Everyone knows about the Blackpool Tower, but few people know that New Brighton too had a similar tower which was infact taller.

The New Brighton Tower was taller than its cousin, standing it 172.8 metres and a massive success when first opened. The Blackpool Tower stands at a mere 158 metres compared to it.

Work started on its construction on 22 June 1896. The tower, which weighed 1,000 tons, was completed in 1900.

During the construction of the Tower six workmen were killed and another seriously injured either though falls or accidents. On completion the Tower was the highest building in the country.

Soon after the Tower was opened a young man threw himself off the balcony to be the first suicide from the building.

It sat in sumptious gardens with an enormous 2000 capacity ballroom at its base. Four lifts took the sightseers to the top of the structure at a cost of 6d offering views of as far as the Isle of Man, Manchester and Mount Snowdon.

Unlike the Blackpool Tower it had a lavish gothic base, as if sat ontop of a stately home.

It remained popular until World War One, the nation stopped partying so much and the tower was shut-down temporarily.

Sadly during the shut-down period the metalwork was neglected and it got rusty so with the war over in 1919 it failed to be suitable for public use.
Faced with a massive bill for restoring it the owners instead decided to pull it down and rely on income from the ballroom and gardens. It was dismantled between 1919 and 1921.

The ballroom lasted as a top concert venue until fire gutted it in 1969, shortly after the Beatles played there.



Other than the ballroom and the gardens, New Brighton Tower had a lot more to offer including:

The 'Old English Fairground' - Featuring the Himalayan Switchback Railway, Water Chute and a Lion House.

The Theatre - The theatre could hold 3,500 people, with the world's largest stage measuring 45 feet wide and 72 feet deep.

The Athletic Ground - To the rear of the Tower Building, with football pitch in the centre. It had a cycle track around it, where Cycle Championships were staged, the World Cycling Championship was held on the Tower Track in 1922. Motor bike racing was also staged on the track.

American Roller Skating Rink

An Open Market and Shops

Private Police Force - Consisting of 15 men to parade around the Tower and it's grounds to keep order.

The Tower Also had it's own football club - New Brighton Tower Football Club - Founded in October 1896 and battled for a place in the First Division of the Football League in the 1898/99 season. In those days there were 16 teams in the English League, which consisted of first and second divisions only.

The most interesting thing about writing this topic is that I learnt a lot myself too

It was actually taller than Blackpool tower!!

There are however no remains of this monster these days, though if you go to the end of the prom - to the mini roundabout (Past where the "Chelsea" used to be) - there is a hill and field - thats where the tower used to be....

ahh I was wondering where it was.

what happened?! New Brighton used to be amazing, the tower, the pier, amusements, open swimming pool e.t.c Now its just run down.

I think there should be funding to build it all back up again, creating tourism to the Wirral and it will also give kids around here something to do.

Interesting stuff Joe,
but i'm not sure if it looked ugly as hell or that's just me
the first picture in the first post makes it look evil.

Ive been told that its demise was lack of maintaince,
and in the end it was cut down for scrap metal.

Not sure about it but, would make sense.

You really should read the posts more Mark:

I was "TOLD" being the operative word.
I was told all about it by a relative, who remembers it.

And its good to see that both versions match up.

Lol i was nit picking, ya know me

It would be nice for New Brighton to be revived i.e. Make a huge Amusement park.. Yes we have the Wirral show but there is 3 HUGE fields which could accomodate a New Tower, Fairground and etc why on earth dont the council do something about it those fields are massive and they are being used for nothing only once a year so one on earth are the DIPS allowed to just be used once a year.. New Brighton used to be a Fun place to go when i was a kid the Indoor fair was fairly all right and the Adventure Playground to.. Know look at it.. The only decent place around the North West now is blackpool with Southport shut down so i recon they should revive the Town.

To the best of my knowledge the dips are classed as reclaimed land, created by dumping loads of sand there (to create storm protection), therefore no permanant structure can be built there, there is still tower grounds tho.

aye shame like cause the dips are huge...

Also, Pleasureland Southport is open again, under new ownership, its only travelling fair style rides at the moment but atleast its something.

http://www.newpleasureland.co.uk/

Oh nice at least Southport has something decent at least thats the only thing decent there pleasure land apart from the Ice Cream shop on Lord Street heh!

New Brighton Tower - a tribute

[youtube]wnS3ZLaXPMk[/youtube]

I didnt know about this Tower! Where about was the tower stood??

Don't know much really considering its the erea i live in!

Around this area I believe:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=5972733345138205948,53.439511,-3.038662&saddr=53.439618,-3.038514&daddr=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=53.439557,-3.03816&sspn=0.001527,0.003616&ie=UTF8&ll=53.439563,-3.038149&spn=0.001527,0.003616&t=h&z=18

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that the tower ballroom once stood somewhere around that area.

pretty close matty but it was actually back down the prom .the entrance to the tower grounds was on the corner of Egerton street and the promenade.When i was a kid there wasn't much left other than the foundations of the tower complex and the remains of the football stadium,who incidentally were known as the rakers.The whole area has now been landscaped and a housing estate now stands where the football ground was and a park and a five a side pitch have replaced the tower ball room complex .:>

Cheers for clearing that up matey, ive always wondered where the exact location was, I had a feeling I would be wrong.

new brighton...with a tower...wtf?

Funnily enough my aunt was telling me about the tower when she was a kid, i was talking about New brighton getting done up (was in the wirral globe) i didnt know it had a tower.. but then again untill last night i didnt know how popular New briton was in its day.. apparently Blackpool had to do alot to compete with new briton, wouldnt think that now would you lol

hmm...still think BOTH should be bulldozed

Yes, New Brighton was every bit as popular as Blackpool in its heyday.

Having said that though, its a sad state of affairs in general for the entire UK seaside resort market. They have practically all gone into a fatal decline.

I always remember Granada Tonight filming at Blackpool in 2006, blazing hot sun in the middle of summer, and hardly any fooker about. Tis a sign of the times im afraid, not just New Brighton.

Well technically New brighton is being.. but its just getting rebuilt lol the plans look fantastic for it, we'll see when it's almost done.. as for Blackpool.. i like Blackpool lol i went a few months ago on a girly weekend, was brill

mmmm...classy!

Isnt it only the Floral Pavillion that is being "rebuilt" atm though?? Im not sure one building inspires me with confidence yet, especially as no fooker took much interest in the old one lmao!

does anyone remember the golden goose opposite the chelsea?

A few scans of New Brighton Tower area from my set of postcards dated around 1905 (according to the postmarks).

Snod

Second to last pic looks like either the small park next to Riverside School, outside Guinie Gap baths or outside the town hall.

On second thoughts as the tide breaker at Egromont is no where near that old i doubt thats correct.The thing streching out into the sea must be the old pier which would make this picture around Egromont Ferry. Wow saying that now i think that pier could well be the old ferry pier at Egromont and the picture be where i first though in Seacombe :s

Wow i have to be honest there probably the first pictures
i have seen that makes the Tower look Nice

All the older "original" pictures make it gloomy and cold.

Thanks for Sharing

Fantastic site with loads of pics of New Brighton tower etc.
can't believe the number of people on the beach

clicky

busy in them days werent it

anyone know anything about the zoo/menagerie connected with the tower?

Just to let you know that it was me that posted this video on you tube (parapiranha) not sound lad as identified. I have edited other footage and made this video about the tower.

Best regards

Kev

Its been really well put together the music sets it off too.
I have sent you a private message with ref to (Soundlad) i think its a misunderstanding.

Here is the video again if you missed it in a previous post.

[youtube]wnS3ZLaXPMk[/youtube]

just to say thanks Mark for clarification

Three things killed off New Brighton, IMO. The first was when they closed the Liverpool <-> New Brighton ferry. You used to get a lot of people came over on that, but didn't seem to fancy the walk from New Brighton station (or there was some other reason). Item two on the list was the beach. I remember when I was a very young kid living in New Brighton (late 50s) my folks used to take me down there two or three times a week in the summer. Then the pollution got to it, and if you dug more than about six inches down in the sand you got to this evil-smelling black stuff. Stunk something awful, it did. The third thing, of course, was the same for all British resorts, and that was the package tours.

Closing down the pool was the final nail in the coffin. It used to be way better than Guinea Gap, mainly because they didn't clear the pool every hour or so. Get into New Brighton pool and you were there for the day.


Brian.

I guess your right, sound like a logical fall of fame.

Quite right; one of the main reasons was that the trip on the ferry was a major part of the day out. Going by train just wasn't the same.

Question : If the ferry was to be the demise of New Brighton
why did they cancel it?
Was it no longer a popular run?

Ahh i think the answer is in your reply chris?
The arrival of the train.

One of the reasons for the withdrawal of the ferry was the silting up in front of the stage. It had to be dredged more and more. A losing battle really.

If I remember, prior to full closure, they cancelled the boats for an hour or so either side of low water in case they grounded!

At low water spring tides, the stage was sometimes at a bit of an angle due to the pontoons being on the bottom !

Yeah, this is one of the problems that the new terminal will have to overcome before it can be even considered to be built.

The railway arrived at New Brighton in about 1888 (Pinzgauer, your territory I think) & I don't think it had any real effect on the ferry service, although it probably helped to develop New Brighton as a commuter town for Liverpool, despite the fact that for many years this involved a change of trains at Birkenhead Park. The problem with the ferry was silting, as Pinzgauer has explained.

Silting it is then

I just remember going to the pool in the early 80's and it was flipping freezing - I also remeber going to the worst fireworks display ever there - it was pouring with rain and all of the rockets wouldn't light

Happy days

The reason they stopped the ferry at new brighton is there was a dispute with a worker who used to maintain the landing stage / jetty and they couldnt find anybody else so it came into disrepair cause of the sea salt then they just scrapped it along with the Pier..

New Brighton Tower and grounds in the moonlight

Another shot of the Tower

nice post cards,thanks for sharing

Wouldn't it be lovely if they built a new tower along with all the new developments that are going on in New Brighton ... Thank you for sharing your postcards x

And pigs might fly.....

Great postcards,its nice to see how it looked in its heyday

It's funny to think just how big it was.

Where did it all go wrong...

Can't say where, but can say when:
1910: County Borough of Wallasey, Cheshire
motto: "Audemus dum cavemus" ("We are bold whilst we are cautious")
v.
1974: Metropolitan District of Wirral...
County of Merseyside...

A nice view of the Tower

Nah you can't say that. World War one and then World War two (The sequel) is the correct answer.

No WW1 and the tower would have been maintained. No WW2 and hotels and other buildings would have been erected along Harrison Prom. I blame the Germans

Yes fair point, I was just thinking about the decline of Wallasey in general, I guess...! (so I was OT then! OOPS!)

New Brighton tower from Egremont

Coloured postcard of the Tower

Thanks for posting Pablo - Seacombe/Egremont prom used to be my playground as a kid!!

Coming down the chair lift from the Tower

The Tower taken from the fort. No date

The Tower in 1904, from Egremont

Another view of the Tower

And another

Hello,

I believe that the two blokes (Policemen?) pictured are on the prom directly in front of Vale Park in New Brighton.

That's right. The row of houses and the gateposts to Vale Park are still there.
The policemen have moved on.

These are fantastic pictures , Pablo - thanks for putting them
up !

Police never wore flat caps back then, nor patrolled with their hands in their pockets, did they?
Might these be military uniforms?

Residents from the Mariner's Home further up the Prom ???

Or cadets at the college on Withens lane or possibly the Conway or other training ship?

The dips are reclaimed land. The sea went right up to the red and yellow noses cliffes. When the new prom was built it altered the wave currents causing sand to be stripped from the beaches further down This change has been successfully reversed by the building of concrete islands and groynes.

Unusual view of the Tower.

Lordy, Pablo - with all these pics you're giving Ian Boumphrey some competition !

A guy and two kids walk folornly towards the Tower

That's a very different view of the tower, to what we normally see. Very nice picture Pablo.
Thanks

The Demise of the Tower

Inside the Ballroom. How good was this?

Glad you like it Granny

Who's on...

Taking the Tower down 1920s

Another showing the Tower being taken down 1920s

great pictures!

wow, wouldn't notice the area looking at it now! it all changed a looooong time before i was born ('89) and i'd have loved to have seen what it looked like 100 years ago in person.

Brilliant pictures......must have been a magnificent sight !!

Wow...very interesting pics! My Mum and Dad used to go dancing at the Tower ballrooms. Wish we still had a pier... with all the modern developments in New Brighton now, that would be a nice nod to tradition to balance them. Bringing back the ferry would be too much to hope for!

probably gonna get flamed for this but was it the thing that looks like a race track behind the tower.

velodrome later used for stock car racing (much much later 1070s)

i was wondering the same thing

Wow, did they have cars then; were they introduced by William of Normandy in 1066?

the track at the back of the tower was once new brighton football club who played in the lower divisions of the football league up to the early fifties.

It was originally for cycle racing, the stock cars came much much later.

Wow! The tower was a much more substantial structure than I ever thought. I'd only ever seen the top part in photo's before, I didn't realise there was a big stone building at the bottom.

Why was such a magnificent landmark demolished?

Because it burnt down.

And it was damaged beyond repair? They couldn't have repaired/rebuilt the damaged part?

Not so.

Okay,I'll bite,why then?

The Tower Ballroom burnt down, the actual steel tower was removed because of corrosion and became unsafe.

Ah I see where we are coming from. Talking about the tower itself not the building! Yes Bert due to lack of maintenance during the first world war it became unsafe and was dismantled.

When the Tower Ballroom burnt down, at the time I was a GPO telephonist in Old Hall Street,Liverpool.
The newspaper reporters from far and wide, were making transfer charge calls to their newspaper head offices,many from London and reporting the incident over the telephone.Just shows how much communications and news reporting have changed.
There was a huge amount of reporting going on, so it must have been pretty important in the eyes of others.
We could listen in and monitor their calls.Back then it seemed very exciting but not quite the same sentiments are held now.

The Tower and Pier New Brighton 1914

Another shot of the Tower. I can't place where this photo was taken from. Anyone know?

Junction Molyneux Drive and Grosvenor Drive
looking into the top of the Tower grounds
near New Brighton FC.