GROWTH OF BLACKPOOL AS A HEALTH AND HOLIDAY RESORT 83 



of Wales's Theatre, Baths and Arcade. The Company went into liquidation 

 in 1902, and the entire assets, estimated at £381,052 were purchased by the 

 Tower Company for £140,347. Many alterations have been effected since 

 then and the present buildings contain a Variety Theatre (seating capacity 

 2,360), a Picture Pavilion (seating capacity 1,950), Lounge and Ballroom, 



The Grand Theatre (' Matcham's Masterpiece ') was opened on July 23rd, 

 1894, by Mr. Wilson Barrett, in ' Hamlet.' It was purchased by the Tower 

 Company in 1907, for £47,000. Its seating capacity is 1,660. 



On January 18th, 1928, the Tower Company offered the shareholders of 

 the Winter Gardens, in exchange for their holdings, an equal number of fully 

 paid-up ordinary shares of the Tower Company, which now holds the whole 

 of the 1 05,000 shares of the other Company. In the season the Tower Company 

 employs more than 1 ,500 persons, a number greater than the total population 

 of Blackpool 100 years ago. In its four main buildings, 50,000 people can be 

 accommodated at any one time. 



The Pleasure Beach. 



The Pleasure Beach Estate Company was founded by the late Alderman 

 W. G. Bean, in partnership with Mr. W. Outhwaite. The Pleasure Beach in 

 1901 has been described as an unpretentious fairground, but since the War 

 it has seen much alteration and enlargement. Its present Managing Director, 

 Mr. Leonard Thompson, annually visits America and the Continent in quest 

 of the new attractions which every year draw millions of visitors to South 

 Shore. The strikingly effective designs of Mr. Joseph Emberton are the 

 most pleasing examples of modern architecture to be found on this coast. 



Cinemas. 



The first cinematograph show in Blackpool was in March, 1907. Very 

 soon existing buildings were adapted, and in 1909 the first specially-constructed 

 Cinema was opened, the Royal Pavilion in Rigby Road, now the Plaza. 

 Blackpool now has 15 Cinemas with seating accommodation for more than 

 20,000. 



Blackpool To-Day. 



This brief survey of the history of Blackpool may help to explain the present 

 position of the town as third, after Liverpool and Manchester, in Lancashire, 

 in rateable value, and third in rateable value also, after Brighton and Bourne- 

 mouth, of the English seaside resorts. Its popularity shows no signs of 

 diminishing in its power to attract both visitors and permanent residents. Its 

 population is still growing. The number of visitors now annually exceeds 

 6,000,000, and nearly 6,000 establishments cater for their lodging. The 

 greatest increase in this respect is due to the long-distance visitor. While 

 the last Autumn Illuminations attracted 733,000 passengers by rail and at least 

 an equal number by road, it is of even greater importance that the number of 

 period tickets sold on the railway in the last season was more than double the 

 number in 1924. 



