Blackpool Civic Trust will be assisting visits to Blackpool Town Hall during Heritage Open Day on Saturday 19th September 2026 between 10am and 3.30pm.
Visit the Council Chamber with its debating area, stained glass windows and murals. The Mayor’s Parlour and meeting rooms on the first floor.
Heritage Open Days are operated by volunteers and have free access to places not normally open to the public.
Our Monday 19th September meeting will be held the Holiday Inn, Talbot Road Blackpool starting at 7pm.
Tonight’s guest speaker is David Hulme, who worked on Blackpool Tower for 30yrs and has written a book about it. Tall Tales.
Non-members welcome for a small donation suggested £2.
21st August 2026: Message from Rachel Sykes our Social Secretary
The Sum up machine is now working which means you will be able to pay by card for everything from raffle tickets to memberships.
We have two trips planned as listed below, please join us.
Bookings can be made through:
Rachel Sykes.
rachelsykes@hotmail.co.uk
Tel. 07305 314218
A museum displaying working examples of the jukeboxes and a drink machine made by Ditchburn in their factory in Lytham complete with your own jukebox choices of your era while enjoying your refreshment.
A presentation by the expert curator and a trip round the museum and refreshments £10.
Wednesday 23rd September at 13:00
Thursday 15th October at 13:00 £22 per head. Sounds delicious and should include a tour of the Turkish Baths which Blackpool Civic Trust did much of the restoration work.
18th August 2026
William Cocker was the first Mayor of Blackpool after its incorporation as a municipal borough by charter from Queen Victoria in 1876. The incorporation enabled a council and a mayor for the town. The memorial stone is positioned in the churchyard of St John’s Church, St John’s Square, Blackpool.
Blackpool Civic Trust is pleased to have been able to fund the restoration of the memorial stone as a celebration of this 150th anniversary. With thanks to all involved, our members and Dr Sir Michael Prendergast, our Project Officer who completed the formalities of restoring a memorial stone in a churchyard.
Our next monthly meeting is at 7pm on Monday 17th August 2026 in the Holiday Inn, Blackpool. Our guest speaker is Diane Farley of Enveco speaking about their environmental and waste management work in Blackpool.
Non-members are welcome for a small donation, £2 is suggested.
Diane Farley, our guest speaker. Finalist in the Enterprise Vision Awards 2026 to be held in October at the Blackpool Winter Gardens.
The National Garden Scheme features private gardens open in aid of charity. On Friday 31st July we visited an open garden in Poulton Le Fylde. While there, we enjoyed a quiz and presentation about the history of the National Garden Scheme, a tour with the owners around the garden and tea/coffee and home-made cakes.
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Our next monthly meeting will be on Monday 20th July at 7pm in the Holiday Inn, Talbot Road, Blackpool.
The guest speaker will be Barry McCann who will speak about Blackpool Shipwrecks.
Non-members are welcome for a small donation, suggested as £2 each.
The Claremont Heritage Gala on the 4th of July is organised by our Social Secretary. Members are requested to attend and if possible to assist guiding the procession.
The Blackpool Borough Charter was signed by Queen Victoria in 1876 granting borough status to the town. The wax seal has almost disintegrated. As this is 150th anniversary the committee agreed that restoring the seal and framing of the charter was a worthwhile expense for the Civic Trust.
The Civic Trust have offered to lend books to the Imperial Hotel. Labels have been ordered and attached to the books which are now on the bookcase at the hotel.
At the Parish Church, St John’s, the grave marker of the town’s first mayor, Dr Cocker, as well as the marker of the Reverend William Thornber, celebrated local historian, needs restoration. The Civic Trust has submitted an application to the diocese to permit the work and has made the budget available.
Members are encouraged to attend a meeting at the Central Library on the 2nd June about the Aden Project. There will be a talk by a veteran at 11.30 and 1.15. Update: an email thanking members for their attendance has been received.
There’s an Armed Force’s cabinet meeting on the 16th June 2pm at the Empowerment Base in Bispham Road which members may attend.
The talk at the May Monthly Meeting was the Cyril Critchlow memorial lecture. The talk is always on a show business theme. The comedy duo Ruth and Keith known as Black Liver told us how they became a duo. It was a most enjoyable evening. Ruth is from Blackpool and Keith is from Liverpool, hence the name Black Liver.
A number of town crest buttons are available to members for a donation of £3 to the Civic Trust.
A number of planning applications were reviewed in May where potential heritage concerns applied. So far our Planning Officer has made no objections.
The Planning Officer wrote to the Planning Department requesting that the hoarding in front of Sainsbury’s is removed as it is detrimental to pedestrian safety and the streetscape, The hoarding has now been removed.
The Planning Officer also requested a reply on the heritage tram situation from the council and is to pursue it further.
A meeting has been arranged in the Blackpool Council offices regarding the care of heritage assets affected by the coastal defence works.
Stanley Park centenary plaque has had another proof from the manufacturer, and it has now been approved and can be ordered.
Royal Artillery Association Blackpool and Fylde Branch: the RAA had recently formed a branch in the Fylde area as well as one in Blackpool. They are currently restoring a 25 Pounder gun which did service in World War 2. BCT has been informed that its members are welcome to visit and inspect the gun in St Annes.
Members are requested to advise the social secretary if they are interested in attending the Manchester Christmas Market. Various options of travel have been investigated including a coach and the train.
A tramtown volunteer reported that the building on Rigby Road is to act as a temporary site for the Blackpool Heritage Trams and that the council are seeking another site for Tramtown.
Karl Bartoni’s Film Archive, all videos are now available on YouTube.
At the July meeting, the speaker was Sean Conboy, an internationally renowned photographer. Sean showed the audience how he uses a variety of camera systems and equipment to consistently produce high quality industrial commercial photography. He then answered questions from the audience.
A blue plaque is proposed for Strawberry Gardens at Belle Vue, it will be positioned when the redecoration of the pub is completed.
Members attended the Polish Heritage Day and found it a very enjoyable and linguistically enriching experience.
Non-members are welcome for a suggested donation of £2.
Our next meeting is at 7pm on Monday 18th May 2026 at the Holiday Inn, Talbot Road, Blackpool. Next to Blackpool North Railway Station and tram stop.
Non-members are welcome for a suggested donation of £2.
This evening’s talk is our Cyril Critchlow Lecture. Cyril was a magician and local historian who left a large collection of Blackpool showbiz memorabilia. More can be read on the Showtown website: https://www.showtownblackpool.co.uk/…/cyril-critchlow-a…
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