The Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in the town of Blackpool, Lancashire, in northern England (grid reference SD306360). The tower is 158 m (518 ft 9 in) tall. It was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It cost £42,000 GBP to construct, and it first opened to the public on 14 May 1894. It is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

Unlike the Eiffel Tower, it is not quite free-standing: its base is hidden by a building housing the Blackpool Tower circus. Before going to the top of the tower, people climb up through several levels of attractions, including the circus, Out of This World, a dinosaur ride, an aquarium, and a ballroom. The top of the tower is accessed by two lifts. There are four viewing platforms open to the public, the lower of which is completely enclosed. These afford views of much of Lancashire, Winter Hill, southern Cumbria, North Wales, and the Isle of Man, in addition to Blackpool and the rest of the Fylde peninsula. An additional two platforms and the "crow's nest" are only accessible to staff. The enclosed lower platform contains a glass floor above the south-west leg that allows visitors to look down on the street below. The tower is topped by a flagpole, which normally flies the Union flag except during the illuminations when the flagpole is lit by nearly one hundred lamps.

The tower was used as a RAF radar station for a time during WWII, it was known as RAF Tower.

The tower is used as a transmission location by a local FM station (RadioWave 96.5) and a variety of non-broadcast services. National and regional FM services do not use the tower, because inland locations provide sufficient coverage of Blackpool. The tower is normally painted dark red, but for its centenary in 1994 was painted gold.

In 1900, the tower was rebuilt with 14 platforms.

It is currently owned by Trevor Hemmings who also owned Grand National Winner Hedgehunter

[Source: Wikipedia]

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