{"id":2173,"date":"2024-08-18T13:17:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T13:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history\/?p=2173"},"modified":"2025-08-07T15:40:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T15:40:58","slug":"st-annes-pleasure-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/","title":{"rendered":"St Annes Pleasure Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Taylor, a former press photographer who began his career at The Gazette\u2019s sister paper, the Lancashire Evening Post, passed away in hospital on January 16 at the age of 78. During his national service, Taylor worked as a photographer for the Ministry of Defence, travelling extensively across Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>In 1993, Taylor\u2019s company, Carr Royd Leisure, launched Pleasure Island on the site of the former St Annes outdoor baths. The venue included a four-screen cinema, bowling alley, amusement arcade, and restaurant. At its peak, the site also featured a casino and a static steam train. However, the centre eventually closed in 2009, although the cinema continues to operate as The Island Cinema under new ownership. Born in Poulton and later residing in Stalmine, Taylor also owned the award-winning Sunset caravan park in Hambleton.<\/p>\n<p>His wife, Sandy, reflected on his life, describing him as a strong and self-made man. She noted that he will likely be remembered for being direct yet kind and helpful, with a sharp sense of humour. She also highlighted his efforts to improve the image of the caravan industry and his commitment to quality.<\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2203\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Shops-1-1024x326.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"216\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2200\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Gift-Shop-1024x673.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"447\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2201\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Surfside-1024x530.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"352\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2202\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Toby-1024x645.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"428\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2178\" src=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Pleasure-Island-YMCA-2-1024x391.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"260\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Taylor, a former press photographer who began his career at The Gazette\u2019s sister paper, the Lancashire Evening Post, passed away in hospital on January 16 at the age of 78. During his national service, Taylor worked as a photographer for the Ministry of Defence, travelling extensively across Africa and the Middle East. In 1993, Taylor\u2019s company, Carr Royd Leisure, launched Pleasure Island on the site of the former St Annes outdoor baths. The venue included a four-screen cinema, bowling alley, amusement arcade, and restaurant. At its peak, the site also featured a casino and a static steam train. However,&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\" title=\"Read St Annes Pleasure Island\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[176,179,207],"class_list":["post-2173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-206","tag-attractions","tag-landmarks","tag-207"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>St Annes Pleasure Island<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St Annes Pleasure Island, launched in 1993 by Michael Taylor&#039;s Carr Royd Leisure, was a popular entertainment venue featuring a four-screen cinema, bowling alley, amusement arcade, and restaurant. At its peak, it also boasted a casino and a static steam train.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St Annes Pleasure Island\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St Annes Pleasure Island, launched in 1993 by Michael Taylor&#039;s Carr Royd Leisure, was a popular entertainment venue featuring a four-screen cinema, bowling alley, amusement arcade, and restaurant. At its peak, it also boasted a casino and a static steam train.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blackpool History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-18T13:17:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-07T15:40:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Signage.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"946\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ed\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/person\/6ba254dbcdf45d011efc9363cd4c2295\"},\"headline\":\"St Annes Pleasure Island\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-18T13:17:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-07T15:40:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\"},\"wordCount\":193,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Signage.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Attractions\",\"Landmarks\",\"1993\"],\"articleSection\":[\"1993\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/\",\"name\":\"St Annes Pleasure Island\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/st-annes-pleasure-island\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Peasureland-Signage.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-18T13:17:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-07T15:40:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"St Annes Pleasure Island, launched in 1993 by Michael Taylor's Carr Royd Leisure, was a popular entertainment venue featuring a four-screen cinema, bowling alley, amusement arcade, and restaurant. 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