Blackpool

I've just come back from a small conference in the seaside resort town of Blackpool. I was so excited a few weeks ago when I was told that this was going to be our destination! Even though it isn't very far from us, I've never been. I've heard countless stories about Blackpool from my husband and his family, neighbours and friends but this was going to be my first visit.

Blackpool is famous in the UK as a destination for traditional British seaside holidays. Historically it was where the Lancashire mill workers and miners from the North East went on their holidays. Families and couples would join holiday clubs, paying subscriptions or save weekly for their annual seaside holiday. These people couldn't afford cars and would come by bus and train. Indeed, The Man of The Place has had numerous holidays with his mum and dad. His parents as well as his grandparents went on holidays to Blackpool.

This is an old photo of Henry's mother, taken during a wartime holiday to Blackpool. We have a picture of her mother, Henry's grandmother in the same wacky scene but I couldn't find it. During my brief stay, I looked for this "Bongo" board or anything similar so I could report back but I didn't see anything.

Here is another war time photo. Henry's uncle Harry is second on the left (dark hair and glasses) and Henry's mother, Victoria on the far right. You can see that the weather is pretty foul in this photo but The Tower is still visible in the background.

Because of there are still grand ballrooms here in beautiful condition, international ballroom dancing competitions are held here.

This is the Grand Ballroom at the bottom of Blackpool Tower. There is another one like this at The Winter Gardens.


Blackpool is the annual destination for political party conferences. With all the hotels there, its one of the few places in Britain that can accommodate such an event.
The place is falling on hard times and struggles to compete for business with the foreign bargains that are available to holiday makers. Indeed it costs the same to fly to a Greek island as a week in Blackpool with a greater chance of warm weather. Its a shame that this is happening as this town has a unique culture. Stag nights and hen parties still choose Blackpool as a destination. In fact, a few of the guesthouses I passed when I first arrived had these notices in the window: I think that the groups of women and men on a celebration weekend can get too raucous for ordinary folk. I imagine that they would disturb other guests and possibly damage things while being high spirited.

Improvements are being made all the time. I think the days when grumpy boarding house owners turf the guests out at 9 am forbidding them reentry until 4, have gone. Gone also are the polyester sheets that were included in the stories of my husband's holidays.


The Blackpool Illuminations are still going strong. The Promenade is lit up like Las Vegas every evening . I got to see the Promenade at night when it was all lit up. I also got to ride on one of the trams. This was very fun.
There were lots of things I missed during this brief stay. I missed going to The Pleasure Beach where all the rides are. I didn't get to a fish and chip shop. I didn't buy any Blackpool rock (candy) or visit an arcade. I didn't get to go dancing in one of the grand ballrooms and I didn't get on to any of the three piers. It is a little seedy and rough around the edges, but it is still a place that can be enjoyed by the whole family. I'm going to have to go back.