Category: 2000

Susan Brownrigg Starts Writing Her First Children’s Novel

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Susan Brownrigg is a Lancashire lass who grew up in Wigan and now lives in Skelmersdale, but loves to visit Blackpool as often as possible! She is the author of Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest, Gracie Fairshaw and the Trouble at the Tower, Gracie Fairshaw and the Missing Reel, Kintana and the Captain’s Curse and Wrong Tracks. Brownrigg has worked as a library information assistant for three years and her previous career was in heritage and wildlife education. She worked at Norton Priory Museum for 12 years, most recently as learning manager. She has also worked at Tatton Park,… Read more »

Heritage North West Takes Over the Clifton Family Home

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Evleyn Waugh declared the Cliftons as “all tearing mad” when he visited Lytham Hall in the 1930s. The last Squire Clifton, Harry, managed to squander the family fortunes and bring to an end several centuries of Clifton family dominance for Lytham and St Annes in Lancashire. Harry’s reckless and eccentric behaviour, not to mention his wild schemes and obsession with the occult, left very little of his families vast estates in Lancashire and Scotland. His father, John Talbot Clifton, had lost in his lifetime the family’s estates in Ireland after it became independent from the British Crown at the end… Read more »

Blackpool’s Town Crier

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Back in 2000, Barry became Blackpool’s official town crier after spending 12 years in Birmingham and he says he has never looked back. He moved back to Lancashire when he was 21 and spent eight years in Morecambe before moving to Ludlow in Shropshire when his town crier career started. The image below shows Laura Sinfield, Tracy Dawson (right) wife of Les Dawson, John Chadwick (left) and Barry McQueen at Birmingham New Street Station after travelling from Blackpool on 30 September 2002 to mark Virgin Trains new regional InterCity rail network for the UK with a re-launch of its CrossCountry train company.

Blackpool Street Sculpture

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Blackpool’s decision to include statues and public art in the town centre was part of a broader strategy to rejuvenate the town, which began in the early 2000s. This initiative was driven by a desire to modernise Blackpool and attract new visitors while also enhancing the experience for locals. With the decline of traditional seaside tourism in the UK, the town recognised the need to diversify its appeal, using public art as a tool for urban regeneration and cultural enrichment. The introduction of sculptures was seen as a way to create more attractive and engaging public spaces, with the aim… Read more »