Blackpool Winter Gardens & Spanish Hall Suite
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Join us for a tour of Blackpool’s Historic Winter Gardens complex and visit three of its most haunted venues:
The Empress Ballroom, designed by Mangnall & Littlewood, was completed during the summer of 1896 and was one of the largest ballrooms in the world. During the Great War, the entire Winter Gardens site was thrown open to the naval and military forces stationed nearby. Early in 1918, the Admiralty requisitioned the Empress Ballroom to assemble gas envelopes for the R.33 airship.
With its spectacular barrel-vaulted ceiling, sparkling chandeliers, pristine parquet flooring and ornate balconies, the Empress Ballroom is a quite staggering venue.
The Arena was originally named the Indian Lounge, due to its beautiful Raj-inspired interior design created by J. M. Boekbinder in 1896. The room survived for 68 years until, in 1964, the faded interior was ripped out and replaced by the Planet Room - a large lounge bar with a cabaret stage. In the late 1980s the Planet Room was revamped in a Roman style to become the present Arena.
The Pavilion Theatre is a stunning theatre in its own right, however it is often overshadowed by the Opera House. In 1885 it received a new proscenium and private boxes, but was extensively altered in 1897 when the floor was lowered and tilted towards the stage.
After entertaining audiences as a cinema with ‘Talkies’ from the early 1930s, the theatre fell into disuse for long periods and only resumed occasional use as a theatre, including old-time music hall shows in the late 1990s when Leisure Parcs took control of the Winter Gardens.
THE SPANISH HALL SUITE TOURS
Tours are also arranged in the Spanish Hall Suite within the Winter Gardens complex incorporating tours of The Spanish Hall a lavishly themed spectacular hall representing an Andalucian village; The Baronial Hall an antiquated hall, designed in the guise of a medieval castle; and The Renaissance Room, an exquisite, period-style hall created with grandeur and glamour in mind in 1931.
For further information on the Winter Gardens, visit www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk.
The world-famous Blackpool Tower opened on 14th May 1894 and was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks is located on Central Promenade, Blackpool and is one of the resort’s most popular visitor attractions.
The present Opera House is actually the third Opera House to have been built on the site. The first, designed by famous theatre architect Frank Matcham, who also designed the Grand Theatre and the Tower Ballroom, was named Her Majesty’s Opera House and opened on June 10th 1889.
Blackpool Zoo was the first location for a Grand Ghost Tour not held at the Grand Theatre. The zoo, which opened on 6 July 1972, has quite a history of paranormal activities occurring; and that is not surprising when you look at the background of the buildings and the land it was built on!