On a very rainy day, I went to visit the Bispham tram station, built in 1932 and designed by J.C Robinson and the Blackpool Corporation. He also later designed the Little Bispham Tram station further up the line which opened in 1935. Within Blackpool, predominantly constructed of Edwardian and Victorian architecture, the two structures, slightly different in their architectural approach were an attempt to modernise the network up to the area of Bispham which is populated by suburban inter war housing.
Bispham Tram Station is the largest of the two, and despite referring to the curved aspect of moderne architecture, its façade presents itself with two columns and repeated urns, creating an odd fusion of modernist and classical architecture. Dr Matthew Whitfield, from English Heritage writes that is was a common approach of early modernism to combine earlier architectural features with a modernist form in hisfeature for the Twentieth Century Society. The Blackpool tram stations were featured in November 2012 on the C20 website as building of the month.
Bispham Tram Station had a ticket hall internally, as well as providing shelter for passengers and promenaders. It is still used as a tram stop, and has a new addition on the left of the building with recent signage of the tram stops name.
The exterior of the building, particularly the rear which faces the sea is in poor condition, and windows and doors have been boarded up. It would be interesting to access the interior, which you can see at various intervals where the openings have been broken into. It is a shame the building cannot be maintained to a better standard.
The tram stop is separated from the tram line by a very popular feature in Blackpool, concrete fences. There is also an addition of a pseudo moderne toilet block on the right of the tram station, a style of toilet repeated along the sea front. Across the road, a 1930s apartment building sits proudly, and asks for a return visit for more inspection!
