Blackpool, Lancashire, UK, 14th May 2014. Student Helper and dancer at the Blackpool Tower One of the UK’s most iconic attractions, The Blackpool Tower, a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire in England was opened to the public on 14 May 1894, turned a staggering 120 years old this year. It rises to 158 metres (518 feet) and is a Grade I listed building. When The Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 tickets were just 6p per person! So as part of this 120th Birthday celebrations Eye tickets were sold for JUST 6p. Credit: Conrad Elias/Alamy Live News
The Blackpool Tower Company was founded by London based Standard Contract & Debenture Corporation in 1890, when it bought an Aquarium on Central Promenade with the intention of building a replica Eiffel Tower on the site. John Bickerstaffe, a former Mayor of Blackpool, was asked to become Chairman of the new company and its shares went on sale in July 1891. The Standard Corporation kept 30,000 £1 shares for itself and offered £150,000 worth of shares to the public, although initially only two-thirds of these shares were taken up. This lack of interest forced the Tower Company to ask for further cash contributions from its existing shareholders, but the poor financial situation of the Standard Corporation, worsened by the falling share price, rendered it unable to pay. Bickerstaffe’s remedy for the potential collapse of the venture was to buy any shares available, until his original holding of £500 amounted to £20,000. He also released the Standard Corporation from their share commitments. When the Tower opened in 1894 its success justified the overall investment of nearly £300,000, and the Company made a £30,000 profit in 1896. Two Lancashire architects, James Maxwell and Charles Tuke, designed the Tower and oversaw the laying of its foundation stone, on 29 September 1891 with a time capsule buried beneath it. By the time the Tower finally opened on 14 May 1894, both men had died. Heenan & Froude of Worcester were appointed structural engineers, supplying and constructing the main tower, the electric lighting and the steel front pieces for the aquariums. The total cost for the design and construction of the tower and buildings was about £290,000.
Size: 2536px × 3450px
Photo credit: © Conrad Elias / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: adult, adults, attraction, attractions, award, blackpool, blue, britain”, british, capitals, carpet, catch, catchphrase, celebrating, centre, circle, civic, coast, coastal, colour, comedy, concrete, dancing, danger, development, england, english, entertain, entertainment, female, festival, figure, figures, font, fonts, footpath, foreground, front, headland, historic, holiday, horizontal, humor, humour, interactive, kingdom”, lancashire, lancs, lettering, letters, makeover, male, man, north-west, northern, november, object, pavement, pavements, pedestrian, people, person, photography, phrase, phrases, piece, print, promenade, quotation, quote, quotes, readers, reading, red, regeneration, resort, resorts, sand, script, sea, seafront, seaside, shadow, sketches, skies, sky, slapstick, sliding, slippery, standing, stars, stepping, stood, sunset, themes, tourist, tourists, tower, town, towns, trust, twirl, typographic, uk, walking, walkway, walls, waterfront, west, woman, writings, “great, “united
