There are two contenders for the title of the world’s first working class seaside resort. On opposite sides of the Atlantic are Lancashire’s Breezy Blackpool and New York’s Coney Island. Both places became hugely popular with working people in the late 19th century, and both were pioneers of amusement parks. Coney Island’s first claim to fame was the invention of the hot dog in 1867!

On 16 June 1884 the Americans witnessed the first roller coaster in the country at Coney Island, nine miles east of New York City’s Manhattan Island. This was a switchback railway, the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, born in America in 1848, and widely regarded as the father of the American roller coaster.

William George Bean. (Celebrating Blackpool, Amberley Publishing)

A shrewd British businessman, William George Bean was inspired by a visit to Coney Island to build an American style theme park in Blackpool, Lancashire, which he founded in 1896. The first imported ride was the single switchback railway on the sands, to be followed by the American Carousel and the Hotchkiss Bicycle Railway Ride which had a grooved monorail, from which bicycles were hung.  Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine is possibly the oldest, still operating amusement ride in Europe, having been invented by a man who was once more famous for inventing mousetraps, sprinkler systems and his most famous invention, the world’s first portable machine gun.

Another American inventor was to introduce innovative new rides in Blackpool.  This was Philadelphia born William Homer Strickler in 1845, who arrived in Britain in the 1920s. These included the iconic Velvet Coaster, so called because of its open carriages lined with velvet seats, followed by the Lighthouse Helter Skelter and the River Caves of the World, both imported from America.

Flying Machine on Pleasure Beach. (Celebrating Blackpool, Amberley Publishing)

During Easter of 1922 Mr Strickler invented what he termed as ‘a dark ride’, comprising a large wooden boat mounted on a rocking mechanism. It proved very popular with its dark tunnels and passageways and pressure places, which when walked on let out animal noises. It was later modified and since it ceased operating in 2008, now forms the final entrance portal for visitors to the Pleasure Beach. Awarded Grade II Listed Status in 2017 it is the oldest surviving example of the ride in the world.

The same year Mr Strickler introduced the Virginia Reel, a kind of spinning roller coaster, which lasted for sixty years. A year later came the classic wooden roller coaster, the Big Dipper which is the second oldest roller coaster in use in Britain, also Grade II Listed. Sadly, William Strickler died in an accident while building a Noah’s Ark ride in Southport and is buried in Layton Cemetery, Blackpool, close to the William Bean memorial and the Thompson family grave.

Noah’s Ark, Pleasure Beach. (Celebrating Blackpool, Amberley Publishing)

The Pleasure Beach at Blackpool having been voted the Best Amusement Park in Britain in 2017 and Britain’s most visited tourist attraction contrasts sharply with the fortunes of Coney Island in later years. Roller coasters and amusement parks in the USA experienced a decline during the Great Depression and World War II and finally in 1955, the opening of Disneyland in California sparked a wave of new parks and coasters. By the mid-1960s, the major amusement parks at Coney Island had shut down and went into decay. However, in recent years it has been revitalised and still remains a popular tourist spot.

Blackpool was a large part of my childhood in the 1950s, living in the industrial north-west, a mere steam train ride away.  On the approach to the resort, our faces were pressed to the window for the first glimpse of the Tower. A land of Kiss me Quick hats, candy floss, donkey rides and the eerie laughing clown in a booth at the Pleasure Beach shrieking to the passing crowd. Sadly, in 1991 when the Fun House was destroyed by fire, referred to as ‘the night the fun died,’ only his head survived and has been restored and preserved.

The Big One roller coaster. (Celebrating Blackpool, Amberley Publishing)

‘Spend your summer holidays in Blackpool’ reads an old railway poster, ‘Everything in full swing’. Blackpool is still in ‘full swing’ but the mill workers and their families have been replaced by generations of tourists of all ages.

In contrast to the fortunes of Coney Island, Blackpool, thanks to William George Bean’s vision continues with four generations of his family, who continue to develop this unique amusement park with its 42 acres of rides and the best selection of white- knuckle rides in Europe, ice-skating shows, cabarets and amusements which attracts 7 million people a year. Three of its current rides, The Grand National, Big Dipper and Zipper Dipper were awarded Grade II Listed Status in 2017. Throw in Blackpool’s iconic Tower and ballroom, Grand Theatre and Winter Gardens not to mention the town’s three piers and its Greatest Light Show in the World, its annual illuminations it no longer needs comparison to Coney Island – come and see for yourself!

Janet Rigby's book Celebrating Blackpool is available for purchase now.