Blackpool Pleasure Beach lived in London where Leonard worked at a Swedish Match Company, however upon hearing of Bean's death the couple returned to Blackpool, where decisions regarding the future running of the Pleasure Beach were in discussion. Leonard up until that point had not had any active involvement with the Pleasure Beach whatsoever, however on a mutual agreement with his wife it was agreed that Thompson would take over the running of the Pleasure Beach and have full responsibility of all its affairs. His first move was to appoint Oscar Haworth as the General Manager and George Palmer as Chairman of the
Ainsdale Beach railway station Ainsdale Beach railway station Ainsdale Beach was a railway station located in Ainsdale, Merseyside, England. The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened a line extending their existing system from Aintree to Southport on 1 September 1884. Seeing the potential in Ainsdale's large beach they subsequently built this station, which opened as "Seaside" in 1901. In 1911 it was decided to rename the station "Ainsdale Beach", which took effect from 1 January 1912. The station was built adjacent to a hotel called The Lakeside Hotel (in 2015 named 'The Sands' and trading as a local pub) situated at the