Lost Archives: 21 nostalgia-soaked photos of Blackpool Talbot Square through the years
By Claire Lark
Published 28th Feb 2023, 04:55 BST
These incredible pictures show one of Blackpool’s oldest areas – Talbot Square.
The area has recently undergone extensive renovations but it is still hugely recognisable, flanked by buildings which haven’t changed for decades – except where the iconic Yates’s Wine Lodge once stood.
It was once known as Belle Vue Square and became the focal point of the town with the Town Hall, Clifton Hotel, North Pier and Yates’s. These pictures also show its use for the Illuminations switch-on, VE Day celebrations and when Blackpool FC won the FA Cup in 1953, it was the natural choice for the homecoming parade.
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The inaugural journey of Coronation 304 on June 16th 1952 at Talbot Square, with Walter Luff in the cab instructing the Mayor how to operate the controls as it moves over the crossover through the crowd Photo: staff
Summer show star Danny la Rue receives a giant stick of rock after switching on the Illuminations in 1972. The Talbot Square crowd also heard Danny talk to Concorde pilot Brian Trubshaw, recorded earlier in the day as the jet swept over the Fylde Photo: staff
All aboard for a tour of the Promenade in a toast-rack tram. Passengers, in best coats and hats, clamber to take their seats as the tram waits in Talbot Square with Sacred Heart Church seen top right Photo: Submit
The Promenade and Talbot Square in the mid 1950s. From the left, businesses include the EH Booth store and cafe above, Williams and Son Chemist, the Nutbrown Arcade selling Nutbrown Kitchen Equipment and a small shop advertising Blackpool rock. On the corner is an empty shop with the Royal Liver Assurance office and the Entertainments and Accommodation Ltd above. Round the corner into Talbot Square is the Midland Bank and the corner of the white facade of the Williams Deacon's Bank . Across the Square there is a glimpse of Yates's Wine Lodge. The white van has advertisements for comedian Albert Modley and his " all star cast". Photo: staff
Market Street From Talbot Square . The Clifton Hotel is on the right and beyond the cyclist (with what appears to be a plank across his back ) there is a stall on the corner of the old St John's Market. On the left is the Williams Deacons Bank which is now part of the Town Hall Photo: staff