£13million attraction for Blackpool’s Golden Mile

Stan Laurel's bowler hat, costumes belonging to Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise and one of Tommy Cooper's props are to go on display in a new entertainment museum.

The £13million  attraction will open on Blackpool’s Golden Mile next year.

Around 800 objects will go on display from the worlds of circus, magic, variety and ballroom dancing.

Laurel’s bowler hat was originally given to Blackpool magician Cyril Critchlow in June 1947 when he and Hardy played the town’s Palace theatre as part of their UK tour, recently immortalised in the Stan & Ollie biopic. The star wrote: ‘Hello Cyril, Stan Laurel’ in the lining.

Critchlow, who died in 2008, was a great collector of memorabilia and amassed 10,500 items – and once had his own museum n Blackpool.

Cooper’s head-twister illusion will be on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with the Morecambe and Wise outfits.

Showtown will be based within the Sands Venue Resort Hotel, which is set to be the town's first five-star hotel, and is expected to attract around 300,000 visitors a year.

The National Lottery Heritage fund contributed £4million to the project,

London already boasts a Museum of Comedy, a collection of artefacts and a sizeable library of books, attached to a studio venue in Bloomsbury.

Published: 13 Jan 2020