“Stop by Stop” continues today as we work our way north on the Blackpool Tramway with Norbreck the next stop.
The tramway continues along its segregated section from Sandhurst Avenue before we come to Norbreck – another busy stop for holidaymakers coming from the large Norbreck Castle Hotel on the other side of the road. There was once a station building here but it was demolished during the tramway upgrade and now we are left with platforms either side of the tracks with shelters on each. With more space here there is also a footpath behind the southbound stop rather than it forming part of the pavement for pedestrians as well.
We look in a northerly direction here at Norbreck at the stop. Again the Irish Sea is in the background.
Starr Gate is the destination of 014 as it coasts into Norbreck with a southbound stop.
010 is standing at the northbound platform with a service for Fleetwood Ferry. (All Photographs by Gareth Prior, 25th September 2020)
I do miss the old station building – one of the last surviving from the 1898 Tramroad, I gather. However, if there were no available funds to maintain it as they would be better spent elsewhere, then demolition clearly must have been a far more sensible option then allowing it to fall down and maybe hurt a member of the public in the process. This location would be ideal for an additional Heritage stop, given the considerable footfall in the vicinity – maybe now that we as a nation are no longer tightly bound by Brussels bureaucracy, we could hope for some discretionary leeway from the Ministry on this matter?