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Spanish City


The Dome, Whitley BayIn c.1904 Charles Elderton, of Hebburn Theatre Royal, started bringing the "Toreadors" concert party to perform at Whitley Bay. Following repeated success, he established a permanent venue here, which opened on the 6th of March 1908. The name "Spanish City" came a large timber and canvas awning to shelter people from the wind and rain; it was painted to look like an old Spanish town.[1] A funfair was soon developed on the site. The Dome was built between 1908-1910 and is now a Grade II listed building.[2] It was official opened on the 14th of May, 1910 and had a theatre, which later became the Empress Ball Room. In 1924 five shops were built adjoining the north side of the Dome. Though the permanent funfair closed, a visiting fair held on the Links is still referred to as the "Spanish City" funfair. As part of a major seafront renovation, a large open area next to the Dome, called Spanish City Plaza was developed and officially opened by Alan Campbell, MP, on the 7th of April 2014. The Dome was reopened on 21st July 2018 by Mayor Norma Redfearn, following a major restoration, with resturants, tearoom and a wedding venue. 

The Spanish City was a permanent funfair in Whitley Bay, a seaside town in North Tyneside, Tyne & Wear, England. Erected as a smaller version of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach, it opened in 1910 as a concert hall, restaurant, roof garden and tearoom. A ballroom was added in 1920, and later the funfair.

Located near the seafront, the Spanish City has a 180 ft-long (54.8 m) Renaissance-style frontage and became known for its distinctive dome, now a Grade II listed building.Michael Stratton, "New Materials for a New Age: Steel and concrete construction in the north of England, 1860–1939," Industrial Archaeology Review, 21, 1999 (pp. 5–24), p. 20ff.

For Grade II listed, Jeanette Hedley, "Duncan's amusements demolished", North Tyneside Council, 12 May 2006. There are towers on either side of the entrance, each of which carries a half-life-size female bacchanalian figure in lead, one holding cymbals, the other a tambourine. The building's architects were Robert Burns Dick, Charles T. Marshall and James Cackett.

The band Dire Straits immortalized the Spanish City in their 1980 hit single, "Tunnel of Love," which from then on was played every morning when the park opened. By the late 1990s the building had fallen into disrepair, and in the early 2000s it was closed to the public. A regeneration project was announced in 2011.

Architecture

The Spanish City faces the sea, with a 180 ft-long front and a depth of 275 ft. The dome rises to 75 ft above the foundation and has a diameter of 50 ft, supported on 46-ft-high concrete columns. It is made of a reinforced-concrete shell, five inches thick, which is supported by 12 (10 in x 18 in) internal ribs.

The architects were Robert Burns Dick, Charles T. Marshall, and James Cackett) of Cackett and Burns Dick. J. Coulson was a design consultant and L. G. Mouchel were structural consultants. Davidson and Miller were the contractors.

History

Charles Elderton, of Hebburn Theatre Royal, first brought his Toreadors concert party to Whitley Bay in 1907 (other references say 1904). The audience was protected from the elements by awnings painted to look like a Spanish village. Proving extremely popular it returned each summer and Elderton saw that there was demand for more permanent amusements and dance halls. Elderton began Whitley Amusements Ltd and the company steadily built up a fairground inside the painted fences The Whitley Pleasure Gardens Company Ltd. was formed in 1909 and established a large fairground on the site. The dome was erected in 1910.

The building was formally opened by Robert Mason, chair of the local council, on the evening of Saturday, 7 May 1910, as The Spanish City and Whitley Bay Pleasure Gardens. The Union Jack was flown at half mast because King Edward VII had died the previous day. There were shops and cafes inside, a roof garden, and the Empress Theatre, with seating for 1,400 on the floor and 400 on the balcony. The Empress Ballroom was added in 1920, and the Rotunda in 1921. In 1979 the Rotunda was converted into the Starlight Rooms for live entertainment.

The funfair was extremely popular, with fairground rides and amusements, including a "corkscrew" roller coaster – which was at Flamingoland in Yorkshire from 1983 to 2011, then at Luna Park in France – ghost train and waltzers, the House that Jack Built, and the Fun House. The Dome also housed an amusement arcade and later a Laser Quest Laser Tag arena. It was used as a classroom for pupils of Whitley Bay High School during a caretakers' strike in the 1980s, and later became a live music venue, playing host to several bands, including Ash in 2001.

On Sunday 27 July 2014, Newcastle-based performer, Chris Cross (magician) was officially the last ever performer to perform in the original Spanish City dome, prior to developers entering the building on 28 July 2014 to start building work. Cross performed Magic & Escapology Stunts with support from a Liverpool-based sideshow performer, named Doctor Diablo. Following the performance in the dome, there was a fire show outside on the piazza by a local performer called Charlie Burns. This was the last ever show in the original & iconic Spanish City.

Dire Straits songwriter Mark Knopfler and the musician Sting have talked about their memories of the Spanish City. Knopfler, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in Blyth, Northumberland, a few miles from the Spanish City, said it was the first place he had ever heard really loud rock and roll. Sting, born near Newcastle, spent his afternoons and evenings in the Spanish City when he should have been studying for his A levels.

Regeneration

In June 2011 ADP Architects won a commission to regenerate the Spanish City with a plan that included a 50-bed, four-star boutique hotel, 20 apartments, a 1950s diner and a pleasure garden.Jonathan Glancey, "Constructive criticism: the week in architecture", The Guardian, 10 June 2011.

"Spanish City",Press release, ADP Architects, 8 June 2011. The completion date was announced as 2014, but work was halted in 2013 because of a lack of funds. The project received a grant of £3.7m from the Heritage Lottery Fund in November 2013.

In popular culture

Dire Straits refer to the Spanish City in their 1980 song "Tunnel of Love," which became the fairground's unofficial theme song, played every morning when it opened. The town Cullercoats in the song is a stop on the train along the coast from Whitley Bay. The song refers to other permanent funfairs: Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, New York, open from 1897 to 1964; Palisades Amusement Park in Bergen County, New Jersey, open from 1898 to 1971; and Rockaways' Playland in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York, open from 1902 to 1982.

Other pop-culture references include Spanish City (2002), a novel by Sarah May, set in the fictional north-east town of Setton, home to an amusement park called the Spanish City. The Spanish City also features in the video that accompanied Tina Cousins's song "Pray" (1998). It makes a brief appearance in the film The Likely Lads (1976), and features in The Cullercoats Fishlass (2013) by local film company ACT 2 CAM, in which Charles Elderton tries to persuade the Spanish City owners to let his troupe perform there, despite the Sunday licensing laws.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 26/03/2017).
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Whitley Bay Seafront Regeneration Watts Slope 1910 Grade II Listed Historic Buildings and Monuments in North Tyneside
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046785:Spanish City and Pleasure Gardens c. 1910

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Whitley Bay Spanish City in 1967 uk updated

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067679:Spanish City and Pleasure Gardens, Whitley Bay 1912

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A History of the Spanish City

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052771: Spanish City and Gardens, Whitley Bay

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Spanish City, Whitley Bay c.1963

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Spanish City. Whitley Bay. Circa 1986.

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WHITLEY BAY & TYNEMOUTH.

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Whitley Bay by air

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Spanish city 80s

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Whatever Happened to Whitley Bay ? (from 2008)

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Whitley Bay July 1976

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Spanish City, Whitley Bay

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Dome interior

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Spanish dome

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Spanish dome 3

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Dome queue

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253/365 A Dome for all Seasons

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Spanish City Dome

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Tyne and Wear HER(2216): Whitley Bay, Spanish City and Empress Ballroom
- "This building is an early example of the use of ferro-concrete in a leisure building. It was designed by Cackett & Burns Dick, the dome being built for Whitley Pleasure …

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SPANISH CITY - List Entry
- "Theatre, and eight shops, converted to amusement arcade, bar and bingo hall, all shops now vacant.1908-10 by Cackett and Burns Dick for Whitley Pleasure Gardens Ltd; LG Mouchel engineers using …

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Tyne and Wear HER(15067): Whitley Bay, Spanish City, funfair
- "Spanish City was opened by Charles Elderton on 6 March 1908. The temporary premises could hold 5000 people. Elderton had been holding a summer open air variety theatre on Rockcliffe …

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Watts Slope
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Watts Slope
- Overview Map Street View Watts Slope is a short road and walkway, which runs down to Whitley Sands in Whitley Bay, with the Promenade to the north of it and …
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Whitley Bay

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Spanish City Fun Fair

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Dome Restoration - nearing completion

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Looking over the Panama Dip to the Dome

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Acc 14626 - Spanish City Whitley Bay

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ACC 14705 - Spanish City - Dome steelwork over building 1909

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Acc 14627 - Spanish City Roundabouts

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ACC 14707 - Spanish City - Dome interior 1909

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Acc 29485 - Spanish City with shopfront and balcony

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Acc 6524 - Spanish City from the Air 1950s

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Spanish City site cleared - early 200s 03

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Spanish City site cleared - early 200s 07

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Spanish City Dome 27.10.2008 05

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Spanish City Dome 27.10.2008 03

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Spanish City Dome - Whitey Bay

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Seafront Regeneration
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Seafront Regeneration
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Spanish City - Whitley Bay

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Spanish City - Whitley Bay

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Spanish City - Whitley Bay

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Whitley Bay - Dome and Beach

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Whitley Bay sunrise by the Dome

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Spanish City Dome or the Taj Mahal

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Spanish City, Whitley Bay

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Top of the Dome, Whitley Bay

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Dancing Lady, Whitley Bay

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Giant Deckchair, Whitley Bay

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Spanish City gardens, Whitley Bay

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ACC 6910 Pleasure Gardens

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ACC 9785 Water chute and figure 8 railway, Spanish City

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ACC 16292 Spanish City

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ACC 29486 Big Wheel, Spanish City

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Witley Bay - Bingo Hall and back of Spanish City

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Witley Bay - Bingo Hall roof damage

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Witley Bay - Bingo Hall roof damage

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Spanish Dancer via roof

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Spanish City

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Spanish City-Whitley Bay

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List number: 1025339
List grade: 2
Tyne & Wear HER: 2216
Post code: NE26 1BG
Borough: North Tyneside
Grid ref: NZ3539872722

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