I went to the Blackpool Tower ballroom to see the rope mechanism get replaced for the first time in 50 years

Earlier in the week I received an email about a rare opportunity to see all the chandeliers in the Blackpool Tower ballroom be lowered to the ground so they could be cleaned and serviced.

Although this happened every year, this year it was particularly special as for the first time in at least 50 years the rope mechanism was set to be replaced so I knew I couldn’t miss this special occasion.

I was very excited in the run up to the event as the Blackpool Tower ballroom was such a special place and a beautiful location.

The last time that I was there was when I was covering Strictly Come Dancing in Blackpool and the venue had looked amazing then so I knew that it would be this time as well.

I set off in thankfully good weather compared to the snow and wind we had been experiencing lately.

I entered the ballroom and I could again appreciate all the intricate designs everywhere I looked.

I particularly liked the space with the balconies surrounding the stage and the highly detailed ceilings - the whole place felt so grand.

It also felt quite surreal to be actually allowed on the dance floor, as the last time I had been to the ballroom it was where the Strictly stars were performing.

But the designs of the theatre itself was not the most striking thing in the ballroom as there were 14 chandeliers hanging just off the floor from high above in the ceiling.

I was both in awe of the design of the chandeliers with hundreds of different glass pieces carefully fitted together and absolutely petrified of breaking one of the priceless chandeliers.

I can confirm that no chandeliers were broken throughout the morning!

I really enjoyed spending a lot of time walking around and looking at all of them as they are not something that you get to see very often.

The glass with the golden frames matched the grandeur of the rest of the ballroom.

I have to admit I was holding my breath while the workmen were attaching the chandelier to the scaffolding structure in order to the rope mechanism that attached the chandelier to the roof to be replaced- I definitely would not like to be in charge of securing a priceless Edwardian chandelier.

Having got through the next few minutes disaster free one of the first big chandelier was soon secured.

I have to say there were definitely worse ways to spend a Tuesday morning than looking at beautiful Edwardian chandeliers.

The next part of the operation was to lower the second large chandelier to the ballroom floor.

I thought to myself that while being a journalist can be stressful, it was nowhere near as stressful as being in charge of lowering, cleaning or fixing a priceless chandelier and I was very glad it was not down to me.

After a lot of tense waiting it was finally time to lower the next chandelier to the floor, it was slowly lowered all the way down and I think I held my breath the entire time.

After making a disaster free descent the chandelier was hanging just above the floor and it could start to be attached to the new structure.

After I had relaxed I thought about how lucky I was that I was able to be there in person, watching something that had not happened for at least 50 years.

This was a significant part of the history of the Blackpool Tower ballroom and I felt extremely happy and grateful that I got the opportunity to see this take place first hand.