THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BLACKPOOL’S GIGANTIC WHEEL

Blackpool – the entertainment seaside capital of the North takes its name from the peat-stained, black waters that for centuries flowed out of an ancient water course draining the low lying, swampy area of Marton Moss, before discharging into the Irish Sea.
Blackpool was first mentioned around 1602 in the Parish register of Bispham Church. Until around the mid-eighteenth century, Blackpool was but a tiny hamlet set within a wilderness of marsh land at the sea edge and consisting of about a couple of dozen cottages and a small inn. The population at this time would probably be around 350 people.