Blackpool North Station and Wilko! A Brief History
Written By Juliette W Gregson
BPL Bible Heritage Photographer and History Editor
Join her on – (Blakpool’s past)
In the beginning
In 1846 Blackpool North station had begun to be built opposite was then the Talbot Hotel
While the station was being built, the spoil from the excavations was dumped on the seashore – this would later be the foundation for North Pier.
The station was designed by Mr Rampling of Fleetwood and constructed by Towers and Westall of Fleetwood. The opening was celebrated afterwards in the Clifton Arms Hotel, and over 400 railway construction workers were later fed and watered at Mr Carter’s Talbot Hotel.
Blackpool Station was renamed Blackpool Talbot Road in 1883, and then ( true to form with most things in Blackpool ) rebuilt in 1898 with the iconic clock tower that we see in many of the old vintage photograph’s that are featured regularly on Blackpool’s past – the Original.
Blackpool North Station was opened for use in January 1973, based on the canopy of the old Excursion Sheds at the top of Queen Street. It was officially opened by the Mayor on the 8th of April. The old station was last used in late January 1974, and in March the main station was demolished, to be replaced by the current station based on the former excursion platforms.
The site of the station buildings became a temporary NCP car park until the construction of Fine Fare began on the 27th of September.
1979
Fine Fare, Blackpool:
This large supermarket was opened by TV’s “The Goodies” on the 22nd of May at Talbot Road and Dickson Road on the site of Blackpool North Station. It was later Food Giant, then Gateway, then Kwik Save, which closed on April the 26th 1999.
Kwik Save had already opened a new store on Vicarage Lane. In March 2000, became the UK’s largest Wilkinson’s department store. In July 2017, plans were passed which will allow the demolition of the store, and the building of a new 5 Star hotel, run by Hilton. Wilko will close on the 31st of March 2020.
I wrote the below in January 2020, before COVID and before I could get the last day pictures – however I have some older ones!
It looks like work on the North Station extension will indeed resume next April. Council documents have confirmed that Wilko’s lease expires then, so demolition will happen regardless of whether a new site for them is ready (presumably they will move to a temporary location).
The full schedule looks like this:
- April 2020: demolition and start of works.
- March 2021: trams start run to a temporary terminus located where entrance to Wilko is now.
- First quarter of 2022: trams start to run to the final terminus next to the new underpass.
- Time to finally get this done so other projects are progressed in due course.
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