This DVD is made up of two films, plus
a bonus film, that feature extensive shots of the Pleasure Beach in
1914 and the 1920s, some of the most detailed and extensive vintage
footage of the park available.
The earliest of the three films,
Fun on the Sands, features two of the renowned clowns at the
Tower Circus called 'August' and 'September' taking their "old aunt
and uncle" on a tour of Blackpool and its Pleasure Beach, finally
visiting the Winter Gardens, and then ascending the famous Blackpool
tower. The Pleasure Beach scenes are incredible, featuring extensive
detailed shots of the Water Chute, Witching Waves and Velvet Coaster
in action, as well as numerous general shots of the park. The
Pleasure Beach scenes are described as follows on the DVD
information sheet:
"The Pleasure Beach footage opens
with a southwards pan from the junction of Eastern Avenue and Main
Avenue showing the Bowl Slide (1911) - later redeveloped as the
Ghost Train; a white circular building; in the distance the Velvet
Coaster (1909); the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac - Naval
Spectatorium (1910); and the River Caves of the World (1905). A
second pan, filmed from the Casino roof, starts in the east and ends
looking south along Ye Olde Englyshe Street, now Main Avenue. It
shows the House of Nonsense (1911); Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying
Machine (1904); the Witching Waves (1913); the Scenic Railway
(1907); the Rainbow Wheel (1912) - the outer part of which rotated
around a sweeping carriage to render its occupants suitably
disorientated, and which was dismantled in 1934 to make way for the
Grand National (which opened the following year); and the Helter
Skelter Lighthouse (1905).
"The party first goes through the
turnstiles to take a ride on the water Chute...They then go on the
Witching waves, where individual cars rode the "crest of the wave"
on an undulating surface of what appears to be stitched together
heavy sailcloth...Next, the group is seen at the pay kiosk "Fare 3D"
of the Velvet Coaster, which stood on the south side of Watson Road
(and was rebuilt as the present Roller Coaster in 1933). They are
then seen on the pull up of the Velvet Coaster; however, all the
shots from the front of the car are from the Scenic Railway; the
party then arrives back and disembarks at the Velvet Coaster
station."
The scenes filmed at the Winter
Gardens are also of interest:
"Finally, before the Tower ascent,
there is a brief interlude in the grounds of the Winter gardens,
which extended from the Big Wheel on Coronation Street up Adelaide
Street. One of the Wheel's large passenger compartments can be
seen..."
Happy Days at Blackpool is
no less impressive in its detailed coverage of the Pleasure Beach,
with extensive, close-up footage of the Virginia Reel, the Whip, the
Joy Wheel, River Caves and Big Dipper. The film features the cast of
the 1926 summer season revue 'Brighter Blackpool', which opened at
the Winter Gardens Pavilion on 26 June. From the information sheet:
"The opening pan at the Pleasure
Beach was filmed in 1922, the only year that the Twistum was there.
By the following year it had been removed, along with the Witching
Waves, for the resited Dodgems. (Note in this pan the rare sight of
the Rainbow Wheel moving). Although the cast is seen on the Reel
(opened in 1922, a month after the nearby Noah's Ark - which is seen
in action with customers walking into the attraction) its members
are not featured in the footage of the Whip where ladies' fashions
suggest an earlier date. They are then with us once more on the Joy
Wheel (1910-1937) which stood near the present Alice in Wonderland
ride. Next we see them on the Big Dipper; occasionally there are
glimpses of the New South Promenade and trams. The tramway had only
opened along this newly developed stretch in 1926. At the River
Caves, Johnny Jenks is talking to cast members aboard a boat."
This film also includes the South
Shore Open Air Baths, Central Pier, New South Promenade Sunken
Gardens, North Shore boating pool and Stanley Park.
Finally, there is a bonus film of
Blackpool Illuminations 1934. This includes good night-time
footage of the Pleasure Beach Amusement Park.
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