Ted Lightbown: Blackpool’s Chronicler of Change and Heritage

It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Blackpool and Fylde’s foremost local historian, Ted Lightbown (1943-2022) on Thursday 3 March 2022.

An erudite, intelligent and dedicated historian, Ted’s extensive knowledge of the local area was unrivalled and his passing is a considerable loss to our local history community. As a mark of respect, we would like to honour some of his invaluable contributions, spanning almost half a century.

Ted had been a stalwart member of the Blackpool and Fylde Historical Society since the late 1970s, and its Secretary for forty years. His regular presentations to the Society were always engaging and highly informative and he had an extraordinary capacity to contextualise people, places and events to enable the audience to make greater sense of Blackpool’s past. During this time, he instigated several B&FHS local exhibitions on Layton, Marton, Norbreck and Little Bispham, the Millennium exhibition at the Lecture Hall in Central Library and the ‘Lost’ buildings of Blackpool at Stanley Park Visitor’s Centre. He was also involved in setting up a local history room on the first floor of the Grundy Art Gallery.

Apart from the Society, Ted has been regularly called upon by various organisations to assist them with their archive collections and local history events. In 2002, he was asked to organise the Tower Company and Pier archives, then held by Leisure Parcs. Working voluntarily alongside his wife, Ann, the first exhibition was on North Pier in 2002 and, in 2003, they staged an exhibition to celebrate the Winter Gardens 125th anniversary. In 2018 they held another exhibition for its 140th anniversary. For the 110th anniversary celebrations of the Tower, they exhibited at Lytham Heritage Centre. In 2005 Ted digitised all the Blackpool Gazette photographs for the ‘Blackpool at War’ exhibition held at Central Library and, in 2008 he had considerable input with the ‘Showtown’ exhibition held in Olympia, for Blackpool Council ‘s first ‘Showzam’. In addition to all the above, he has been the voluntary archivist for the Pleasure Beach for over twenty years.

Ted collaborated with other esteemed local historians on several publications for the Blackpool and Fylde Historical Society and, in 1994, published his own fascinating book, ‘Blackpool A Pictorial History’. Additionally, he co-published two collections of old Blackpool postcards and, with the same co-author, ‘Blackpool Through Time’ and ‘Blackpool History Tour’. All of his publications, and his contributions to many others, are testament to his commitment to accurately preserve significant aspects of our local history.

Ted’s insight and expertise has been called upon by an inordinate number of people and groups over the years. His willingness to help others with historical queries was unstinting, often spending countless hours in his quest to provide accurate and detailed information, always based on evidence and thorough research – and in the knowledge that he himself was continually learning. A true gentleman, quiet and unassuming, Ted was most generous with his time, keen to help others learn and highly regarded in his field of expertise. He will be remembered as such by everyone who knew him.

Ted was a member of the History of Blackpool Facebook group (known as Bill Moorcroft). He also worked closely with the group’s administrator Anne Charlesworth. Ted has been an astute observer of many posts on the Facebook page over the years, regularly commenting with a no-nonsense approach to ensure that correct information was imparted and recorded. He always believed that we have great responsibility for whatever we write or post on social media as it will last longer than we do. Equally, he was concerned about the spread of disinformation and had an unerring desire for our local history to be properly told.

His guiding principles are reflected in our group’s ethos and the admin team will be forever in his debt for his steadfast support, guidance, wit and wisdom, without which this group would not have been as effective. Ted’s legacy will continue to guide us as we strive to keep our group informative and factual.

Among his most widely recognised collaborations are the Blackpool Through Time publications, created alongside fellow historian Allan W. Wood. These volumes juxtapose historic photographs with contemporary views, highlighting the dramatic changes in streetscapes, landmarks, piers, theatres, trams and residential districts. The series became particularly valued by residents and collectors who appreciate the “then and now” perspective.

Below are some of Ted’s published works. Click on the covers to purchase from Waterstones.