The Birkdale Palace Hotel was a luxury hotel located in the Lancashire coastal resort of Birkdale, Southport, on the north-west coast of England. The building towered over the surrounding area for over a hundred years before being demolished in 1969. During the Second World War it had been used as a rehabilitation centre for US airmen, and in the last two years of existence was used as a film location. The Palace is notorious in local folklore as a haunted hotel.
Leo H Grindon, author of Summer Rambles In Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire writes of his visit to the Palace Hotel:[1]
"Over 700 species of our native plants are to be found there; nearly a hundred kinds of shells may be collected upon the sands, along with at least a score of Crustaceans and Annelids, and the fresh-water shells amount to at least thirty. Especially rich are the low wet sandy grounds that lie beyond Birkdale, and the plateaux that occur among the sand-hills beyond that noble edifice which, calling itself the "Palace Hotel," will some day be a first-class Sanatorium. It is of this building that, by the courtesy and liberality of the proprietors, a view is prefixed as frontispiece to the present volume. No other at Southport is so truly a seaside place, being quite away from town-disturbances, yet enjoying the advantages of a rail-way station close at hand. The look-out in all directions is very pleasing, that over the water particularly so; and from the gallery at the summit is obtained a panoramic view so vast and varied, that Southport need never be contemned again for its flatness."
Developed by the Southport Hotel Company (funded mainly by Manchester merchants), the Birkdale Palace Hotel was built on a 20-acre (8ha) site at the end of Weld Road, fronting the Birkdale shore. The 200ft (60m) long luxurious hotel opened in 1866 at a cost of £60,000 and was a very grandiose building, having magnificent reception rooms and 75 bedrooms.
A long-standing rumour was that the hotel had been built the wrong way round, so instead of the hotel front facing out to sea, it in fact faced inland. It was also said that the architect, William Mangnall then committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the building. There have been stories of how the architect's ghost was heard to travel up and down in the lifts and was heard walking along the second floor stone floors whilst the building was being demolished. Unfortunately for lovers of ghost stories, recent research has revealed that there is no evidence that the hotel was built the wrong way round and William Mangnall actually died of consumption at Lord Street, Southport, two years after the hotel was opened.[2]
In 1881 the hotel was completely refurbished and the grounds were reduced to 5 acres (2.0ha), as the hotel had previously gone into liquidation, because it was not accessible by road or tram. The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened Birkdale Palace railway station adjacent to the hotel in 1884.[3] A variety of baths were installed, a pipe built to draw in salt water from the sea and a lift installed to all floors. It re-opened with over 60 staff, as a hydropathic establishment to rival the very successful Smedley Hydro.[4][5] Later, electric lighting was installed, produced by a steam driven generator. By 1910 the hotel was for sale due to financial difficulties.
The Birkdale Palace had extensive surrounding grounds providing facilities for Croquet, Bowling, Archery, Children's Playground, Walks, Bowers, Seats and Stables. Local residents could buy contracts to use the facilities.
A high embankment on the seafront kept the facilities sheltered from prevailing winds, the structure being topped with a 650ft (200m) promenade to overlook the shore.
The twentieth century
In 1919 the hotel introduced flights from Blackpool to the nearby aviation ground. In an official guide to Southport in 1939, the hotel boasted of billiards, croquet on the lawns, dancing, evening concerts, Sunday afternoon orchestral teas and tennis, to name but a few activities available. It had 1,000 rooms and around 200 bedrooms and suites. By this time, the hotel had become a successful holiday resort hotel and conference centre, with stars like Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable staying there.[6] In 1962, the Beatles performed there.[7]
In 1942, it was taken over by the American Red Cross and used as an R&R (rest and recreation) home for bomber crews of the United States Army Air Force until 1945. During this period, it was one of the largest rehabilitation centres in the country for USAAF personnel, with more than 15,000 recuperated or as a break between their required "tours" of 20 bombing mission raids on German-occupied Europe.
A view of the Palace Hotel, Birkdale and the grounds
The hotel was still in use until the 1960s, when its final owners, Heddon Hotels, went into liquidation and were wound up in 1967. In February of that year there were only two guests – an elderly permanent resident and the company controller's wife.
Its last use was in 1968/9 as a film production base for Tigon, a specialist in low budget exploitation films run by legendary British producer Tony Tenser. What's Good for the Goose, starring Norman Wisdom, and The Haunted House of Horror (which was also filmed at the nearby Bank Hall in Bretherton) were both filmed at the hotel, with most of the indoor scenes in What's Good for the Goose making use of the hotel's public areas. Mr. Tenser actually suggested to Southport Council that they jointly buy the empty hotel and operate it as a film production centre but the Council turned down the idea, on the grounds that they did not enter into commercial partnerships.
The Hotel was demolished a few weeks later in 1969. There is now a housing estate called Ascot Close on the site, although what was originally the Coach House of the hotel survived demolition and is now the Fishermen's Rest pub.
Paranormal Activity
The story of the haunted lift at the Palace Hotel has entered into local folklore and was first reported in local newspaper The Southport Visiter on 6 May 1969, when a group of demolition workers reported that the lift at the old Palace Hotel in Birkdale was acting very strangely. Jos Smith, who was heading the demolition team, said: "Things began to happen soon after we started the job. First we were woken up by eerie voices and other strange noises in the middle of the night, then the lift suddenly began to work by itself."
Further investigation revealed that despite the fact that the lift's power had been cut and the brakes were on, the four ton box was quite merrily making its way between floors, just as it did before the hotel was closed. "That made the men really jittery!" added Mr Smith. A more prosaic explanation than supernatural intervention is that the lift had an auxiliary (or 'back up') power supply.[8]
In fact, the team of hardened demolition workers became so jittery that they cut the giant lift from its holdings, but still the lift did not drop, the workmen hammered the top of the lift until this caused it to come crashing down from the third floor into the basement. The workmen also reported hearing voices, the sounds of arguments and a woman's stilettoes clattering through the foyer, although these may have been caused by courting couples who were often believed to make use of the hotel's empty bedrooms. The workers, from Rochdale, were even locked in their rooms on occasions.
In 1961 a six-year-old Southport girl, Amanda Jane Graham, was murdered after being abducted by a Birkdale Palace hotel porter. Her body was found under his bed at the hotel.[9] It has been rumoured that two sisters carried out a suicide pact in the hotel and that 11 murders may have occurred within the hotels walls.[10] Several persons have suggested that the temporary laying to rest of 14 deceased lifeboatmen in the hotel coach house, now the Fishermen's Rest pub, could provide another explanation for paranormal occurrences at the site.
The Fishermen's Rest
The Fishermen's Rest pub in April 2010.
The only surviving remnant of the Palace Hotel is now a pub called The Fishermen's Rest on Weld Road. It was originally the coach house of the hotel and was later converted to serve as a non-resident's bar to preserve the bars in the main building for the use of the hotel guests.
The building was used as a temporary mortuary for the bodies of 14 lifeboatmen drowned in the Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster on 9 December 1886, when the sailing ship Mexico was driven aground near Southport by a storm. The bodies were viewed there by the jury of the hastily convened coroner's inquiry held at the Palace Hotel.
The pub is named in tribute to the local fishermen who gave their lives serving as volunteer lifeboatmen, and they are remembered there every year on the anniversary of the event by the reading of a commemorative poem and the observation of a minute's silence.[11]
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 94,421, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of Southport. From 1894 to 1912, Birkdale and the adjoining suburb/village of Ainsdale were administered by Birkdale Urban District Council before becoming part of the county borough of Southport. Until 1 April 1974, Birkdale lay in the traditional borders of the county of Lancashire. At the 2001 census, the local government ward called Birkdale had a population of 12,265. The population of the area at the 2011 Census is shown under Birkdale (ward) (qv). Other parts of Birkdale are included in Dukes ward—which contains a significant part of the village centre and the Royal Birkdale Golf Club—Kew and Ainsdale wards.
The Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster, commonly known as the Mexico disaster after the ship involved, occurred on the evening of the 9th December 1886. In all, 27 lifeboat men lost their lives trying to save the crew of the ship.
Southport Lord Street was a railway station located on Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It was the terminus of the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway from Liverpool.
Birkdale Palace railway station was located in Birkdale, Lancashire, England. The station was opened by the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway in 1884 and closed in 1952.
Ainsdale Beach was a railway station located in Ainsdale, Merseyside, England.
Woodvale railway station was a railway station located in Woodvale, Merseyside, England.
The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway was an early British railway company operating in the then county of Lancashire. It was constructed to link the Cheshire Lines Committee railway at Aintree to Southport. It operated from 1884 to 1952.
Mexico was a barque that was wrecked off Southport on 9 December 1886. She was repaired only to be lost in Scottish waters in 1890.
RNLB Louisa Heartwell was the sixth lifeboat to be stationed at Cromer on the coast of the English county of Norfolk She was launched from the beach station and was on station from 1902 to 1932. During her period on station at Cromer the Louisa Heartwell had only two coxswains during her 29-year career. They were Matthew James Buttons Harrison until his retirement in 1909, and then Henry George Blogg.
Over the years, a number of ships have foundered off Southport. For the purposes of this article, the Southport area shall be considered as Southwards from Lytham St Annes to Freshfield.
Smedley Hydro is a former Victorian hydropathic spa and hotel in Birkdale, Southport, Merseyside, England. The building has been used as a college, hydropathic spa, and hotel and is currently the home of the General Register Office for England and Wales.
RNLB Benjamin Bond Cabbell II was a Cromer non self-righter type lifeboat stationed at Cromer Lifeboat Station in the English county of Norfolk from September 1884 until September 1902.
Kingsway was a nightclub and casino built in 1931 at the south end of the Promenade in the seaside resort of Southport, Merseyside, England. In the 1960s it hosted many well-known celebrities, such as The Beatles, Tom Jones, and Engelbert Humperdinck. It was also very popular during the 1980s punk era and the 1990s dance era.
The Lifeboat Memorial, Southport, occupies a central position in Southport Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Southport, Merseyside, England. It commemorates the death of 27 lifeboatmen from Southport and St Annes who were lost in the attempt to rescue the crew of the German barque Mexico that had been driven into a sandbank in a gale in 1886. The memorial is in the form of a tomb chest on a tall plinth with carving and inscribed panels. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
The Monumental Obelisk, Southport, stands on the Promenade in Southport. Merseyside, England. It commemorates a number of events, mainly relating to the work of the Southport lifeboats, and in particular the loss of fourteen lifeboatmen when their boat capsized in 1886. The monument was designed by Thomas Robinson, and is constructed in granite. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
The Lifeboat Monument, St Annes, stands on South Promenade, St Annes, Fylde, Lancashire, England. It commemorates the death of 13 lifeboatmen from St Annes who were lost in the attempt to rescue the crew of the German barque Mexico that had been driven into a sandbank in a gale in December 1886. The lifeboat from Southport also lost 14 of its 16 man crew in the disaster. The monument depicts a lifeboatman looking out to sea and standing on a rock-like plinth. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
The Lifeboat Memorial, Lytham, is in the churchyard of St Cuthbert's Church, Lytham St Annes, Fylde, Lancashire, England. It commemorates the death of 27 lifeboatmen from Southport and St Annes who were lost in the attempt to rescue the crew of the German barque Mexico that had been driven into a sandbank in a gale in 1886. The memorial is in the form of a Gothic-style tabernacle with a crocketed pinnacle. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Southport Offshore Rescue Trust (SORT) is the registered charity that runs the Southport Independent Lifeboat, a marine and land based search and rescue organisation on the Sefton coastline.
Wells House is a large former hydropathic establishment and hotel in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, now used as private apartments. It was built in 1854–56 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick and is a Grade II listed building. It is located above the town on Wells Road at the edge of Ilkley Moor, giving it an unobstructed view across Wharfedale from its north front. It was originally set in grounds by the landscaper Joshua Major though these gardens have mostly been built on since.
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