125 yrs of ballroom romance
When it opened its doors for the first time in 1894, Blackpool Tower was billed as the place where a factory girl could be a duchess for the day.
And yesterday, as the landmark celebrated its 125th anniversary, that phrase still rings true.
Within the steel tower that stands majestically over the seaside resort is a beating heart that still makes magic happen for the millions of visitors who pour through its doors.
The Eiffel Tower was the original inspiration for Blackpool Tower – but Blackpool doesn’t do things by halves, so they decided to go one step further than Paris.
The designers created a 120ft-long ballroom complete with crystal chandeliers, and an oak, mahogany and walnut floor.
Every day this historic location is still the place where dreams come true and romance blossoms for ordinary folk from across the land.
It is 10.30am and already the ballroom is filling up with dancers dressed in their finest clothes and ballroom shoes, ready to take their first steps on to the iconic sprung dancefloor.
Forget the sequins and skimpy frocks of Strictly. These ballroom couples are the epitome of old Hollywood glamour – gents in waistcoats and bow ties, and ladies in floaty skirts that reveal the hint of an ankle and a glittery ballroom shoe.
Alan Locke has come all the way from Portadown, Northern Ireland, to celebrate his 90th birthday. Organist Chris Hopkins made Alan’s day by playing Happy Birthday and asking for a lady volunteer to take him for a celebratory dance.
Maureen Carr, 69, of the Isle of Wight, was happy to oblige and the couple got a heartwarming round of applause as they waltzed around the floor.
Ballroom fan Alan first came to Blackpool Tower back in 1950 – and he is never short of dance partners back home either.
He says: “I go dancing three times a week and a lot of the ladies who go to the dance club, their husbands don’t dance, so it is a field day for me!
“I have a bit of hip trouble but you don’t feel that when you are gliding along the floor.”
Organist Chris has been behind the famous Wurlitzer for 25 years.
He says: “I came here as a kid and I saw this organ and knew straight away that’s what I wanted to do.” When he left school he worked as a lorry driver for Kellogg’s but used to pay a fiver to go into the Manchester Free Trade Hall to practise on their organ.
“I taught myself. In my dinner hour I used to park up the truck and hire the organ for an hour,” he says.
Soon Chris’s name was put forward as a temporary organist for the tower – and he has never looked back. Chris says: “You can go from playing Strauss to Elvis in a couple of
minutes. I love my job – it is the Tower Ballroom, the most iconic ballroom in the world.
“The people who come here are amazing. Doing my job I give so much joy to everyone every day.
“You get regulars who come two or three times a week and we get to know what dances they like. They are lovely people and are from a bygone time – you didn’t chat a girl up on Facebook, you had to ask her face to face.”
And he has seen more than his fair share of romances blossom on the famous floor.
“You get a lot of widows and widowers who come here and then find romance a second time around.
“I have seen it so many times and it is lovely to see. The ballroom dancing provides companionship and helps them get over loneliness.”
Couples such as Marilyn and Keith Birchall, who met at the ballroom and
asked Chris to play on their wedding day there 14 years ago.
Marilyn, 73, and Keith, 77, from Lancaster, both used to come to the ballroom to dance with their first husband and wife.
After their partners passed away they continued to come with friends to keep the memories alive.
Marilyn says: “I’d been coming here with my first husband Howard since the 70s, and Keith and his wife Eileen started in the 80s. We all knew each other in passing.
“But when our husband and wife passed away we still kept coming. I was supposed to be meeting a friend of mine one day, but he was late. So I got chatting to Keith instead and it went from there. We come
here two or three times a week and we just love it. It keeps us fit.”
The pair spent their wedding day at the ballroom – with Chris playing their special requests.
Marilyn laughs: “We got married at the register office at 9am so we could make the most of our day in the ballroom. We stayed until 11pm.” Marilyn and Keith aren’t the only ones to start married life in the Tower. The attraction hosts around 10 weddings each year – either in the
ballroom or t the top of he tower on he skywalk. The viewing platform isn’t for a aint-hearted bride and room, with only a glass floor tanding between them and the promnade 318ft below.
Spare a thought for maintenance man Paul Hulley and his team who ave to abseil to change a lightbulb on ts famous illuminations.
Paul, 51, says: “I’ve worked here for 5 years – I got the job straight from chool and loved it so much I stayed. We just used to wear chest harnesses, but health and safety has moved on.
“But I have to say the first time I abseiled down was quite a daunting task. You are nly on a 10mm rope so it is a bit
hair-raising.” Paul’s boss Ian Wilson is another man who has not only found a job for life at Blackpool Tower – but also the love of his life.
Ian, 49, is head of maintenance after starting work here in 1992, while his fiancee Bev Anstell, 43, started work at the tower as a holiday job 25 years ago and works on reception.
They have been together for 25 years and now have a daughter Jess, 17, who also works there.
Bev laughs: “It is amazing to work here, there is so much history. My mum even worked here before me.
“Everyone has their own stories of Blackpool Tower – you see generations of the same family coming here year after year.
“You do fall in love with the tower and the people. I think now our daughter Jess works here too she understands how the tower bug can get you – there is nowhere else like it.”
Tower boss Kate Shane says: “This is a working-class resort, and we love that, we are proud of that.
“The tower was giving working-class people the opportunity to experience something they’d never see.
“There is so much emotion surrounding the tower – everyone has their own little story about it.”