Blackpool Ferris Wheel
Coordinates: 53 ° 49 ′ 0 ″ N , 3 ° 3 ′ 6 ″ W.
The Blackpool Ferris Wheel was a 67 meter high Ferris wheel in the northern English coastal and seaside resort of Blackpool . It was built in 1896 - one year before the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel - and dismantled again in 1928 due to insufficient utilization. Nowadays, a blue plaque at the former location at the Winter Gardens reminds of the former landmark . Designed to compete with other Blackpool entertainment establishments, it eventually fell victim to it 32 years later.
At the beginning of the 20th century it was one of the largest Ferris wheels in the world .
history
prehistory
The town of Blackpool experienced an enormous boost in urban development through the introduction of electricity and the gradual expansion as a bathing, entertainment and holiday resort . While the city only had around 10,000 inhabitants and barely grew until 1876, that changed significantly from the 1880s and the following decades. As early as 1879, around one million guests a year visited Blackpool by rail, in 1893 this number rose to two million and immediately before the outbreak of the First World War even to four million.
With the construction of the Blackpool Tower from 1891 to 1894, which was not only considered a technical success, but also attracted many visitors as a new attraction in England, a profitable sight developed . At the same time, the tower also proved to be a strong competitor for the Winter Gardens entertainment complex. Management responded by improving its facilities in 1896. In order to further increase the attractiveness, it was decided to build a ferris wheel on the neighboring property.
planning
The model for the construction of the Ferris wheel in Blackpool was the first 84 meter high Ferris wheel built by George Ferris at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 . It was operated by a steam engine . The British naval officer and engineer Walter Bassett Basset bought the patent from Ferris and built a 94 meter high Ferris wheel in 1895 at the London exhibition center in Earls Court . It was built on the occasion of the Empire of India Exhibition . With this project, Basset gained nationwide fame and was awarded the contract by the operators of the Winter Gardens to build such a ferris wheel in their city. Basset used Hubert Cecil Booth as a consulting engineer throughout the project, who later also became the chief designer of the Vienna Ferris wheel. With his experience and motivation, Walter Basset remained the driving force behind the construction project. The Blackpool Gazette and the Herald described him as "a bundle of nerves who gave the idea and lingers here and there and everywhere".
Blackpool Gigantic Wheel Co., Ltd. was appointed on April 28, 1896 to implement the construction project . Established with a seed capital of £ 50,000 . In addition to Basset, F. Astbury from Manchester , James Pearson from Blackpool, A. Bottomley from Halifax and FA Badmann from Birmingham were shareholders in the construction company. A frequent change of architects probably testified to a relative disagreement between Basset and James Graydon, who also had patent rights to two Ferris wheels. The northwest corner between Coronation and Adelaide Street was chosen as the location.
construction
In December 1895, excavation began for the massive foundations of the Ferris wheel, which was set up next to the Pavilion Horseshoe of Winter Gardens. A 3.4 meter thick cast concrete layer was used as the foundation . Despite the severe winter, the foundation work was finished at the end of January 1896. The Arrol's Bridge And Roof Company from Glasgow received the order from Basset to carry out the work; this was already involved in the construction of the London Ferris wheel in Earls Court. They were largely responsible for the construction of the steel framework. In February 1896 the actual construction could begin. For this purpose, two wooden platforms, each 24 meters high, were set up on which two three-tonne cranes with derrick booms were placed. They lifted the steel parts to the required mounting height. Then the four 33.5 meter high riveted steel axis columns could be erected, which served as a support structure for the ferris wheel. The last column was built on March 19, 1896.
The transport and assembly of the ferris wheel's steel axle posed a particular structural challenge. The one-piece component manufactured by William Beardmore & Co. from Parkhead in Glasgow weighed over 29 tons, was 12.4 meters long and 0.66 meters thick Diameter. The transport from Glasgow to Blackpool was carried out on a railway carriage because of the weight. Because of the extreme load, the transfer took a week and intermediate stops had to be made regularly to cool the wheels of the wagon. The transfer from the train station to the construction site, which took several hours, was marked by breakdowns. On site at the construction site, the wheels of the transport truck damaged both the street and the sidewalks as well as a gas pipe. Fortunately, the gas leak did not cause an explosion. By August 8, 1896, work on the steel frame of the ferris wheel was completed. In the next step, the 30 gondolas, which were manufactured by Marshall, Brown and Co. from Birmingham, were installed. The official opening of the Blackpool Ferris Wheel took place on August 22, 1896.
Operation and demolition
The Auto-Music Company Limited leased the Ferris wheel from the Winter Gardens Company and has been operating it since it opened. From then on, in addition to the Blackpool Tower , the new Ferris wheel also shaped the townscape of the seaside resort. Due to the conspicuousness and the competitive situation of the nearby attractions, the press dubbed the establishment as the "Battle of the Giants". Despite a lot of public attention, the Ferris wheel was soon viewed as a cheap copy of the Blackpool Tower. The operators tried various measures to increase the attractiveness. For example, a gondola was redesigned into a specially equipped tea room, which could be booked for special occasions such as private parties and weddings or other occasions. In 1898 the Ferris wheel was redesigned with a striking red, white and blue color scheme. But none of these measures helped to sustainably increase the number of passengers. After five years of operation in Blackpool, it was even considered moving the ride to Manchester, which was soon discarded due to the high costs. The Ferris wheel remained in Blackpool, but due to the persistently poor response, the Blackpool Gigantic Wheel Co., Ltd. voluntarily in liquidation. On June 30 of the same year, Winter Gardens and Pavilion Co., Ltd. the plant for 1,150 pounds and continued operations.
However, there was no success with the new operator either. The Blackpool Ferris Wheel never achieved the same level of popularity as its Chicago and London counterparts . When the former rival, the operating company of Blackpool Tower, finally took over the operation of the Ferris wheel in 1928, the end was in sight. The owner of the Tower Company, Sir John Bickerstaffe, found that the ferris wheel had lost its degree of attractiveness and also needed a technical overhaul that was no longer economically justifiable. On May 31, it was announced that the Ferris wheel would cease operations at the end of the season. A contract to demolish the facility was signed on October 12, and October 30 was the last day of operation.
The gondolas were sold in an auction the day before; some of them brought in up to £ 20. The bidders transformed the gondolas into storage rooms, pavilions or used them for residential purposes. The housemother of the Blackpool Orphanage also bought a gondola and converted it into a summer vacation home for children. This gondola was even sold on to a gas station in 1943, which from then on used it as a café .
Technical specifications
- Total height of the Ferris wheel: 67 meters (220 feet ), wheel diameter: 65 meters
- Dimensions
- Total mass around 1000 tons
- Weight of the two protective varnishes and the paint: 2.5 tons
- Gondolas
- Number of gondolas: 30 with a capacity of 40 people each
- full rotation: 15 minutes
- Wheel axle
- Length: 12.4 meters
- Diameter: 0.66 meters
- Mass: 29 tons
- Number of spokes: 250
- Total cost around: 45,000 pounds
- Drive: two semi-transportable, tractor-like steam engines of the type 12 NHP made by Robey & Co. from Lincoln.
Classification to other ferris wheels
George Ferris, the inventor of the Ferris wheel, implemented the first such amusement ride at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 . The success of this invention prompted the British naval officer and engineer Walter Bassett Basset to buy Ferris' patent and subsequently to build four more Ferris wheels in Europe. The only one of these four first Ferris wheels from around the turn of the century that is still standing is the Wiener Riesenrad in the Prater , which is a structurally smaller copy of the Blackpool Ferris wheel. A Ferris wheel planned for the New Brighton district, as part of Wallasey , was not built due to legal disputes between Basset and Graydon. The place built the New Brighton Tower to replace it , but it was demolished again in the 1920s.
| Chicago | London | Blackpool | Vienna | Paris | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| image |
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.jpg)
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| Maximum height | 84 m | 91.4 m | 67 m | 64.7 m | 100 m |
| Year of construction | 1893 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1900 |
| Year of dismantling | 1906 | 1906 | 1928 | in operation | 1937 |
Since 1990, a legacy has stood on Central Pier in Blackpool in memory of the original Ferris wheel, which is 33 meters high.
literature
- Norman Anderson: Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1992, ISBN 0-87972-531-1 , p. 102 ff.
- Historic England (Ed.): Blackpool's Seaside Heritage. 2014, ISBN 978-1-84802-110-5 , p. 51 ff. ( Excerpts online ).
- Peter Walton: Blackpool Tower: A History. Amberley Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4456-4498-1 , p. 101.
Web links
- Dandelion. Stone Troughs & Architectural Antiques: The life & death of Blackpool's gigantic wheel. (English).
- Blackpool's Latest Novelty. The Great Wheel. Interview with the engineer. (English).
- The Demolition of a Giant Wheel. (English).
- Copper medals for the construction and demolition of the Blackpool Ferris wheel .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gallery of Blue Plaques in Blackpool: A to C , accessed July 30, 2019.
- ↑ Historic England (Ed.): Blackpool's Seaside Heritage. 2014, ISBN 978-1-84802-110-5 , p. 51.
- ↑ Historic England (Ed.): Blackpool's Seaside Heritage. 2014, ISBN 978-1-84802-110-5 , p. 65.
- ↑ a b c Dandelion. Stone Troughs & Architectural Antiques: The life & death of Blackpool's gigantic wheel. Accessed July 30, 2019.
- ↑ Grace's Guide to British Industrial History: Blackpool Gigantic Wheel Co , accessed August 21, 2019
- ^ A b c d Anderson: Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. P. 102.
- ↑ The Demolition of a Giant Wheel. Article dated December 15, 2012, accessed July 30, 2019.
- ↑ Anderson: Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. Pp. 94-95.
- ↑ Anderson: Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. P. 95.
- ↑ Anderson: Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. P. 113.
- ^ History of Central Pier. Accessed July 30, 2019.