Talk:Birkdale Palace Hotel

Disused Station
Hi there.

I am a little confused at to why there is a 'Disused Stations' Link at the bottom of the article.

There was indeed a closed station called Birkdale Palace, but this article relates to the former Hotel and NOT the station, which are 2 seperate entities.


 * Because it mentions the Hotel and is atleast some evidence of it's existence. It's a reference.--TrackInspector 18:39, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

William Mangnall and Henry Travis were partners in the company Travis and Mangnall, architects and surveyors. I have not yet been able to confirm that they were the architects responsible for building Birkdale Palace Hotel. The information that I have on his death is that he died on the 29th May 1868 from "Phthisis 2 years, Pneumothorae 5 days, Pleuritis" (see HM120 William Mangnall). His son, also named William, took over from him in the company. Travis retired and was replaced by John Littlewood so the company changed to Mangnall and Littlewood. I believe that they were the architects responsible for the refurbishment in 1880. If any one can supply any further info on this story it would be most welcome.

I've added a couple of external citations and removed a reference to the architect's suicide, an old urban legend which is refuted in the intro. --Wessexboy (talk) 12:29, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Photo needed
A photo is needed as the one i uploaded ages ago has just been pulled up as been invalid unless someone can get some copywright evidence on it!? it came from a public forum anyway! if this photo goes then we need a photo that is ok. Bankhallbretherton (talk) 10:59, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Target of German bomb
From section 2: the twentieth century "Likely, these American airmen were the intended target of an aerial bomb dropped by a German aircraft in 1943. Tragically, though, the bomb instead struck the nearby Dr. Barnardo's Sunshine Home For Blind Babies, demolishing the building, and causing an untold number of casualties."

This claim is uncited, and seems unlikely. A single bomb (or "aerial bomb" as it is here) was more likely to have been a bomb which failed to release over target and was jettisoned by an aircraft before returning to its base. Actual targets tended to be larger than a single building, and in any case would have more than one bomb dropped on or near them, by more than one aircraft, given the difficulties of locating and hitting anything from altitude, at night, from an aircraft travelling at 250-300mph. It also seems unlikely that the Luftwaffe would risk losing aircraft to target a leave centre for airmen, even if they were aware of its existence, given the effectiveness of Britain's radar and coordinated air defence against unescorted bombers, and that Germany was fighting a war on two fronts at that stage of the war. Aircraft factories at Squires Gate, Blackpool or Preston, or the Liverpool docks would be more likely targets, and Birkdale would be only minutes away at 250mph. Can anyone cite any documentary evidence to support this claim?Robocon1 (talk) 17:22, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Paranormal Activity section: Ursula Wall/suicide
Paragraph 4: "It was commonly thought that the lift was haunted by the ghost of Ursula Wall formally of Liverpool, the architect of the hotel, as while she was on holiday during the construction, the foundations had been built back to front which resulted in the Hotel being built back to front. The story goes that after observing this massive error whilst revisiting the site she committed suicide by jumping down the lift shaft, however as stated above, conflicting accounts concerning the architects demise emerged and thus debunk this as Urban Legend."

But a preceding section, the nineteenth century, states that the architect was William Mangnall. Since the fact that the building was not built back to front and that the architect did not commit suicide is already covered there, I would suggest removing the above. Googling reveals no architect called Ursula Wall, and a female architect would have been highly unusual for the period. William Mangnall is listed as the architect of the Birkdale Palace here: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=203047 (following the link shows the Southport Hydropathic is the Birkdale Palace). Can anyone provide any reference for Ursula Wall? As interior designer & etc? Robocon1 (talk) 16:09, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Architect/build date
The first sentence of this article says that the Birkdale Palace opened in 1866. The "nineteenth century" section repeats this, and states that the architect was William Mangnall. No reference source is cited for either.

According to the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, Mangnall began an architectural practice with John Littlewood in 1865: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=203047 The list of buildings they were responsible has "Southport Hydropathic, date started 1880" at the top of the list. The link from the entry makes it clear that this was the Birkdale Palace, the build/construction date is again listed as 1880, with the additional information that it was completely refurbished as a hydropathic hotel in 1881.

It seems surprising that a hotel built in 1880 would be completely refurbished one year later.

The Paranormal Activity section refers to Ursula Wall as the architect (but this was probably vandalism by 85.211.47.238).

So - was the hotel opened in 1866, and was the architect Mangnall, and was he then the architect of a refurbishment in 1880, or was it built by Wall and refurbished by Mangnall in 1880-81? Or was it built by Mangnall in 1880 and refurbished by him in 1881?

Can anyone cite a reliable source for the build date and architect?Robocon1 (talk) 15:07, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Fishermen's Rest
I have just removed outdated and redundant PV/promo text with 'interviews' of pub staff from several years ago, following no response to a request for citation/justification made as part of an edit description 5 months ago. Robocon1 (talk) 16:20, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Supernatural phone call
Paranormal Activity, para 3: "Southport Police received and traced a call from a female saying she was trapped in the Palace Hotel and could not get out, yet when Police arrived, they found the phone lines had been cut."

This sentence originally read "Southport Police received a call from a female saying she was trapped in the Palace Hotel and could not get out after the phone lines had been cut." (Revision of 13.05, 9.2.2012). The author then edited it to the above version. The only source cited for this entire section was an article in a local paper, which doesn't mention this event, nor is it mentioned in the paranormal website listed as a reference at the bottom of the page. The source currently cited, an article in another local paper clearly derived from this wikipedia entry, doesn't mention it either. I am therefore removing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robocon1 (talk • contribs) 16:32, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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