Elderly man surprised 'Tower Boy' Charlie with life-like Blackpool Tower replica he made 38 years ago

Gerry Bryan, 82, heard the youngster had a passion for the resort landmark.

And he surprised Charlie, from Poulton Le-Fylde, with a very special gift – a five foot structure he made out of lollipop sticks in 1984.

He said: “Charlie was gobsmacked. He really was mesmerised by it and he was fascinated by the working lift.”

Gerry had approached Blackpool Gazette to help him track down the family of Charlie, who became the official voice of Blackpool Tower earlier in the month.

He took the structure to Charlie’s house on Aug 23, with help from mum, Wendy.

The tower was constructed using 1,500 wooden sticks. Gerry used photographs and took down measurements to get it as close to the real thing as possible. It even has a working light.

It took eighteen months to complete the project by himself. He worked on it in the evenings, when he got home from his work on the wagons.

Gerry began collecting lollipop sticks while on holiday in Newquay with his two children, Susan and Peter in the 1970s.

And he continued his mission when he returned to Blackpool.

"The sticks were all over the beach, I’d never realised before but I wanted to clean it up. So I was going out in the evening to pick them up. I didn’t know what to do with them, then one day I was working on the roof of the Winter Gardens and saw the tower.”

But once he’d made the tower he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

"I thought it might be good on a bonfire. It’s gone to a good home now.”

Charlie Barratt, became interested in Blackpool Tower two years ago, and began learning as much as possible about it.

Then the schoolboy was invited to record a professional voice-over that will tell visitors all they need to know about the resort structure.

And from Thursday Aug 11, guests will hear the recording as they make the 380-foot journey to the tower top.