"YOU SHOULD NEVER BELIEVE THE WEATHER FORECAST"!! The 10m tide happened on Saturday, but it was like a mill pond.....ahhhh well, theres one more 10m on April 8th, here's hopeing. Well with no rough sea to entertain us, I turned my camera landwards.After the glory days this is the primary Entertainment left in New Brighton.The building on the far left with the wavey roof is the Floral Pavillion Theatre, with more history than I could fit here, but worth a Google for those interested.Next door we have the New Palace Amusements Arcade, more on that in a minute.On the right we have my second home,'Riverside Bowl & Laser Quest'...let's start with The New Palace. At the end of the 19th Century two Brothers called Wilkie were working in a Birkenhead rope factory.One Brother, George fixed a rope to the factory roof and removing his belt, would slide down into bails of hay in the courtyard, quite possibly inventing the 'Aerial Ropeway'.This became a very popular passtime with workers during their breaks.The Brothers set up a similar system at the Summer Season Fairground at New Brighton.George then managed to secure tenancy in the original Palace building, where he continued to invent wonderful and unusual amusement devices.Including the 'Reversible Joy Wheel' now more commonly known as the 'Miami Swing'.Reliably bad British weather meant people naturally came to The Palace from the outdoor fairs and attractions of a growing and bustling New Brighton.The years rolled by and the Palace was a hugely popular attraction, but Will Wilkie, George's nephew who had taken over the business on George's death, could see times were changing.Will saw the need for a newer, more modern building.The local council was making plans to extend the Promenade onto the sand, this proved the perfect opportunity for Will to build the New Palace Amusement Centre.The building was completed in 1939, at a cost of £11,000.No sooner was the New Palace finished, Europe and the World went to War.The fairground rides operated every day.....but not to amuse the locals....rather to mask the sounds from below.There is another half to the building you see...underground.Before Pearl Harbour, the Americans moved in and 200 women set to work in one of the most secret munitions factories of the war. After the war, it was business as usual and in the mid 1950's Will opened Wilkies Circus on a vaccant lot next door.Business boomed, but Will hated the British climate, in 1957 he packed up the Circus and took it travelling around South Africa, leaving the New Palace to his son George.Times change but Wilkies are still in South Africa in their permanent home Click Here In 1962 an Ocean liner docked in Liverpool, and an American moviestar,some of you may have heard of,made his way to New Brighton.Having booked tickets for an evening show at the Floral Pavillion, and after strolling round the New Palace, turning to the party of local dignitaries and asked "is there anywhere to go Bowling"? After a few puzzled looks he got the answer "No"! Douglas Fairbanks Junior was looking intently at the former,now vaccant, site of Wilkies Circus.He loved Tenpin Bowling, so much so,he helped found Fairlanes Bowling in America,and now he had an idea......but you wouldn't be interested in that....or would you????