Farewell to the Lyric Hotel

As time trundles on, we forget places that once seemed important and then quite often find out decades later that they are gone. I recently discovered that the Lyric Hotel in Blackpool was demolished in 2023. Some Doctor Who fans of a certain generation will remember the Lyric as the hub of the annual Blackpool gatherings that took place each May. The Lyric was every much the centre of these events as half the attendees stayed there, the others in a hotel two doors way, and were sure of a warm welcome from the family that owned the hotel. As far as I can tell the Lyric did not relocate and so is gone forever which I suppose also reflects changing times.

 

Established as a private hotel in the early twentieth century (there’s no record of the actual date, but it was before 1912), the Lyric was situated at 329 Promenade. It was a typical British bed and breakfast establishment of its day. At the front, a narrow sloping drive only had space for a handful of cars. Part of a terrace, hemmed in by other hotels on each side, it’s exterior white paint and windowed front porch made it similar to countless other establishments in the resort. It is amazing how much they fitted into the place though. A large bar and restaurant room to the left, a long staircase to the right leading up to the guest rooms. These were basic- a wooden cupboard, chest of drawers and bed; the floor always squeaked! Yet it was clean and comfortable.

A full English breakfast was served including such items as cooked tomatoes and grapefruit juice alongside bacon, eggs etc and they also did an evening meal. While daytime happenings took place in and around the Doctor Who Exhibition or the rest of the Golden Mile, evening events were in the Lyric bar which we packed out, so much so that matters often overlapped into the covered front area.

I don’t think the family who owned it at the time were fans but they definitely seemed to enjoy having the place full so early in the season; their daughter Marcia used to hang out with us. There must have been something appealing for both sides as fans went back there for over ten years despite the hotel being a good walk from the Exhibition and even further from the railway station. 

In May 2023, thirty-five years to the month after the last Blackpool gathering the Lyric was demolished along with the rest of the block - St Chad's Hotel, Regency Apartments, and the Seaside Fish and Chip Shop. The site had been purchased by the Singapore-based Fragrance Group who planned a £30m four-star six storey hotel development with over 150 rooms. It’s not a unique situation; another bunch of traditional B&Bs were similarly closed to allow for redevelopment at a separate  Blackpool site last year.

Who knows what the financial background to all this was- maybe the hotels were struggling? The last time I was in Blackpool which was over twenty years ago now, it seemed to be in something of a decline. Even the site of the Exhibition now appears to be empty having been occupied by a shoe shop for quite a while. However, it seems a shame that total demolition was carried out on the hotels especially as more than three years later nothing has been built on the site. It is currently being used as temporary car park pending the developers’ plans coming to fruition. It does feel as if the character of the place is being eroded.

Over the years, I did occasionally think it would be fun to go back and stay for a night at the Lyric, but you know how it is, life gets in the way and it’s too late to do that now. I suppose its demise is symptomatic of the gradual disappearance of an old era of hotel accommodation in this age of Travelodge and Premier Inn which had only just started with a few venues back them but are now everywhere. Anyway, I just wanted to acknowledge the passing of a place which I will always have good memories of.

(Check out some reminiscences of these weekends in a couple of posts in May 2020. The first is in the Featured Post box, at the top of the right hand column)