960s when the last major tramway upheaval took place, many tramcar types either disappeared or were sent off to museums around the country, depriving Blackpool of a significant chunk of its tramway history. As the country’s first electric tramway, surely our unique collection deserves to be retained intact and in Blackpool?
For more information, visit www.ltt.org.uk or contact Paul Turner by email at paul@ltt.org.uk
Heritage Open Days 2011: some photos
A few photos from places that members visited during the 2011 Blackpool and Fylde Coast Heritage Open Days. Please click here to view. If any other members would like photos including please let us know.
Events Announced
Our events page has been updated with a list of extra events in 2011. Please click here to read details.
Unusual View of Birley Street & Brilliance
Photo by Juliette Gregson
September Newsletter Summary
A fuller paper version is available on request. Note most events are first come, first served and places are limited so please book early.
Funding
Because of financial cuts we are depleting our funds by helping others. For example this year the council was unable to fund the Stanley Park Trails leaflets so we have paid for the Heritage Leaflet and Friends of Stanley Park paid for the Conservation Leaflet.
Activities
Blackpool in Bloom and the Bus Tour of Gardens, along with Heritage Open Days were very successful. Thanks to members who volunteered to help.
Christmas Raffle
The tickets have been distributed and these are a big help in restoring our funding. Thanks to John for paying for the printing.
Annual Awards and Dinner, 25th January 2012
The arrangements are now that we will have the awards in St John's Conference Centre and then move over to the Winter Gardens where we have drinks and a meal. Griff Rhys Jones will make his keynote speech at the end. Tickets are £28 and a large number have already put down their names. Contact Wynne Booker for tickets.
Town Hall Trail Leaflet
Ian Cresswell and Carl Carrington have done an excellent job producing the leaflet and copies are available for all members at the monthly meetings.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin Book
A new book about Blackpool Tower is to be launched on the 11th November. A nice Christmas present.
Corporate Members
The Blackpool Model Village were kind hosts to our visit which was enjoyed by all.
The Dahlia Kitchen in Cropper Road will become Corporate Members on October 1st when the owners, Shaun Pickup and his partner, leave the Garden Place gardening half and take over running of the cafe. The Corporate Membership will transfer from the Garden Place to The Dahlia Kitchen.
Next Civic Trust Meeting
In October the speaker will a representative of Merlin Entertainments speaking of their plans.
Forthcoming Visits
A visit to the Tower on for members only on Tuesday 1st November at 2pm. Booking is essential and membership cards will need to be shown. We are very grateful to Kate Shane the General Manager for giving us her time and the opportunity.
Chatsworth Chistmas visit still has 6 seats vacant.
There are some seats remaining for the forthcoming Dine and Ride.
MacMillan Biggest Coffee Morning at Stanley Park Friday 30th September.
Our Events Page shows the planned visits for more details. Click here.
Civic Day 2012 - 23rd June
We are planning a Civic Week in 2012 starting with Civic Day on 23rd June and ending with a Scarecrow Festival in Salisbury Woodland on 30th June and 1st July. Scarecrow clothes will be required if you've any old items to be donated.
Blackpool in Bloom Awards 2011
The annual awards ceremony has been held and the full list of awards and results in each category now on our website. Well done to all who entered, award winners and for the sponsors and volunteers. Click here to read the list of winners and photographs.
Click here to read the news archive
Grand Theatre, Blackpool. More beautiful inside would you believe!
For the record. The 2010 Heritage Open Day programme can still be read. Click here.