80 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF BLACKPOOL AND DISTRICT 



bought for £15,750 in 1893. Parliament, however, till the late nineteenth 

 century was reluctant to allow the municipal operation of public utilities. 

 Liverpool, for example, was refused in 1889. Hudders field broke through 

 this restriction in 1892, and Blackpool ' took the law into its own hands and 

 ran its tramway system for some time without having obtained Parliamentary 

 Sanction.' 2 Since that time to March, 1936, Blackpool transport has made a 

 total net profit of £727,014, £223,497 going to rate relief and £413,874 to 

 other purposes. 



Another profitable investment was the purchase of the foreshore rights, 

 1 889 and 1 894, for £960. The net yield for rent of stalls in 1 934-35 was £4,575, 

 and in 1935-36, £4,466. 



In 1893, the generating station at Princess Street was opened by Lord 

 Kelvin. Since that date to March, 1936, the electricity department has made 

 a net profit of £556,466, of which £225,104 has gone to rate relief and £1 24,1 1 1 

 to other purposes. 



The more recent events in the history of the municipality must be mentioned 

 very briefly. In 1900 the Musical Festival was inaugurated and has since 

 achieved such fame as to be an essential part of the autumn attractions, the 

 most important item in which, however, is undoubtedly the Illuminations, 

 which began in 1927. In 1904, Blackpool was constituted a County Borough, 

 and in that year instituted the first motor car speed trials, when the Promenade 

 became a racing track. In 1905, the New Promenade was opened and speed 

 trials were again organised. In 1909, the first Aviation Meeting was held, and 

 in 1912, the Princess Parade was opened by H.R.H. Princess Louise. In the 

 following year Blackpool was honoured by the visit of Their Majesties King 

 George and Queen Mary. The years 1921-23 saw the construction, at a cost of 

 £95,1 1 8, of the Open-air Swimming Bath, in which the Olympic Trials of 1 924 

 were held. In 1926 Stanley Park, which to the present has cost £275,070, and 

 the South Shore Promenade Extension, were opened by Lord Derby, on 

 October 2nd. Lastly, another attempt to extend the season, but this time in 

 the earlier part of the year, was successfully made by the introduction of Guest 

 Week, in June, 1933. 



Amusements run by Private Enterprise. 



It is in the chief hotels and public houses that we find the earliest 

 organisation of entertainment. These provided facilities for games and 

 dancing and some of them had ' singing rooms ' where professional entertainers 

 were employed. Only one of them now remains, in Uncle Tom's Cabin at 

 North Shore. The Belle Vue Hotel, on Whitegate Drive, for example, in its 

 early days had a famous bowling green, a ballroom which was also used for 

 variety performances, and an outside dancing platform. There were also 

 gardens, an orchard and a croquet lawn. Further afield, Cherry Tree Gardens, 

 in Marton, and Castle Gardens, in Carleton, provided similar attractions and 

 invited daily excursions by horse-brake and carriage. 



The Piers. 



In 1861 the leading townsmen held a meeting at the Clifton Hotel to discuss 

 the provision of amusement for visitors. This led to the formation of the 



5 'A Century of Municipal Progress,' ed. W. A. Robson, p. 321. 



