90 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF BLACKPOOL AND DISTRICT 



A Municipal Golf Course adjoins, as also does the Blackpool Cricket Ground 

 (the latter the gift of the late Sir Lindsay Parkinson, J.P., and his brother, 

 William Parkinson, Esq., J. P.). 



There is a boating lake of some 26^ acres in extent. Bowling, putting, tennis, 

 cricket, and football are amply provided for. There are also children's 

 playgrounds, and a spacious open-air band stand and auditorium. The 

 execution of the work has been spread over a period of five years, and on 

 completion its cost will approach, if not exceed, £250,000. 



Open-air Swimming Pool. 



On June 9th, 1923, the Mayor of the borough, Councillor Henry Brooks, 

 J. P., officially opened the South Shore Open-air Swimming Bath. Erected 

 at a cost of approximately £80,000 by the Corporation, the bath is one of the 

 largest and best-designed open-air swimming pools in the world. It covers 

 an area of four acres, and provides accommodation for 3,000 bathers at one time, 

 and 8,000 spectators on the half-mile of terraces. 



There are 868 dressing rooms, 500 lockers and 1,300 special clothes con- 

 tainers. The latter are used in conjunction with the 268 gas-heated cubicles, 

 completed this season, and the rooms are equipped with foot-baths, showers, 

 etc. 



Another additional novel feature is the large sun-bathing terrace projecting 

 into the water, erected in 1935. 



The area of the pool is 60,000 square feet, the extreme length 376 feet, and 

 the width 172 feet. The depth of the water varies from 1 foot 6 inches to 

 4 feet 6 inches, except in the championship area, which is exactly 1 10 yards 

 long by 25 yards wide, and varies in depth from 4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 6 inches. 

 The diving pool shelves to a depth of 1 5 feet, and the diving stage consists of 

 seven platforms, varying in height from 4 feet to 32 feet 6 inches (10 metres). 

 A triple water chute and shower baths are provided, and a portion is reserved 

 for instruction in swimming. 



The bath contains 1,600,000 gallons of filtered sea-water, which is being 

 constantly changed, purified and aerated at the rate of 80,000 gallons per hour 

 by powerful and electrically-driven pumps. The water is first pumped from 

 the sea into a huge settling tank capable of holding half-a-million gallons, then 

 transferred to the four filters, and finally pumped into the pool in a novel and 

 artistic fashion through 20 fountain-like sprays and a cascade. 



Burials and Cremations. 



By 1873 land had been acquired by the Burial Board in the Layton district 

 (east) adjoining New Road, now named Talbot Road. The Cemetery grounds 

 — some 8 acres in extent — and the consecration ceremony took place on the 

 3rd August, 1873. There have been several extensions of the Cemetery until 

 all available land there has been acquired. Further accommodation became an 

 acute question a short time ago and land was purchased at Carleton, also on the 

 easterly side of the borough, and a Cemetery formed. A Crematorium has also 

 been erected at this latter cemetery, and is now available for use. 



