Bispham, Blackpool

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bispham, Blackpool is a village roughly one-and-a-half miles north of Blackpool town centre. The village is part of the borough of Blackpool.

1 History
2 Bispham
3 Blackpool Tramway
4 See Also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] History

Bispham, known until 1910 as Bispham-with-Norbreck, was originally a village in its own right, in fact pre-dating the town of Blackpool by several hundred years. It is featured in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Biscopham'. Many of the settlements and villages on The Fylde were Anglo-Saxon settlements. Some though were 9th and 10th century Viking place names. The Vikings and Anglo Saxons seem to have co-existed peacefully with some Anglo Saxon and Viking place names later being joined together - such as Bispham-with-Norbreck. Until the two became separate and a smaller area known as Little Bispham near the coast by Norbreck.^[1]

Bispham and Poulton-le-Fylde were the two main populated centres in the Fylde in 1500.^[2] It was in Bispham that the very first mention of "Blackpool" appeared, found in the Register of Bispham Parish Church in 1602 with the Christening record of a child born on 22nd September to a couple who lived "on the bank of the Black Pool". ^[2] Although the village centre (more correctly known as Churchtown) used to be thatched with a number of pre-19th Century houses, it was redesigned in the 1960's to how it appears today; only two of the old houses remain. Much of the housing today is of the design style consistent with that of the 1930s to the 1950s.

[edit] Bispham

The area is mostly residential, and features one Church of England parish Church - All Hallows, Bispham Parish Church, All Hallows Road and one Catholic Parish Church, St. Bernadette, Devonshire Road. Bispham Parish Church has an original Norman doorway. Other churches include - Beaufort Avenue Methodist Church, Bispham Road Community Church, Springfield Greenlands Methodist Church, St. Anne Church of England Church and Cavendish Road Congregational Church.

The village has several primary and secondary schools, including Saint Bernadette's, Westcliff and Bispham Endowed Primary schools, Bispham High School and Montgomery High School . Emmerdale actress, Kelsey-Beth Crossley is a pupil at Bispham High School.^[3]

There is also the large main college campus of Blackpool and The Fylde College located on Ashfield Road, Bispham. Moor Park Swimming Pool is located on Bispham Road.

The village has only a few attractions, with the tram station and the highest cliffs on the both the Fylde coast and the North West Coast. There are though a number of hotels and Guest Houses mostly around the Seaward end of Red Bank Road. The Red Lion pub also houses a Premier Travel Inn.

North Shore Golf Club is located at the edge of Bispham with most of the course in Bispham. The course is a links type course. Bispham Hospital is a purpose built 40 Bed Rehabilitation Unit for care and rehabilitation of Elderly patients as part of Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The main road at the hub of the village, Red Bank Road, houses a number of high street stores such as Sainsbury's the supermarket store. The main shopping area in Bispham is split into two distinct parts. Firstly, from the top of Red Bank Road half way down toward Bispham Fire station which contains a mixture of local and tourist businesses and a relatively large number of restaurants, including Italian, Indian, Chinese and English as well as a number of takeaways. The second shopping area is based around what is known locally as "The Village" which is the area beyond Devonshire Road roundabout behind Bispham Police Station, where the shops are sited around a large outdoor car park.

Red Bank Road is at the Northern end of the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations, and the area at Bispham Cliffs contains the famous tableaux displays, where there is a pathway for many holidaymakers and locals to view the tableauxs close. Some of the tableauxs have sound and visual content that can only be viewed and heard by walking by them. Pubs in Bispham include the Old England, the Red Lion, the Bispham Hotel and the Squirrel Hotel. There are also two Wine Bars, Oscars and Maddisons.

Bispham was also the home of British independent sports car manufacturer, TVR, and one of the main employers in Bispham, before production ceased in 2007 under owner Nikolai Smolenski. Bispham Technology Park is a growing, modern, Office and Retail Park.

Coronation Street actress, Violet Carson, OBE lived in Bispham until her death in 1983. She is buried at Bispham Parish Church.

[edit] Blackpool Tramway

A double-decker balloon tram on the promenade at Bispham

Blackpool tramway runs along the length of the sea front at Bispham. And until 1963 there was the Bispham Tram Depot on Red Bank Road. Built in 1898, it had room to house 36 trams on six tracks, after being extended in 1914 by the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramway Company. A substation was built to the side of depot. The depot was used to receive pantograph cars in 1928 and Brush cars in 1940. The depot closed on 27 October 1963 but used as a store until the mid 1970s. The building was demolished to make place for a local Supermarket and eventually a Sainsbury's supermarket. The Depots headstone was installed at Crich's National Tramway Museum.