Bispham, Blackpool
Encyclopedia
Bispham is a village roughly one-and-a-half miles north of Blackpool
town centre on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire
, England.
, to the east is Carleton
and to the north is Norbreck and Thornton Cleveleys and to the west, the Irish Sea
. The area is mostly urban. Bispham was formerly in the Blackpool North and Fleetwood parliamentary constituency, but, as of the 2010 general election forms part of the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency whose M.P.
is Paul Maynard
.
The village is in the North West England European parliament constituency
.
Bispham has three Blackpool Council electoral wards: Bispham, Greenlands and Ingthorpe.
is 19,165, which is 13.41% of the population of Blackpool (142,900). There are a total of 3,873 residents aged between 0 and 17 years old (20.21%), 4,329 aged 65 and over (22.58%) and 10,963 between the ages of 18 and 64 (57.21%).
Population by ward -
in 1970 provided the first evidence of humans living on the Fylde
as far back as the Palaeolithic era. The Fylde was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii
(the "dwellers in the water") a sub-tribe of the Brigantes
, who from about AD80 were controlled by Romans
from their fort at Dowbridge, Kirkham
. During the Roman occupation the area was covered by oak forests and bog land.
Bispham, known until 1910 as Bispham-with-Norbreck, was originally a village in its own right, pre-dating the town of Blackpool by several hundred years. In 1066 Bispham was part of Tostig Godwinson
, the Earl of Northumbria
's, Lordship of Amounderness
. It is featured in the Domesday Book
of 1086 as Biscopham.(meaning Bishop's estate or Bishop's house) 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. Bispham having the Anglo-Saxon place name ham and Norbreck having the Viking place name, breck. Bispham-with-Norbreck comprised three hamlets — Great (or Greater) Bispham, Little Bispham and Norbreck, with Anchorsholme (then Angersholme) part of Norbreck. Although the three hamlets were originally part of the Lordship of Amounderness, they were later divided with the moiety of Little Bispham and Norbreck being given to Shrewsbury Abbey
and Great Bispham to the Lord of Warrington.
Great Bispham was a part of the Lordship of Layton. In 1539, it was bought by John Browne, who sold it to Thomas Fleetwood in 1550.
The moiety of Little Bispham and Norbreck was given to the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey
by Roger of Poitou
. In the early 12th century Henry I
ordered Stephen Count of Mortain to hold the moiety "free and quit of all customs, pleas and suits of the hundred court. A few years after, David I of Scotland
confirmed the moiety "to be held as freely as in the time of his predecessors." In about 1270 the abbot and convent of Shrewsbury granted Little Bispham and Norbreck to the Abbot and convent of Dieulacres Abbey
, who held the adjoining Rossall estate. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, it was granted as part of Rossall estate, in 1553 to Thomas Fleetwood. Thus by then all three hamlets were owned by Thomas Fleetwood.
In 1326 the spelling of the village was Byspham. Bispham and Poulton-le-Fylde
were the two main populated centres in the Fylde in 1500, though the area was sparsely populated.
It was in Bispham that the first mention of "Blackpool" appeared, found in the Register of Bispham Parish Church
in 1602 with the christening record of a child born on 22 September to a couple who lived "on the bank of the Black Pool". In the 17th century the Fylde coast was divided into three parishes—Bispham, Poulton-le-Fylde and Lytham. The parish of Bispham covered modern day Blackpool and Thornton Cleveleys and comprised the townships of Bispham-with-Norbreck and Layton-cum-Warbreck. In 1877 a detached part of Little Carleton (then known as Horsemans Hill) was placed in Bispham, then in 1883 the area known as Bispham Hawes, which was at the south end of Layton, was detached from Bispham and added to Layton. The population of Bispham-with-Norbreck in 1901 was 985.
Although the village centre used to be thatched with a number of pre-19th century houses, it was redesigned in the 1960s; 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.
, running half way down Red Bank Road toward Bispham fire station
. This area contains a mixture of local and tourist businesses including a relatively large number of restaurants, as well as a number of takeaway
s and Designer wear
shops. The other 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. The village area also contains the handful of original cottages remaining in Bispham. There are also small shopping areas on Ashfield Road, Moor Park Avenue and Bispham Road.
There are two Church of England
Parish churches—Bispham Parish Church
, All Hallows Road, and Greenlands St. Anne church, Salmesbury Avenue located in Little Carleton and one Catholic Parish Church, St. Bernadette's church, on Devonshire Road. Other churches include Beaufort Avenue Methodist Church, Blackpool Community Church, Bispham United Reformed Church, Springfield Greenlands Methodist Church, and Cavendish Road Congregational Church.
Bispham Parish Church
has an original Norman doorway and is the Mother church of Blackpool. Greenlands, St Anne has an active healing ministry. Keajra Kadampa Buddhist Centre, a residential Buddhist
centre and a member of the New Kadampa Tradition
is located on Holmfield Road.
The village has a few attractions, with the tram station and the highest cliffs on the both the Fylde coast and the North West Coast. There are a number of hotels and guest houses mostly around the seaward end of Red Bank Road and on Queens Promenade. The Red Lion pub also houses a Premier Travel Inn
.
Bispham has five of the fourteen Lancashire County Council
designated Biological Heritage Sites (BHS) located in Blackpool, including Kincraig Lake Ecological Reserve
which is located on Kincraig Road, with Kincraig lake and a wild fowl population, from which Kincraig Primary School takes its school crest.
Bispham Rock Gardens
is at the top of Knowle Hill on Devonshire Road and runs downhill toward the back of Bispham High School, with views from the top toward Pendle Hill
, Beacon Fell and the Bowland fells
.
Moor Park
runs adjoining Moor Park Avenue and Bispham Road. The park contains a children's playground, parkland, a (disused) bowling green
and Moor Park Swimming Pool which is located in the northwest corner of the park. It has a 25 metre pool and a teaching pool. The Friends of Moor Park group was set up in January 2007 with the aim of restoring the park to its former glory including work on the footpaths through the park and the possibility of re-opening the disused bowling green as well as work on the children's playground. Other parks in Bispham include Cavendish Road Recreation Ground which has tennis
courts, football and basketball
areas and a bowling green, which has a Friends group—Friends of Cavendish Road Recreation Ground. In November 2007 with both funding and planning obtained, work started at Cavendish Road Recreation Ground on a new Kiddies playground, aimed at children under seven years old. and East Pines Park. Red Bank Bowling Green is located next to Sainsburies and is owned by the adjoining Bispham Conservative Club. The green was originally a garden belonging to the house which is now the Conservative Club.
Bispham library was opened on 5 May 1938. Bispham Hospital is a purpose built 40-bed rehabilitation unit, located on Ryscar Way for elderly patients from the Fylde coast as part of Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Trinity - the hospice in the Fylde
is a sepcialist palliative care
service for adults and children located on Low Moor Road.
Public houses in Bispham include the Old England, the Red Lion, the Bispham Hotel and the Squirrel Hotel. There are also two wine bars, Oscars in the village and Maddisons on Red Bank Road.
Admiral Point on Queens Promenade is a luxury housing development in a Grade II listed building. It was originally The Miners Convalescent Home
and was built by Bradshaw Gass & Hope
between 1925 and 1927. It was opened by the Prince of Wales on 28 June 1927. The home, which for many years was empty was redeveloped into luxury homes by housebuilders Persimmon Homes and is now known as Admiral Point, with 47 apartments, together with 112 apartments and homes around the grounds, with two new six storey apartment blocks built flanking the main building, and housing behind it. In February 2006 it was revealed that sales of apartments in, what the company described as "the jewel in the crown" at Admiral Point had helped Persimmon Homes to record profits, such was the popularity of the new properties in the Grade II listed building. In October 2005 it was revealed that several high profile footballers, including former Premiership player Robbie Fowler
as well as Jonathan Macken, Mads Timm
and former player Lee Sharpe
had bought apartments at Admiral Point.
Bispham was also the home of British independent sports car
manufacturer, TVR
, one of the main employers in Bispham, before production ceased in 2007 under owner Nikolai Smolenski
. In May 2007 it was announced that Midlands based businessman, William Riley was proposing to bring back car production to Bispham, with two cars planned for production at a new purpose built factory, which would be on Bispham Technology Park, the MG XPower SV
and another Premium MG XPower
roadster and coupe. On 27 July 2007 Blackpool Council announced that the sports car production would begin within a matter of weeks, initially at part of the former TVR factory; with the company eventually moving to a purpose built factory which had already been leased from the council by William Riley. Bispham Technology Park is a growing, modern, Office and Retail Park which is due to be expanded further in 2008 with the creation of Kincraig Business Park on a 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) site within the park together with an environmental project with green space area to protect wildlife including a pond. On 11 January 2008, local MP, Joan Humble
cut the first sod at a ceremony at the new Kincraig Business Park with the first of forty plots being created at the new park having already been taken even before building work started.
Layton railway station
was originally named Bispham railway station. Both Bispham and Norbreck are separate areas of Blackpool. Although the two do come together annually for the Bispham and Norbreck Gala held in July of each year with a procession that winds through both Bispham and Norbreck starting and finishing at Bispham Gala fields, an open space which is owned by Blackpool Council with football pitches, a community centre, secure grazing area and with part of the land sublet to Blackpool Rugby union
football club and a Golf Driving range. In 2007 local residents called for a covenant to be placed on the Gala fields to safeguard the land to be used for future galas.
. The area at Bispham Cliffs contains the famous tableaux displays, where there is a pathway for holidaymakers and locals to view the tableaux close up. The first animated tableaux were erected in 1932 running along the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham, and the Illuminations were extended to its current length running from Starr Gate to Red Bank Road at Bispham. Some of the tableaux have sound and visual content that can only be viewed and heard by walking by them.
The tableaux also includes mixed media in the various large tableaux displays. The displays at the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham contain forty large tableaux holding more than 5,000 square metres in surface area. There is a pedestrian walkway running the length of the tableaux displays which are set back from the Promenade beyond the tramway. Blackpool Tramway
runs along the entire length of the Illuminations and there are over one million lamps in the display. In 2007 the Egyptian tableau which includes Egyptian sarcophagus
, which eerily opens to reveal a mummified secret, returned after an overhaul. Also at Bispham on the clifftop was a new BBC Portal video screen. In January 2008 new plans were revealed to erect two new all year round, triumphal arch
es at either end of the Illuminations, "selling the Blackpool message".
Blackpool tramway
runs along the length of the sea front at Bispham. In 1920 Blackpool Corporation took over the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad Company gaining a further eight miles (13 km) of track, and also three further depots including the Bispham Tram Depot on Red Bank Road, until it closed in 1966. Built in 1898, Bispham Tram Depot 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, Alpic Cash & Carry until the mid 1970s. The building was eventually demolished to make place for a Sainsbury's supermarket
. The Depots headstone was installed at Crich
's National Tramway Museum
.
actress, Kelsey-Beth Crossley
was a pupil at Bispham High School., and former Emmerdale actress, Hayley Tamaddon
was a pupil at Montgomery High School. Coronation Street
actress, Violet Carson
, OBE
lived in Bispham until her death in 1983. She is buried at Bispham Parish Church. Former Brookside
and The Royle Family
actor Ricky Tomlinson
, was born in Bispham on 26 September 1939. English film-maker, Alan Entwistle was born in Bispham on 4 July 1961. The actor Tony Melody
lived in the Greenlands area of Bispham for many years until his death in June 2008. Christopher Walter Richardson is billed from Bispham, and still has a place in the hearts of many from the area.
Former S Club 8
singer Stacey McClean
is from Bispham.
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
town centre on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England.
Geography and administration
The village is part of the borough of Blackpool. To the south of Bispham is North Shore and LaytonLayton, Blackpool
Layton is a district of the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England.-Geography:Located roughly in Blackpool's geographical centre Layton accounts for a relatively large part of the town's total area...
, to the east is Carleton
Carleton, Lancashire
Carleton is a village on the coastal plain of the Fylde in Lancashire, England. It consists of Great Carleton, Little Carleton and Norcross and is situated close to the market town of Poulton-le-Fylde. Nearby settlements include Thornton, Bispham and Blackpool...
and to the north is Norbreck and Thornton Cleveleys and to the west, the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
. The area is mostly urban. Bispham was formerly in the Blackpool North and Fleetwood parliamentary constituency, but, as of the 2010 general election forms part of the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency whose M.P.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard
Paul Christopher Maynard is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Blackpool North and Cleveleys.-Early life:...
.
The village is in the North West England European parliament constituency
North West England (European Parliament constituency)
North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
.
Bispham has three Blackpool Council electoral wards: Bispham, Greenlands and Ingthorpe.
Demographics
The total population of Bispham according to the United Kingdom Census 2001United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
is 19,165, which is 13.41% of the population of Blackpool (142,900). There are a total of 3,873 residents aged between 0 and 17 years old (20.21%), 4,329 aged 65 and over (22.58%) and 10,963 between the ages of 18 and 64 (57.21%).
Population by ward -
| Ward | Population |
|---|---|
| Bispham | 6,121 |
| Greenlands | 6,410 |
| Ingthorpe | 6,634 |
Village history
A 12,000 year old animal skeleton (the Carleton Elk) found with barbed arrowheads near Blackpool Sixth Form CollegeBlackpool Sixth Form College
The Blackpool Sixth Form College serves the Fylde and surrounding areas of the county of Lancashire, England. The college has around 1,900 full-time students. The college offers academic and applied programmes to a wide range of students aged between 16 and 19....
in 1970 provided the first evidence of humans living on the Fylde
The Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
as far back as the Palaeolithic era. The Fylde was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii
Setantii
The Setantii were a pre-Roman British tribe who apparently lived in the western and southern littoral of Lancashire in England...
(the "dwellers in the water") a sub-tribe of the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
, who from about AD80 were controlled by Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
from their fort at Dowbridge, Kirkham
Kirkham, Lancashire
Kirkham, or as it once was known, Kirkam-in-Amounderness is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston and adjacent to the smaller town of Wesham. It owes its existence to Carr Hill upon which it was built and which was the location...
. During the Roman occupation the area was covered by oak forests and bog land.
Bispham, known until 1910 as Bispham-with-Norbreck, was originally a village in its own right, pre-dating the town of Blackpool by several hundred years. In 1066 Bispham was part of Tostig Godwinson
Tostig Godwinson
Tostig Godwinson was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson, the last crowned english King of England.-Early life:...
, the Earl of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
's, Lordship of Amounderness
Amounderness
Amounderness was a hundred of Lancashire in North West England. Formerly, the name had been used for territories now in Lancashire and north of the River Ribble that had been included in Domesday Yorkshire.-Etymology and history:...
. It is featured in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as Biscopham.(meaning Bishop's estate or Bishop's house) Many of the settlements and villages on the Fylde
The Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
were Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
settlements. Some though were 9th and 10th century Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
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. Bispham having the Anglo-Saxon place name ham and Norbreck having the Viking place name, breck. Bispham-with-Norbreck comprised three hamlets — Great (or Greater) Bispham, Little Bispham and Norbreck, with Anchorsholme (then Angersholme) part of Norbreck. Although the three hamlets were originally part of the Lordship of Amounderness, they were later divided with the moiety of Little Bispham and Norbreck being given to Shrewsbury Abbey
Shrewsbury Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England.-Background:...
and Great Bispham to the Lord of Warrington.
Great Bispham was a part of the Lordship of Layton. In 1539, it was bought by John Browne, who sold it to Thomas Fleetwood in 1550.
The moiety of Little Bispham and Norbreck was given to the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey
Shrewsbury Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England.-Background:...
by Roger of Poitou
Poitou
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
. In the early 12th century Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
ordered Stephen Count of Mortain to hold the moiety "free and quit of all customs, pleas and suits of the hundred court. A few years after, David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
confirmed the moiety "to be held as freely as in the time of his predecessors." In about 1270 the abbot and convent of Shrewsbury granted Little Bispham and Norbreck to the Abbot and convent of Dieulacres Abbey
Dieulacres Abbey
Dieulacres Abbey was a Cistercian monastery established by Ranulf, Earl of Chester at Poulton in Cheshire. It moved to the present site in Staffordshire in 1214, possibly in part as a result from raids at the former site by the Welsh.- History :...
, who held the adjoining Rossall estate. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, it was granted as part of Rossall estate, in 1553 to Thomas Fleetwood. Thus by then all three hamlets were owned by Thomas Fleetwood.
In 1326 the spelling of the village was Byspham. Bispham and Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation in the area from 12,000 years ago and several archaeological finds from Roman...
were the two main populated centres in the Fylde in 1500, though the area was sparsely populated.
It was in Bispham that the first mention of "Blackpool" appeared, found in the Register of Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church, also known as All Hallows Church, is a Church of England parish church located in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, known as the Mother Church of Blackpool.The church is a Grade II Listed Building...
in 1602 with the christening record of a child born on 22 September to a couple who lived "on the bank of the Black Pool". In the 17th century the Fylde coast was divided into three parishes—Bispham, Poulton-le-Fylde and Lytham. The parish of Bispham covered modern day Blackpool and Thornton Cleveleys and comprised the townships of Bispham-with-Norbreck and Layton-cum-Warbreck. In 1877 a detached part of Little Carleton (then known as Horsemans Hill) was placed in Bispham, then in 1883 the area known as Bispham Hawes, which was at the south end of Layton, was detached from Bispham and added to Layton. The population of Bispham-with-Norbreck in 1901 was 985.
Although the village centre used to be thatched with a number of pre-19th century houses, it was redesigned in the 1960s; 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.
Modern day Bispham
The area is mostly residential with two main shopping areas. The main road at the hub of the village, Red Bank Road, houses a number of high street stores such as Sainsbury's supermarket. The main shopping area in Bispham is split into two distinct parts. Firstly, from the top of Red Bank Road at the junction with Queens PromenadeA584 road
The A584 is a road in England that runs from Clifton, near Preston, to Little Bispham, north of Blackpool in Lancashire.The road runs a total distance of approximately , largely following the coastline of the Fylde peninsula, and for forms Blackpool's promenade. It begins in Clifton, west of...
, running half way down Red Bank Road toward Bispham fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
. This area contains a mixture of local and tourist businesses including a relatively large number of restaurants, as well as a number of takeaway
Takeaway
Takeaway can refer to:* Take-out food* The Takeaway , an American public radio morning news show* Turnover * Turnover * Subtraction—an alternative name...
s and Designer wear
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
shops. The other shopping area is based around what is known locally as "the village" which is the area beyond Devonshire Road roundabout behind Bispham Police Station
Police Station
Police Station is a American TV series that aired in syndication in 1959. Stories were taken from actual files.- Cast :*Baynes Barron as Sergeant White*Larry Kerr as Detective Chuck Mitchell*Henry Beckman as Detective Stan Abramson...
, where the shops are sited around a large outdoor car park. The village area also contains the handful of original cottages remaining in Bispham. There are also small shopping areas on Ashfield Road, Moor Park Avenue and Bispham Road.
Religion
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Parish churches—Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church, also known as All Hallows Church, is a Church of England parish church located in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, known as the Mother Church of Blackpool.The church is a Grade II Listed Building...
, All Hallows Road, and Greenlands St. Anne church, Salmesbury Avenue located in Little Carleton and one Catholic Parish Church, St. Bernadette's church, on Devonshire Road. Other churches include Beaufort Avenue Methodist Church, Blackpool Community Church, Bispham United Reformed Church, Springfield Greenlands Methodist Church, and Cavendish Road Congregational Church.
Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church, also known as All Hallows Church, is a Church of England parish church located in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, known as the Mother Church of Blackpool.The church is a Grade II Listed Building...
has an original Norman doorway and is the Mother church of Blackpool. Greenlands, St Anne has an active healing ministry. Keajra Kadampa Buddhist Centre, a residential Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
centre and a member of the New Kadampa Tradition
New Kadampa Tradition
The New Kadampa Tradition ~ International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global Buddhist organisation founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words "International Kadampa Buddhist Union" were added to the original name "New Kadampa Tradition"...
is located on Holmfield Road.
Education
The village has several schools, including- Primary schools
- Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School, located on Bispham Road. The original school was housed in what is now the home of the local Sea Cadets near to Devonshire Road roundabout. The school is connected to Bispham Parish Church, and the first school was founded in 1659.
- Kincraig Primary School, located on Kincraig Road close to Kincraig Lake Ecological ReserveKincraig Lake Ecological ReserveKincraig Lake Ecological Reserve is a wildlife reserve located in Bispham in Blackpool on the Fylde coast, Lancashire, England...
. After an OfstedOffice for Standards in EducationThe Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report in 2001 in which inspectors described the school as having "serious weaknesses", the school rapidly improved and in 2004 it was named as one of the 200 most improved schools in England, as well as being the most improved school in Blackpool. In 2007 the school was listed in the top 100 most improved schools in England. - Langdale Independent Preparatory School
- Moor Park Primary School, located on Moor Park Avenue in the Moor Park area of Bispham.
- Saint Bernadette's Catholic Primary School
- Westcliff Primary School
- Secondary schools
- Bispham High School Arts CollegeBispham High School Arts CollegeBispham High School Arts College is a secondary school situated in Bispham, Lancashire, England, with a mixed intake of both boys and girls aged 11–16.-History:Bispham High School was formerly an all girls school, founded in the 1950s....
- Montgomery High SchoolMontgomery High School, BlackpoolMontgomery High School is a comprehensive school in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England that educates pupils age 11-16. There are 1400 pupils on the roll...
- Bispham High School Arts College
- CollegesFurther educationFurther education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
- Blackpool and The Fylde CollegeBlackpool and The Fylde CollegeBlackpool and The Fylde College is a university college linked to the University of Lancaster.It has 49 buildings spread over the towns of Blackpool, St Annes, Bispham and three locations in Fleetwood. The college brands itself an "associate college of Lancaster University".The College offers...
the large main college campus of the college is located on Ashfield Road, Bispham.
- Blackpool and The Fylde College
Local attractions and ameneties
Premier Travel Inn
Premier Inn is the UK's largest hotel brand, with over 40,500 rooms and more than 600 hotels. Originally opening under the "Travel Inn" brand name in 1987, it has been owned by Whitbread during its entire operation and was set up to compete with the Travelodge brand which was at the time owned by...
.
Bispham has five of the fourteen Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
designated Biological Heritage Sites (BHS) located in Blackpool, including Kincraig Lake Ecological Reserve
Kincraig Lake Ecological Reserve
Kincraig Lake Ecological Reserve is a wildlife reserve located in Bispham in Blackpool on the Fylde coast, Lancashire, England...
which is located on Kincraig Road, with Kincraig lake and a wild fowl population, from which Kincraig Primary School takes its school crest.
Bispham Rock Gardens
Bispham Rock Gardens, also known as Devonshire Road Rock Gardens, is a municipal park located in Bispham, Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The gardens are an important wildlife resource and contains a number of rare species....
is at the top of Knowle Hill on Devonshire Road and runs downhill toward the back of Bispham High School, with views from the top toward Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill is located in the north-east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe and Padiham, an area known as Pendleside. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill, separated from the Pennines to the...
, Beacon Fell and the Bowland fells
Forest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
.
Moor Park
Moor Park, Blackpool
Moor Park is a municipal park located in the Moor Park area of Bispham in Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England.The park is bordered by Bispham Road to the west, Moor Park Avenue to the south, housing on Bristol Avenue to the north and businesses on Bristol Avenue to the east...
runs adjoining Moor Park Avenue and Bispham Road. The park contains a children's playground, parkland, a (disused) bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
and Moor Park Swimming Pool which is located in the northwest corner of the park. It has a 25 metre pool and a teaching pool. The Friends of Moor Park group was set up in January 2007 with the aim of restoring the park to its former glory including work on the footpaths through the park and the possibility of re-opening the disused bowling green as well as work on the children's playground. Other parks in Bispham include Cavendish Road Recreation Ground which has tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts, football and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
areas and a bowling green, which has a Friends group—Friends of Cavendish Road Recreation Ground. In November 2007 with both funding and planning obtained, work started at Cavendish Road Recreation Ground on a new Kiddies playground, aimed at children under seven years old. and East Pines Park. Red Bank Bowling Green is located next to Sainsburies and is owned by the adjoining Bispham Conservative Club. The green was originally a garden belonging to the house which is now the Conservative Club.
Bispham library was opened on 5 May 1938. Bispham Hospital is a purpose built 40-bed rehabilitation unit, located on Ryscar Way for elderly patients from the Fylde coast as part of Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Trinity - the hospice in the Fylde
Trinity - the hospice in the Fylde
Trinity – the hospice in the Fylde is a purpose built hospice in Low Moor Road, Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is set in landscaped gardens and it has a central courtyard. It was opened in 1985 after several years of planning and fund raising led by Dr David Cooper...
is a sepcialist palliative care
Palliative care
Palliative care is a specialized area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients...
service for adults and children located on Low Moor Road.
Public houses in Bispham include the Old England, the Red Lion, the Bispham Hotel and the Squirrel Hotel. There are also two wine bars, Oscars in the village and Maddisons on Red Bank Road.
Admiral Point on Queens Promenade is a luxury housing development in a Grade II listed building. It was originally The Miners Convalescent Home
Miners' Convalescent Home, Blackpool
The Miners' Convalescent Home was a convalescent home for miners in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It was built 1925–27 for Lancashire and Cheshire miners and was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales...
and was built by Bradshaw Gass & Hope
Bradshaw Gass & Hope
Bradshaw Gass & Hope is an English firm of architects founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw . The style "Bradshaw Gass & Hope" was adopted after J. J...
between 1925 and 1927. It was opened by the Prince of Wales on 28 June 1927. The home, which for many years was empty was redeveloped into luxury homes by housebuilders Persimmon Homes and is now known as Admiral Point, with 47 apartments, together with 112 apartments and homes around the grounds, with two new six storey apartment blocks built flanking the main building, and housing behind it. In February 2006 it was revealed that sales of apartments in, what the company described as "the jewel in the crown" at Admiral Point had helped Persimmon Homes to record profits, such was the popularity of the new properties in the Grade II listed building. In October 2005 it was revealed that several high profile footballers, including former Premiership player Robbie Fowler
Robbie Fowler
Robert Bernard Fowler is an English footballer who is currently player/manager for Thai Premier League club Muangthong United....
as well as Jonathan Macken, Mads Timm
Mads Timm
Mads Timm is a Danish footballer, who is player-coach, playing as a forward, for Danish Serie 1 club Kerteminde Boldklub.-Playing career:...
and former player Lee Sharpe
Lee Sharpe
Lee Stuart Sharpe is an English former footballer. Predominantly a left winger, Sharpe joined Manchester United from Torquay United as a youngster in 1988, playing for the club up until 1996...
had bought apartments at Admiral Point.
Bispham was also the home of British independent sports car
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
manufacturer, TVR
TVR
thumb|right|240px|TVR No.2, the oldest surviving TVR, located at [[Lakeland Motor Museum, Newby Bridge, Cumbria]]TVR was an independent British manufacturer of sports cars. Until 2006 it was based in the English seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, but has since split up into several smaller...
, one of the main employers in Bispham, before production ceased in 2007 under owner Nikolai Smolenski
Nikolai Smolenski
Nikolai Alexandrovich Smolensky , , is a Russian banker and businessman and current owner of British sports-car manufacturer TVR....
. In May 2007 it was announced that Midlands based businessman, William Riley was proposing to bring back car production to Bispham, with two cars planned for production at a new purpose built factory, which would be on Bispham Technology Park, the MG XPower SV
MG XPower SV
The MG XPower SV is a sports car which was produced by MG Rover. Manufactured in Modena, Italy and finished at Longbridge, UK, it was based on the platform of the Qvale Mangusta, formerly the De Tomaso Biguà.-History:...
and another Premium MG XPower
MG XPower
MG XPower is a British automotive brand created by MG Rover Group in 2001 and now owned by MG Sports and Racing Europe, based in Tenbury Wells.-Overview:...
roadster and coupe. On 27 July 2007 Blackpool Council announced that the sports car production would begin within a matter of weeks, initially at part of the former TVR factory; with the company eventually moving to a purpose built factory which had already been leased from the council by William Riley. Bispham Technology Park is a growing, modern, Office and Retail Park which is due to be expanded further in 2008 with the creation of Kincraig Business Park on a 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) site within the park together with an environmental project with green space area to protect wildlife including a pond. On 11 January 2008, local MP, Joan Humble
Joan Humble
Jovanka Humble is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Blackpool North and Fleetwood from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...
cut the first sod at a ceremony at the new Kincraig Business Park with the first of forty plots being created at the new park having already been taken even before building work started.
Layton railway station
Layton railway station
Layton railway station is on the Blackpool North to Preston railway line, in Lancashire, England, serving the Blackpool suburb of Layton. It is managed by Northern Rail and is unstaffed.-History:...
was originally named Bispham railway station. Both Bispham and Norbreck are separate areas of Blackpool. Although the two do come together annually for the Bispham and Norbreck Gala held in July of each year with a procession that winds through both Bispham and Norbreck starting and finishing at Bispham Gala fields, an open space which is owned by Blackpool Council with football pitches, a community centre, secure grazing area and with part of the land sublet to Blackpool Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
football club and a Golf Driving range. In 2007 local residents called for a covenant to be placed on the Gala fields to safeguard the land to be used for future galas.
Blackpool Illuminations
Red Bank Road is at the Northern end of the world-famous Blackpool IlluminationsBlackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire....
. The area at Bispham Cliffs contains the famous tableaux displays, where there is a pathway for holidaymakers and locals to view the tableaux close up. The first animated tableaux were erected in 1932 running along the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham, and the Illuminations were extended to its current length running from Starr Gate to Red Bank Road at Bispham. Some of the tableaux have sound and visual content that can only be viewed and heard by walking by them.
Blackpool tramway
The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport as...
runs along the entire length of the Illuminations and there are over one million lamps in the display. In 2007 the Egyptian tableau which includes Egyptian sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
, which eerily opens to reveal a mummified secret, returned after an overhaul. Also at Bispham on the clifftop was a new BBC Portal video screen. In January 2008 new plans were revealed to erect two new all year round, triumphal arch
Triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...
es at either end of the Illuminations, "selling the Blackpool message".
Blackpool Tramway
Blackpool tramway
The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport as...
runs along the length of the sea front at Bispham. In 1920 Blackpool Corporation took over the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad Company gaining a further eight miles (13 km) of track, and also three further depots including the Bispham Tram Depot on Red Bank Road, until it closed in 1966. Built in 1898, Bispham Tram Depot 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, Alpic Cash & Carry until the mid 1970s. The building was eventually demolished to make place for a Sainsbury's supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
. The Depots headstone was installed at Crich
Crich
Crich is a village in Derbyshire in England. It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway Village, and at the summit of Crich Hill above, a Memorial Tower for those of the Sherwood Foresters regiment who died in battle, particularly in World War I.Built in 1923 on the site of an...
's National Tramway Museum
National Tramway Museum
The National Tramway Museum, at Crich, in Derbyshire, England, is situated within Crich Tramway Village, a period village containing a pub, cafe, old-style sweetshop, including the tram depots. The village is also home to the Eagle Press, a small museum dedicated to Letterpress Printing including...
.
Notable people
EmmerdaleEmmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
actress, Kelsey-Beth Crossley
Kelsey-Beth Crossley
Kelsey-Beth Crossley is an English actress from Fleetwood, Lancashire, who plays the part of Scarlett Nicholls, the secret teenage daughter of deceased millionaire Tom King and Carrie Nicholls on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale...
was a pupil at Bispham High School., and former Emmerdale actress, Hayley Tamaddon
Hayley Tamaddon
Hayley Tamaddon , is an English actress of Iranian descent, who is most notable for portraying Delilah Dingle in ITV's Emmerdale and winning ITV's Dancing on Ice on 28 March 2010.-Background:...
was a pupil at Montgomery High School. Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
actress, Violet Carson
Violet Carson
Violet Helen Carson OBE was an English actress, best known for playing Ena Sharples, one of the original characters in the British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life and career:...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
lived in Bispham until her death in 1983. She is buried at Bispham Parish Church. Former Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
and The Royle Family
The Royle Family
The Royle Family is a popular, BAFTA award-winning television comedy drama produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards...
actor Ricky Tomlinson
Ricky Tomlinson
Eric Tomlinson , known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family....
, was born in Bispham on 26 September 1939. English film-maker, Alan Entwistle was born in Bispham on 4 July 1961. The actor Tony Melody
Tony Melody
Anthony John "Tony" Melody was an English television actor who appeared in a number of long running comedies and soap operas. He was a prolific character actor with over 100 television roles.-Early life:...
lived in the Greenlands area of Bispham for many years until his death in June 2008. Christopher Walter Richardson is billed from Bispham, and still has a place in the hearts of many from the area.
Former S Club 8
S Club 8
S Club 8, previously known as S Club Juniors, was a spin-off of the UK pop group S Club 7. The group's members, Jay Asforis, Daisy Evans, Calvin Goldspink, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Rochelle Wiseman and Frankie Sandford, were all in their early teens or younger when they were...
singer Stacey McClean
Stacey McClean
Stacey McClean is an English solo singer. She was in S Club spin-off band, S Club 8 and in 2009 took part in the sixth series of The X Factor.-2001–04: S Club Juniors:...
is from Bispham.
Sport
North Shore Golf Club is located at the edge of Bispham with most of the golf course in Bispham. The course is a links type course. Phoenix Golf Driving Range is based on Fleetwood Road. Blackpool Rugby Union Football club are based in Bispham. Bispham Junior football Federation is based at the Bispham Gala Fields. Blackpool Rangers also share this field.External links
- Bispham Community Centre
- Bispham Endowed School
- Bispham High School
- Greenlands St.Anne Parish Church
- Kincraig Primary School
- Langdale Independent Preparatory School
- Montgomery High School
- St.Bernadette's Catholic Primary School
- Bispham Conservative Club
- BJFF—Bispham Junior Football Federation
- Bispham Photographic Society
- Blackpool Rangers Junior Football Club
- St.Bernadette's Players