Hello everyone, I hope that you've been enjoying seaside week here at Showtown
I'm Rebecca and I'd like to introduce you to the Showtown team
Kari. Hi Becky.
Laura. Hi Becky
Jill. Hello!
and Leanne. Hello!
and we've been learning some Makaton signs
and we'd like to talk to you about those today and show you the signs that we've
learned. We're going to be looking at some of the photographs in the Albert
Eden collection to explore what it might have been like to be a Victorian at the
seaside so everyone's going to ask me some questions and I'll be able to
answer them today
Hi Becky, did Victorians come to the seaside for Sun and sea?
Hi Kari,
yes Victorians did come to Blackpool for sun and sea. Health was very important to
the Victorians this was a time before the NHS was created in 1948 and so
people had to take health into their own hands a lot of the time and fresh air
and the sea was considered to be extremely beneficial for the body.
Doctors at this time were even prescribing people a trip to the seaside
as treatments for many ailments and in some of the early books written about
Blackpool, there's records of people claiming to have been cured by drinking
seawater which I wouldn't recommend but hopefully I'll be back on the beach soon
and we can have a little paddle which will do you the world of good
Thank you! Thank You.
Becky, can you tell us about the three piers in Blackpool?
Yes, Laura. Blackpool's quite unique having three piers the
first pier was North Pier as we know it today. It was actually originally called
Blackpool Pier as it was only one that Blackpool had at the time that was
built in 1863 and was aimed at a very upmarket clientele. They wanted the upper
classes and very fancy people coming into that here and you had to pay an
entrance fee and you would then promenade down the pier to be as close
to the sea as possible and to be seen by your fellow holidaymakers and
this pier was so popular that a second pier was put forward by investors and
this was created just five years later and at the time that was known as
South Jetty and that became the pier of fun
and was known as the 'People's Pier'
and there was open-air dancing on that pier and a German band would play and people would
social dance, theatres were built on the piers as well and a lot of performances and
concerts happened and acrobatic displays - so there was a lot going on and then
few years later than that in 1893 a third pier was built which was known as
the Victoria Pier and after Queen Victoria and again this was aimed as a more
upmarket clientele and it was known for its beautiful floral hall which could hold
over a thousand people and but later again this was filled with fairground
rides and amusements and became a focus for fun and entertainment that Blackpool
is known for. Thanks Becky. Thank you.
Hi Becky, did boats go from the pier?
Hi Leanne, yes boats did go from the piers.
Originally they would go from North Pier and in 1867, a jetty was created and for
this purpose. Two years later, a landing stage was created as well for
paddle steamers which had been developed after the creation of steam engines.
A paddle steamer was a boat that was much faster and reliable in all kinds of
weather which made them perfect for leisure
boating and one of the most famous companies that was the
Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Company and their first boat was named Bickerstaffe
after the famous Blackpool family and we actually have its bell in our
collections which is quite exciting.
Thank you. Thank you.
Hi Becky, so we don't often see boats very much anymore in Blackpool but did the Victorians like
to create sandcastles?
Hi Jill, yes, the Victorians did like to create
sandcastles there's often this perception and that the Victorians are
quite serious and had a stiff upper lip but you can see from these Albert Eden
photographs that they actually did many of the activities that you can still see
on Blackpool beach today so you'll see them playing games of cricket,
falling asleep in the sun, building sandcastles, getting stuck in, donkey
rides, burying members of their family and so they really weren't that
different to us and all of these timeless activities have become
synonymous with the Great British seaside.
Thank you. Thank you.
Well thank you very much everyone for asking your questions and I hope that you've enjoyed
learning these signs with us at home and I've enjoyed the rest of our seaside
week here at Showtown and if you'd like to see more of Albert even collection
you can visit the Heritage website which is newly launched and we'll put the link above.
Thank you everyone. Bye!