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
Cooden Beach railway station Cooden Beach railway station Cooden Beach serves Cooden at the western end of Bexhill in East Sussex. It is on the East Coastway Line, and train services are provided by Southern. The station was first opened on 11 September 1905 as "Cooden Golf Halt" to serve a growing area of new, mainly high quality, housing located close to the beach (hence its later name). By 1922, the name had been simplified to "Cooden Halt". With the growing housing development of the 1930s and the electrification of the line a new enlarged station was built adopting its present name of "Cooden