Drive and Stoll, with Ron Freethy - today, along the shore at Blackpool

"WALKING along the Prom Prom Prom Tiddly om pom pom" reminds me that I can't sing, but I love strolling.

Walking along the front at Blackpool in winter is marvellous and if you stick to the beach at low tide you will find hundreds of birds to watch and thousands of seashells to collect.

One of my favourite stretches is in the Bispham area and if you look carefully for a sign off the promenade you will discover one of Lancashire's best kept secrets. Look out for a sign which reads St Stephen-on-the Cliffs.

Although this red brick church was only consecrated in 1927, it looks older and has a unique history for two reasons. Firstly, the magnificent organ is a rebuild. When St Philips Church in Blackburn was demolished its organ was dismantled and rebuilt above the chancel of St Stephen-on-the Cliffs. I wonder if any reader has a memory to share with us about St Philips Church.

Within this friendly church is the Actors' Chapel which is unique and a section of show business history reading like a Who's Who of the Blackpool shows during its heyday from the 1930s to the 1960s. Later frolics in the sun and cheap beer replaced frolics and fun at breezy Blackpool. Despite what is often stated, however, Blackpool is still an important entertainment centre. The idea of an actors' shrine was a combination of the ambition of the vicar of the time, Fr Frank Bertram Freshwater, and the famous performer of the time "Two Ton Tessie O'Shay." In 1928 the chapel was dedicated and a procession of singers, dancers and musicians decorate the marble altar. Side panels carry the inscribed names of the performers who came to the chapel and or gave funds towards its construction.

I read the list which included Gracie Fields, George Formby, Mae West, the Crazy Gang, Ivor Novello, organist Reginald Dixon, Noel Coward and a host of other celebrities. It reads like a programme of music hall acts who performed in all our Lancashire theatres throughout this period prior to television and bingo.

The marble floor of the chapel is a memorial to Jenny Tiller, who with her husband, founded the Tiller Girls dance troupe. There is also a stained glass window, the main theme of which is the search for the Holy Grail. At the foot of the window is the entertainment theme. There is Parsifal representing opera and Everyman representing drama.

The upper part of the window celebrates the life and work of Pauline Rivers and the Children's Ballet which was once a popular part of Blackpool's show time. I was also shown a book containing the autographs of visiting stars.

From the Church of St Stephen-on-the Cliffs I strolled back along the promenade and as dusk fell, I sat on a wall and thought of the ghosts of Blackpool's past. Here was once the entertainment centre of the world and the Actors' Chapel is a poignant reminder of this time.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.