Colin Reed

In the three and a half years from its conception in late 1890, to its opening on Whit Monday 1894, the Blackpool Tower has, in its preparation and construction, a story of triumph over conflict, of financial successes and failures, of the stern arguments of Temperance in condemnation of alcohol in its protracted application for a drinks licence, a conflict of aesthetic values in the perceived ugliness of its ironwork, scepticism of its strength to withstand a south westerly gale, a criticism of its representation of capitalism in the emerging socialism, and the men who built it could fight, get drunk and injured, incidents which included the tragic recording of two fatal accidents.