Blackpool, Lancashire - North Pier, people, pony & cart - postcard c.1910

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire
• Publisher:  none given [printed in Bavaria]
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: small mark on address side 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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North Pier is the most northerly of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. Built in the 1860s, it is also the oldest and longest of the three. Although originally intended only as a promenade, competition forced the pier to widen its attractions to include theatres and bars. Unlike Blackpool's other piers, which attracted the working classes with open air dancing and amusements, North Pier catered to the ""better-class"" market, with orchestra concerts and respectable comedians. Until 2011, it was the only Blackpool pier that consistently charged admission.

The pier has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building, due to its status as the oldest surviving pier created by Eugenius Birch. As of 2012 it is still in regular use, despite having suffered damage from fires, storms and collisions with boats. Its attractions include bars, a theatre, a carousel and an arcade. One of the oldest remaining Sooty glove puppets is on display commemorating Harry Corbett buying the original puppet there.

North Pier was built at the seaward end of Talbot Road, where the town's first railway station, Blackpool North, was built.^[1] Its name reflects its location as the most northerly of Blackpool's three piers. It is about 450 yards (410 m) north of Blackpool Tower, which is roughly the midpoint of Blackpool's promenade. The sea front is particularly straight and flat on this stretch of coastline, and the 1,650 feet (500 m) pier^[1] extends at right angles into the Irish Sea, more or less level with the promenade.

The construction of Blackpool Pier (eventually North Pier) started in May 1862, in Layton-cum-Warbreck, part of the parish of Bispham.^[2] In October 1862, severe storms suggested that the planned height of the pier was not sufficient, and it was increased by 3 feet (0.91 m).^[2] North Pier was the second of fourteen piers designed by Eugenius Birch, and since Margate Pier was destroyed by a storm in 1978, it is the oldest of the remaining examples of his work still in use.^[3] It was the first of Birch's piers to be built by Glasgow engineering firm Richard Laidlaw and Son.^[2]

The pier, which cost £11,740 to build^[4], was originally constructed consisted of a promenade 1,405 feet (428 m) long and 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, extending to 55 feet (17 m) wide at the pier-head. The bulk of the pier was constructed from cast iron, with a wooden deck laid on top. The cast iron piles on which the structure rests were inserted using Birch's screw pile process; the screw-tipped piles were twisted into the sand until they hit bedrock. This made construction much quicker and easier, and guaranteed that the pier had a solid foundation.^[5] The cast iron columns, 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter, were filled with concrete for stability at intervals of 60 feet (18 m), and supported by struts which were on average were slightly more than 1 inch (25 mm) thick.^[2] The pier's promenade deck is lined with wooden benches with ornamental cast iron backs. At intervals along the pier are hexagonal kiosks built around 1900 in wood and glass with minaret roofs topped with decorative finials.^[6] Upon opening two of the kiosks were occupied by a bookstall and confectionery stall and the kiosks near the ends of the pier were seated shelters.^[4] The pier-head is a combination of 420 tons of cast iron and 340 tons of wrought iron^[4] columns; standing 50 feet (15 m) above the low water line, it sees a regular 35 feet (11 m) change in sea level due to the tide.^[2]

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=lancashire

number of items=single

period=pre - 1914

postage condition=unposted