Blackpool Promenade Extension (1905)
Edwardian holidaymakers stroll along the seafront as work continues on Blackpool's new promenade.
The crowds visiting Blackpool during the Easter of 1905 reached record heights. The resort town had become the holiday destination for the less well-off, who savoured their new leisure time. While Mitchell and Kenyon's films usually tried to cram the frame with faces, this one is as interested in the building work as it is in the teeming holidaymakers and the local market.
The Blackpool Times waxed especially lyrical on the town's success: "It is surprising how much Blackpool is appreciated by visitors, and how the sea has a charm for them all of its own... It is truly emancipation; and when sunny memories of happy, though brief, holidays crowd in upon them, can one wonder that these thousands of our industrial community should flock to Blackpool, there to renew old, or maybe to create new, association whose brightness will serve to illumine many a weary hour". The extension of Blackpool promenade had begun in 1894 and would extend as far as the South Pier, which opened in the same year.
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Edwardians at Leisure
A nation unwinds (but keeps its hat firmly on).
Leisure time was a distant dream for millions of working Britons through much of the Victorian era. But by the dawn of the 20th century wages had risen for most. An entire industry sprang up to serve workers with more time on their hands and money in their pockets.
Mitchell and Kenyon were at home in a world of showmen and fairgrounds, where their films were often shown. Fairgrounds feature in several films, as do carnivals and processions, agricultural shows, seaside resorts and some wonderfully eccentric local customs, from egg rolling to well dressing – proving once again that the Edwardians knew how to have fun.
47 videos in this collection
1
2
Trip to Sunny Vale Gardens at Hipperholme (1901)
3
Sedgwick's Bioscope Showfront at Pendlebury Wakes (1901)
4
Great Yorkshire Show at Leeds (1902)
5
Llandudno May Day (1907)
6
Hull Fair (1902)
7
Bailey's Royal Buxton Punch and Judy Show (1901)
8
Lady Godiva Procession in Coventry (1902)
9
Parade on Morecambe Central Pier (1902)
10
Whitsuntide Fair at Preston (1906)
11
Leeds Crossgates Show (1904)
12
Preston Egg Rolling (c.1901)
13
Scenes at Chester on the River Dee (1901)
14
Algie's Circus in Carlisle (1901)
15
Leyland May Festival (1905)
16
Ribble at Preston (c.1901)
17
Bootle May Day Demonstration and Crowning of the May Queen (1903)
18
Tynemouth Swimming Gala in the Haven, North Shields (1901)
19
Blackpool North Pier (1903)
20
Douglas Harbour Paddle Steamer (1902)
21
Sunday Parade in East Park in Hull (1904)
22
Skipton Hospital Procession (1902)
23
Blackpool Promenade Extension (1905)
24
Parade on West End Pier Morecambe (1901)
25
Sunday Promenade of Spectators in West Park, Hull (1902)
26
Blackburn Plant Growing Competition (1905)
27
Waves at Southport (1902)
28
Armley and Wortley Carnival (1904)
29
Scenes in Abington Park, Northampton (1902)
30
Crowd Entering St George's Hall, Bradford (1901)
31
Panorama of Cork Exhibition Grounds (1902)
32
Panoramic View of Southport Promenade (1902)
33
Lytham Trams and Views Along the Route (1903)
34
Preparation of the Cork Exhibition Grounds and Erection of Buildings (1902)
35
Arrival of VIP For Official Opening of Cork Exhibition (1902)
36
Steamboats at Blackpool North Pier (1903)
37
Leeds Lifeboat Procession and Sports at Roundhay Park (1902)
38
Views of the Trent Bridge Boulevard (1902)
39
Leeds Lifeboat Demonstration (1902)
40
Leeds Lifeboat Procession (1902)
41
New Brighton, Egremont and Seacombe Promenade (1904)
42
Les Montagnes Russes, Blackpool’s Latest Attraction (1902)
43
Scenes by the Stone Jetty, Morecambe (1902)
44
Rough Sea at Roker (1901)
45
Green's Racing Bantams at Preston Whit Fair (1906)
46
Lytham Club Day Carnival (1902)
47