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55-473: In 1909 Charles B. Cochran applied to the local council to lease an area of sand dunes on the beach to develop an amusement park. His application was successful and sand dunes south of Nelson's Gardens were let to Cochran on which he constructed an L. A. Thompson scenic railway to the designs of William Napier. The Scenic Railway opened on 24 July 1909 along with the Katzenjammer Castle, which

110-547: A Pirandello season, Sean O'Casey 's The Silver Tassie (1929), the Lunts in Sil-Vara's play Caprice (1929), Cole Porter 's revue Wake up and Dream (1929) which also went to Broadway, and Rodgers and Hart's Ever Green (1930), with Jessie Matthews . In 1930 Cochran produced Coward's comedy of manners Private Lives , which at the author's insistence played for a limited three-month season. It sold out within

165-615: A county borough , independent from the new Norfolk County Council . The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the whole area of the former county borough and parts of another two districts, which were all abolished at the same time: The Lothingland parishes had been in East Suffolk prior to the 1974 reforms; their inclusion in the Great Yarmouth district

220-788: A clerk in Brighton, he absconded with some of his employer's money and sailed to the US in 1891. He secured engagements in small roles in adaptations of Around the World in Eighty Days and Rip Van Winkle , but was otherwise so unsuccessful that he was forced to take what work he could get, ranging from selling fountain-pens at the Chicago World's Fair to serving as assistant to the Anglican chaplain at New York harbour. Eventually, he

275-465: A huge water chute was installed, which operated until 1928. Iles's lease of the site expired at the end of 1928 and the Council favoured an application for lease from showman Pat Collins . Iles removed his Scenic Railway and his involvement in the site came to an end. Pat Collins' son John was appointed to oversee day-to-day operations of the park. The Collinses installed a Figure 8 roller coaster and

330-587: A relief. One day in January 1951 he misjudged the temperature of the water and was badly scalded, dying in hospital a week later on 31 January. When the news of his death was announced, the BBC interrupted a broadcast to transmit a 25-minute tribute to him. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 3 February. A bust of Cochran was placed in the foyer of the Adelphi Theatre and a memorial panel to him

385-533: A revised version was presented. Cochran managed Royal Albert Hall from 1926 to 1938. Cochran and Coward worked together again in 1928 on This Year of Grace , which ran for 316 performances in the West End and 157 performances on Broadway. Away from revue, Cochran produced Coward's 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet , which ran at His Majesty's for 697 performances. In between the Coward shows Cochran presented

440-630: A study with Aubrey Beardsley ; they shared an enthusiasm for acting and appeared at the Brighton Pavilion in a play written by Beardsley. With Beardsley, Cochran saw a West End production of As You Like It in July 1890 given by Augustin Daly 's visiting Broadway company, led by John Drew and Ada Rehan . Cochran determined to pursue a stage career in New York. After briefly working as

495-696: A theatrical 'boom' as the prevailing mood, of troops and public alike, called for gaiety, lightness, and colour to offset the grim business in hand". Cochran turned to the genre of revue , hitherto little seen in Britain, and had a conspicuous box-office success in October 1914 with what the biographer James Ross Moore calls a "bare-bones" production, Odds and Ends . This show, with words by Harry Grattan and music by Edward Jones, starred Cochran's discovery Alice Delysia . Her song "We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go", encouraging young men to join

550-410: A week and was still playing to packed houses when it closed, despite, in Coward's words, "the gratifying knowledge that we could have run on for another six [months]". Coward and Cochran next collaborated with the spectacular family epic Cavalcade , which ran at Drury Lane for 405 performances from October 1931. Their last revue together was Words and Music in 1932, and their final collaboration

605-569: A wide range of plays by writers including Henrik Ibsen , James Barrie , Sean O'Casey , A. P. Herbert and Eugene O'Neill . Cochran was twice bankrupt – some of his productions were unsustainably lavish and expensive – but by the end of his career he had been honoured with a knighthood in Britain and the Legion of Honour in France. Cochran was born on 25 September 1872 in Brighton , Sussex,

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660-527: A zoo. He published four volumes of memoirs about his life and work. After beginning his career as an actor in the US in 1891, Cochran became a manager and press agent for theatrical and other entertainments. He returned to England in 1899 managing entertainers and eventually was producing theatre, sporting events, variety shows and revues. As a theatrical producer he was responsible for West End and some Broadway productions of shows by Noël Coward , Cole Porter , Vivian Ellis and Rogers and Hart as well as

715-481: Is based at Great Yarmouth Town Hall on Hall Plain, which was completed in 1882 for the old borough council. The borough comprises the urban area of Great Yarmouth itself, together with 21 surrounding parishes. At the time of the 2001 census , the borough had an area of 182 km² , of which 26 km² was in the urban area and 156 km² in the surrounding parishes. The borough had a population of 90,810 in 39,380 households, with 47,288 people in 21,007 households living in

770-513: Is on the east coast of Norfolk, facing the North Sea . It borders North Norfolk to the north, Broadland to the west, South Norfolk to the south-west, and East Suffolk to the south. The town of Great Yarmouth was an ancient borough , having been granted a charter in 1208. The borough was enlarged in 1668 to take in the Southtown area (also known as Little Yarmouth) on the south side of

825-532: The Garrick and Aldwych theatres and the Holborn Stadium , where he promoted many high-profile boxing matches, including Bombardier Billy Wells versus Joe Beckett and Beckett versus Georges Carpentier . Cochran later wrote: In the first years of the next decade Cochran presented a string of revues and a wide range of other theatrical productions, including Sarah Bernhardt 's last London season, at

880-547: The Oxford Music Hall , London, he put on Bruce Bairnsfather 's comedy The Better 'Ole , which ran for 817 performances. At the Pavilion in 1918 he produced the revue As You Were , composed by Herman Darewski and Edouard Mathe, with words by Arthur Wimperis , and starring Delysia, which ran for a year. Cochran was now, according to The Times "a power in the entertainment world". In 1919 he took control of

935-488: The Palace Theatre in 1935 ran for 261 performances, while his Broadway transfer of Escape Me Never (1935) managed only 96. The Boy David (1936), James Barrie 's last play, starring Elisabeth Bergner , failed at the box-office as did the coronation revue, Home and Beauty and Franz Lehár 's Paganini , starring Richard Tauber . Ellis writes that "a trip to America proved financially abortive". During

990-823: The Prince's Theatre (1921), a season by Diaghilev 's Ballets Russes at the Prince's (1921), the Chauve-Souris ballet company at the Pavilion (1921), and a 1923 season of Eleonora Duse at matinées and Sacha Guitry in the evenings at the New Oxford . The revues included London, Paris and New York (1920), with music by Herman Darewski ; Fun of the Fayre (1921); The League of Notions (1921); Mayfair and Montmartre (1922); and Dover Street to Dixie (1923), featuring

1045-457: The River Yare in the parish of Gorleston. In 1703 the borough was given the right to appoint a mayor. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, when it was also enlarged to include the rest of the parish of Gorleston. When elected county councils were created in 1889, Great Yarmouth was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services and so it became

1100-629: The Second World War Cochran produced nothing notable, but in 1946 he successfully renewed his collaboration with Herbert in Big Ben , with music by Ellis, followed by Bless the Bride (1947), which ran for 886 performances, the longest run of any of Cochran's shows. He was knighted in 1948 and appointed a chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1950. In his later years Cochran had severe arthritis for which he found very hot baths

1155-461: The American singer Florence Mills . The later shows were lavishly and expensively mounted: expenditure outran receipts. Hoping to recoup his losses Cochran put on a season of American plays in 1923, including Eugene O'Neill 's Anna Christie and The Hairy Ape , which did not repeat in the West End the success they had enjoyed in the US, and a spectacular rodeo at Wembley failed to attract

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1210-680: The European Union, the 5th highest such leave vote in the country. Although the UK Youth Parliament is an apolitical organisation, the elections are run in a way similar to that of the Local Elections. The votes come from 11 to 18-year olds and are combined to make the decision of the next, 2-year Member of Youth Parliament . The elections are run at different times across the country with Great Yarmouth's typically being in early Spring and bi-annually. The council

1265-576: The Pleasure Beach site was purchased at the end of 1993. At this time, Jimmy Jones ceded the role of managing director to his son Albert Jones. The Pleasure Beach Gardens opened in 1996. The Gardens are advertised as a place to relax away from the noise and excitement of the main park. The Gardens include Sara's Tearooms, a themed miniature golf course, refreshment kiosk, junior go-karts, Jurassic Gardens and an Upside Down House. Pleasure & Leisure Corporation PLC were one of two applicants to reach

1320-607: The Scenic Railway at Pleasure Beach at the time was one of Iles's rides. Unfortunately, it was extensively damaged by fire in April 1919 and a large section of the track and support structure was destroyed. The ride was quickly rebuilt, however, and opened later that same year. Under Iles's management, the site expanded throughout the 1920s to encompass much of the area still used today. A variety of rides were installed, including Jack and Jill, Noah's Ark and Over The Falls. In 1925,

1375-438: The army, was a particular hit. The revue dispensed with spectacular décor and a huge cast in favour of a more intimate style with modest staging – one critic commented that Cochran had spared no economy in mounting the show. At the first night the revue was part of a triple bill, but the other two parts were soon dropped, and Odds and Ends was expanded to a full evening, with only a brief curtain raiser . The revue appealed to

1430-572: The borough are also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. In the parts of the district within The Broads, town planning is the responsibility of the Broads Authority . The borough council appoints one of its councillors to sit on that authority. The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election , being run by a Conservative minority administration. The first election to

1485-482: The borough council as reformed under the Local Government Act 1972 was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Great Yarmouth. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of

1540-499: The casino. An 81-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and a Beefeater restaurant, along with a new car park, opened in June 2019. The company operating Pleasure Beach became a limited company in 2020. Managing director Albert Jones is assisted by his sons Jamie and Aaron Jones , who are also directors, and the third generation of Jones's to operate the park. Pleasure Beach continued operating during 2020 and 2021, despite concerns for closure due to

1595-462: The council . The leaders since 1999 have been: Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 17 wards , with each ward election one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum , 71.5% of Great Yarmouth voted to leave

1650-753: The crowds. In September 1924 Cochran was made bankrupt for the second time. Quickly discharged from bankruptcy, "penniless but ebullient" in Ellis's phrase, Cochran wrote his first book of memoirs, The Secrets of a Showman (1925). With the proceeds and financial backing from supporters, he began his association with Noël Coward with the revue On With the Dance (1925) at the London Pavilion (the first show to feature "Mr Cochran's Young Ladies"). The show, with sketches by Coward and musical numbers by Coward and Philip Braham , ran for 229 performances after which

1705-450: The designer Ernst Stern and the composer Engelbert Humperdinck . The play opened at Olympia on 23 December 1911. Initially, box-office takings were disappointing, but Hamilton Fyfe of The Daily Mail wrote of his astonishment "that so wonderful a spectacle as The Miracle " was drawing so few people, after which the Mail's proprietor, Lord Northcliffe , had his other papers extolling

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1760-417: The final stage in bidding for the large casino licence which was granted to Great Yarmouth Borough Council in 2007. The proposal for a complex called 'The Edge', to comprise a cinema, bowling alley, Premier Inn hotel and Beefeater restaurant, to be built on land south of the Pleasure Beach site, was accepted. However, the project was beset by various delays and ultimately significantly scaled back to remove

1815-574: The fourth of the nine children of James Elphinstone Cochran, a tea and cigar importer, and his wife, Matilda Arnold née Walton, the daughter of a merchant navy officer. In December 1879, at the age of seven, the boy saw the pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Theatre Royal, Brighton , starring Arthur Roberts . This experience inspired a lifelong passion for the theatre. At Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School between 1883 and 1888 he shared

1870-420: The genre of revue , hitherto unfamiliar, in Britain. Apart from revue, his major theatrical successes included The Miracle in 1911, noted for its spectacular staging, The Better 'Ole (1917), This Year of Grace (1928), Bitter Sweet (1929), Cavalcade (1931) and Bless the Bride (1947). He also promoted a range of other entertainments, including professional boxing, tennis, wrestling, circus and

1925-499: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism. New events, such as Coaster Cabana and Fairground Frights have proven popular and won awards. New rides are regularly added, including three new rides for 2024. Charles B. Cochran Sir Charles Blake Cochran (25 September 1872 – 31 January 1951), professionally known as C. B. Cochran or Charles B. Cochran , was an English impresario , known for popularising

1980-492: The lavish production, directed by Reinhardt, of Helen , Herbert's adaptation of Offenbach 's La belle Hélène at the Adelphi Theatre , starring Evelyn Laye in the title role. In the following year Cochran staged Porter's Nymph Errant starring Gertrude Lawrence . This was the last of his successes for several years: there followed what Ellis calls "the lean years". His London production of Anything Goes at

2035-441: The park passed to Jimmy Jones, who had married Albert and his wife Lottie's daughter, Jane Botton. Jimmy Jones was managing director throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1982, the pop group Madness recorded scenes for their music video for their song " House of Fun " at Pleasure Beach. In 1992 the various Botton Brothers companies were amalgamated into one company called Pleasure & Leisure Corporation PLC and freehold of

2090-463: The play, and it became a success. The biographer Samuel Heppner writes that the piece then played to full houses, "turning away disappointed members of the public in their thousands". Ellis comments that subsequently "the eulogies Cochran received from the Northcliffe press were offset by his more critical reception by other popular newspapers". The next attraction Cochran presented at Olympia

2145-526: The poet W. E. Henley ) and began producing serious drama in 1897, with Ibsen 's John Gabriel Borkman , at Hoyt's Theatre in New York with Henley in the title role. Later in that year Cochran returned to London, working as a journalist. Seeing a production of Cyrano de Bergerac in Paris, with Benoît-Constant Coquelin in the title role, he was convinced that Mansfield should play the part in New York. Cochran's biographer Vivian Ellis comments that this

2200-597: The prototype circular water chute, which had been designed by German showman Hugo Haase , both of which opened in 1929. In 1931 Pat and John visited the Colonial Exhibition in Paris where there was an amusement park among the attractions. The largest ride there was a scenic railway operated by Hugo Haase, who the Collinses had recently done business with. At the close of the Exhibition, Collins purchased

2255-470: The public and the show ran for more than 500 performances. Another musical comedy was Houp La! (1916), which Cochran produced at London's new St Martin's Theatre , where he had signed a 21-year lease, starring Gertie Millar . After several more revues and musical comedies, Cochran produced two sociological plays by Eugène Brieux – Damaged Goods ( Les Avariés ) and The Three Daughters of M. Dupont ( Les Trois Filles de M. Dupont ). In 1917, at

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2310-576: The ride for Pleasure Beach and it was dismantled, shipped to England and erected in the park. The ride, now called Roller Coaster , opened on 14 May 1932 and has been operational since. It remains the most popular ride at Pleasure Beach and it is now a rare example of the scenic railway design of roller coaster—being one of only two such rides left in the UK (the other being the Scenic Railway at Dreamland Amusement Park, Margate ) and one of only seven in

2365-471: The south-east of England since 1942. Albert Botton moved to Great Yarmouth to oversee day-to-day operations of the park and a policy of annual improvement commenced. Some of the rides that were at the Pleasure Beach during this time included The Jets, Satellite, Paratrooper, Sky Wheels and Swirl. Botton Brothers also installed their Gallopers near the entrance to Pleasure Beach in 1954 and this ride remains there today. Albert Botton died in 1975 and management of

2420-526: The urban area, whilst 43,522 people in 18,373 households lived in the surrounding parishes. Besides Great Yarmouth itself, other significant settlements in the borough include: The main part of Great Yarmouth itself, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 borough (and so including Gorleston) is an unparished area . The remainder of the district comprises the following civil parishes : † formerly part of Lothingland Rural District The following people, military units and organisations and groups have received

2475-536: The world. In common with most scenic railways, a ' brakesperson ' is required to ride with the train to control its speed and to stop it at the end of the ride, as there are no brakes on the track. By the 1950s, John Collins had endeavors elsewhere and could not commit the time to Pleasure Beach it needed. He sublet the site to Botton Brothers Limited ahead of the 1954 season. This was a company formed by brothers Albert and James Botton, who had operated various rides and attractions at travelling fairs and static parks around

2530-610: The wrestler George Hackenschmidt , the last of whom he matched at Olympia in 1904 against Ahmed Madrali, the "Terrible Turk". His first theatrical venture in London production, a farce called Sporting Simpson at the Royalty Theatre in 1902, was a failure. His second attempt, at the same theatre, Lyre and Lancet – an adaptation by F. Anstey and Kinsey Peile of the former's articles in Punch – also failed and in 1903 he

2585-542: Was Carl Hagenbeck 's "Wonder Zoo and Big Circus" in 1913. A London newspaper reported in January 1914 that the show "has broken all records for Olympia. Gigantic as the place is, it is difficult to find room for all who wish to see what a first-class circus is really like". In May 1914 Cochran took a lease of the Ambassadors , one of the West End's smaller theatres, with a capacity of 490 seats. The outbreak of war brought what The Times described as "something like

2640-516: Was Max Reinhardt 's spectacular production of Karl Vollmöller 's wordless play The Miracle . The original idea came from Cochran, who suggested to Reinhardt that he should stage a mystery play set in the Middle Ages, and that Olympia should be converted to look like a cathedral for the purpose. Reinhardt gave him a letter of introduction to Vollmöller who prepared a scenario. Cochran accepted it and worked in close collaboration with Reinhardt,

2695-470: Was a funhouse-style attraction. The following year, the Scenic Railway was clad in plaster sculpted to resemble mountainous terrain and decorated with lights, as was common for such rides at the time. A new ride, The River Caves, also opened. The park operated at a modest level until the outbreak of World War I, after which lease of the site passed to John Henry Iles . Iles had secured the rights to construct L. A. Thompson's scenic railway rides in Britain, and

2750-637: Was brought about as an amendment to the draft legislation at committee stage proposed by Anthony Fell , Member of Parliament for the Great Yarmouth constituency . The new district was named Great Yarmouth after its main settlement. The new district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Great Yarmouth's series of mayors dating back to 1703. Great Yarmouth Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Norfolk County Council . Parts of

2805-559: Was declared bankrupt. Hackenschmidt came to his rescue, paying off his debts for him. In 1905 Cochran married Evelyn Alice Dade, the daughter of a captain in the merchant navy. The marriage was lifelong and devoted, despite occasional infidelities on Cochran's part; they had no children. Between 1903 and the First World War Cochran restored his finances with other ventures, from roller-skating to circuses at Earl's Court and Olympia. His greatest success of those years

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2860-400: Was employed by the actor-manager Richard Mansfield , who thought he would never be a good actor (and told him so) but foresaw a managerial career for him, and appointed him as his private secretary at a salary ten dollars higher than he had enjoyed as an actor. After a disagreement with Mansfield, Cochran set up an acting school in New York in partnership with the actor E. J. Henley (brother of

2915-523: Was on Coward's Conversation Piece in 1934. After that, Coward ended the professional relationship, feeling that Cochran benefited disproportionately from their collaboration, although James Harding in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography comments that Coward's subsequent musical shows "never prospered as had those which enjoyed Cochran's magic touch". Cochran's association and friendship with A. P. Herbert began in 1932 with

2970-505: Was one of the earliest instances of Cochran's ability to star an actor in the right vehicle. He was reconciled with Mansfield and returned to the US as his manager, organising his nationwide tour of Cyrano de Bergerac . Cochran returned to London in 1899 and set up business in Chancery Lane as a theatrical agent. Gradually he gained success in management, representing Mistinguett , Ethel Levey , Harry Houdini , Odette Dulac and

3025-639: Was unveiled in St Paul's, Covent Garden (known as "the actors' church") in 1953. Great Yarmouth Borough Council The Borough of Great Yarmouth is a local government district with borough status in Norfolk , England. It is named after its main town, Great Yarmouth , and also contains the town of Gorleston-on-Sea and a number of villages and rural areas, including part of The Broads . Other notable settlements include Caister-on-Sea , Hemsby , Hopton-on-Sea and Winterton-on-Sea . The borough

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