Lost Blackpool: 18 fascinating images of Blackpool's Big Wheels - their construction, dismantling and the endearing memories left behind

It stood proudly at the south west corner of the Winter Gardens, affording magnificent views of the Irish Sea and beyond and was a wonder of the Victorian Age.

Also known as the Giant Wheel and the Gigantic Wheel, its construction began in 1895 and eventually opened in 1896, two years after the Tower.

The 220ft high attraction was equipped with huge, 28ft long coaches, capable of carrying 30 passengers. To this day at least one carriage still remains, lovingly restored at a house in St Michael’s and another was once used as a shed in a Cleveleys garden.

Sadly the dismantling of the wheel began in 1928 because it was commercially unsustainable – it had grown too old and too slow for 1920s Blackpool.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach also had a Ferris Wheel – a twin one and the resort still retains the Big Wheel attraction on Central Pier. It remains one of the resort’s most iconic features.

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