On the week of the NHS’ 75th birthday, Blackpool had two towers lit up in blue to mark the special day.
Whilst Blackpool Tower shines out across the town, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals is also celebrating as the renovated clock tower near the A&E at Blackpool Victoria Hospital is unveiled.
The clock tower’s reveal will show off new features including exterior lighting. And in a nod to its slightly more famous counterpart down the road, the Clock Tower was lit in blue to see in the special birthday.
The clock tower now been re-painted, has a repaired roof and had its mouldings repaired and conserved. There’ll also be a new clock mechanism and weather vane installed when all of the renovations are complete – due to be later in July.
The historic clock tower moved to its current site after being removed from the original main hospital building which was built in the 1930s.
You can see it in its previous position here, during the 1930s.
The hospital as a new building in 1937
And here during wartime, behind a wall of sandbags:
The buildings during wartime
The restoration project has been led by the team at Atlas, Blackpool Teaching Hospital’s estates partner.
Estates Supervisor John Paterson said: “Our team have really enjoyed working on the clock tower project. Restoring it has proved challenging at times but we have got there in the end and it will be totally restored with the new clock being fitted at the end of July, all other works are now complete.”
The clock tower as it stands today