Norbreck Castle Hotel is a large seafront hotel on Queens Promenade, in the Norbreck area of
Blackpool,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, England. The hotel has 480 bedrooms and 22 conference suites, including the Norcalympia Conference Centre.
History
Originally built as a large private country house in 1869, it was purchased around the end of the 19th century by J.H. Shorrocks who used the house to entertain friends and colleagues at lavish weekend parties. The popularity of these parties led to Shorrocks running them on a commercial basis by taking paying guests.
In 1912, Shorrocks formed a public company and expanded the building, now named the Norbreck Hydro, in several phases, adding a ballroom, swimming pool and solarium in the early 1930s. By then the Hydro was patronised by nobility and the British upper class, in addition to being a venue for the top stars of stage, screen and radio.
![North Shore Golf Club01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/North_Shore_Golf_Club01.jpg)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the hotel was commandeered by the
British government as offices and accommodation for evacuated civil servants.
The hotel remained under government control for eleven years until being handed back in 1951. At that time the hotel had - Open air car parking for 250 cars, five tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, a bowling green, a 600-seat restaurant, a ballroom which when used for conferences seated 850, a second smaller ballroom for private parties, two cocktail bars, a swimming pool and 400 bedrooms, 97 of which had private bathrooms.
In the late 1970s, the hotel's disco became the venue for a number of concerts by
punk rock,
new wave and
mod revival
The mod revival was a subculture that started in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and later spread to other countries (to a lesser degree). The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence lasted for de ...
bands. Those who played there included the
Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock / Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. AllMusic calls them "one of the period's most politically charged and thought-provoking groups". Angelic Upstarts Biography AllMusic. accessed 3 July 2006 T ...
,
Penetration and the
Purple Hearts. The venue also saw gigs by two bands before they became famous.
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
performed there when they were still a punk rock band in March 1979, a performance which
One Way System
One Way System are an English punk rock band formed in the Fleetwood area of Lancashire, England, in 1979.
Career
One Way System's initial line-up consisted of Craig Halliday (guitar), Gavin Whyte (vocals), Bob Grant(drums) and Gaz Buckley ( ...
drummer Dave Brown, listed in his top five gigs.
And on 15 March 1979,
The Pretenders
Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete ...
played one of their first ever gigs at the Norbreck.
Rock bands starting their careers on tour included Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and the first solo appearance of Ozzy Osbourne after leaving Black Sabbath. The American band
The Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in th ...
, who had moderate chart success 1980/81, also played one of their first UK gigs here. They were booed off stage and a fight broke out when the lead singer Brian Setzer spat on the audience. The concert was cancelled when the police arrived.
In 1988, the hotel was the venue for a conference where the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
and
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
merged to form the
Liberal Democrats. Writing in the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' about the merger, the writer Jonathan Calder said of the hotel, "Blackpool’s Norbreck Castle Hotel does not lift the spirit at the best of times, and in January 1988 its Soviet ambience was enhanced by the trams and melting snow in the streets outside."
In 2003, a group of fifteen children who had just returned from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
to study at
Rossall School
Rossall School is a public school (English independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania ...
were isolated at the hotel over
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
concerns and were kept in a self-contained wing with a nurse. However, they had to be removed by Rossall School for their safety when hotel guests found out the children were staying there, after the story was leaked to the local press and what was described as an "abusive mob" of hotel guests forced the children to be removed from the hotel.
The hotel is owned and operated by
Britannia Hotels, and one of four owned by the group in Blackpool.
Facilities
The hotel contains two restaurants and two bars. The hotel has its own 35 seat
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
and a games room as well as a health and leisure club. The hotel has 22 conference, meeting and banqueting rooms, the largest of which can accommodate 3,000 people.
Events
The Norcalympia is host to a number of events. In November 2001 the BUPA Care Homes Open tournament, an indoor
bowls World Bowls Tour competition was held at the venue and filmed live on
BBC Two.
The venue is also host to the largest annual Elvis Presley contest convention in Europe, the ''European Elvis Competition''.
[ ] Other events held there include the ''Blackpool Classic Motorcycle Show'',
and the ''
Classic
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
''
snooker tournament between 1987 and 1990.
It also hosts the biggest Model Boat show in the UK in October every year, with even a purpose built indoor pool. Play Expo Blackpool has become an annual event too, with thousands of people visiting to play games and listen to talks.
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{Blackpool buildings
Hotels in Blackpool
Snooker venues