A very Blackpool call to arms in 1899

Local historian Colin Reed looks at Blackpool's key role in the response to the second Anglo-Boer War

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At the outset of the second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, the regular British Army encountered an enemy stronger than at first perceived. To supplement the regular forces on the ground, the War Office had approved the formation of an extensive Volunteer force derived from all parts of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Though Blackpool had a group of Volunteers in regular training, with premises on York St., it did not have a troop to call its own at the time. It would eventually have the required fifty men to form a troop but this would not be completed until after the war when premises were opened on July 7 1903 on New Road (Talbot Road). However, the town had for a long time been a natural practice ground, not only for its Volunteers, but also for the Lancashire Yeomanry, camping at Squires Gate, manoeuvring on the sand hills, and using the rifle range at Fleetwood.

The first contingent of the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry arrived in Blackpool on the eighth of January 1900 for two weeks training and were welcomed at North station by the Mayor, Dr George Kingsbury. This first contingent consisted of sixty horses and twenty eight men, which would eventually increase to about twice that size.

A fund raising appeal was immediately set up by the Mayor, as he first appealed to the hoteliers to provide free board and lodging. It was an appeal to which there was an immediate and generous response. While in Blackpool, the officers would be quartered at the Clifton Arms, sergeants at the New Inn, and the rank and file billeted throughout the town. The greater part of their clothing and equipment, including saddles, was on order from the War office in London and would not arrive for some time. An ambulance section and a mobile, field colt gun section, with a content of Blackpool men, would be formed and leave some time after the main contingent.

While at Blackpool the men were given every attention by civic authorities and public alike as national pride ran high. Armed and yet without uniform, they paraded the streets to the delight of the crowds and passers-by. They enjoyed everything for free, accepted many invitations to the shows, and had free transport on the tramcars.

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When the kit eventually arrived from London, Captain George Kemp, a Lancashire man, MP for Heywood and commander of the troop, was not happy with it, so he secured better equipment with some of his own money and £3,000 (£312,504.80p) from the Lancashire Equipment Fund. The War Office also expected the men to leave from London but Captain Kemp argued that Liverpool, from where friends and family could see them off, would be a more appropriate place, and he got his way, at least for this first contingent.

So in the cold, early hours of Sunday 11 February, on the day of departure from Blackpool, Mr Taylor the stationmaster had extra staff on at North Station as the men, leading their horses while the snow swirled about them, made their individual ways from their digs as early as 5am. The first train was not due until 6.35am and the horses were boxed with a little trouble but, when the men had assembled and the order to dismiss was given, they eagerly rushed to the coffee stall. By 6am the public were given access to the platform when the Lifeboat Band, under Mr Tom Wylie, arrived and played patriotic tunes.