SotA Anthology 2015-16
of Blackpool’s town centre. By this time,
local authorities had come to realise the
economic potential in creating a dedicated
shopping and entertainment district in
Blackpool’s town centre for holidaymakers.
In 1973 deputy town clerk, Mr. J. B. Turner,
proclaimed to a local inquiry that “to keep
its position as the leading holiday resort,
Blackpool must have a shopping centre that
will be an attraction to holidaymakers” (‘Plan
for best in shopping’, 1973). This, along with
the potential for encouraging landowners
to develop and enhance their premises,
contributed to Blackpool’s burgeoning
status as a major retail destination. The
Palatine Hotel, with its outdated Victorian
design and small retail units, no longer
conformed to this modern vision of a retail
and entertainment haven; demolition of
the building commenced on Tuesday 13th
November 1973 with the intention for it to
be completed by the following February.
The pathos and nostalgia derived from
Blackpool’s perpetual reinvention is
described most affectionately by a local
journalist covering the Palatine’s demolition;
he reflects on the ways in which the building
was enjoyed by many of its previous visitors
and how, to some at least, it had had its day.
“No more the whiff of strong ale from
the Palatine bar doors. No more those
cosy luncheons and dinners with
faces loved and lost awhile. I stood
on the bleak windswept Promenade
and watched the bulldozers knocking
the place to pieces. There will rise
a new steel-and-concrete edifice
conforming to the best modern
standards, probably as impersonal
and impeccably functional as any
city centre complex can provide. I
hope … I just hope that 70 years
hence it will provide someone with as
many memories as this old crumbling
Palatine has done for me.”
The Palatine Hotel and its surroundings are
a perfect example of the ceaseless demand
for change, and of the consequences of the
drastic development of England’s holiday
industry during the 20th century.
References
Blackpool Gazette and Herald. “The Royal
Hotel Site.” Editorial. 21 November, 1925,
p. 16.
Blackpool Gazette and Herald. “A Big New
Blackpool Attraction. Restaurant on Latest
Lines as Part of Shopping Store” Editorial.
26 June, 1926, p. 14.
Blackpool Gazette and Herald. “Extensive
Changes at Palatine Hotel: Imposing
Façade of New Saloon Bar Gives Dignity to
Hounds Hill.” Editorial. 25 April, 1936, p. 22.
Evening Gazette (Blackpool). “Palatine:
Cash offer of over £600,000.” Editorial. 11
January, 1962, page unknown.
Evening Gazette (Blackpool). “£812,000
bid for Palatine Hotel.” Editorial. 6 October,
1972, p. 1.
H. R. G. (1973) “Crash… and with every
crumbling wall of the Palatine the memories
come flooding back.” Evening Gazette
(Blackpool), 27 November, page unknown.
Hawthorne, G. (1965) “Blackpool inquiry
is told £15m. plan ‘an essential step’”, The
Guardian, 29 September, p. 18.
Manchester Guardian. “Blackpool’s Growth:
Big Store to Take Place of Old Hotel.”
Editorial. 3 July, 1935, p. 5.
Warner, A. F. (1964) “Have our civic leaders
made a disastrous blunder? The council
should think again.” Evening Gazette
(Blackpool), 26 August, p. 8.
Unknown Publication. “Plan for ‘best in
shopping’.” Editorial. 4 September, 1973,
page unknown.