UK – Blackpool

Blackpool, a city that is well known in the UK but probably unknown abroad.

British citizens have a regard for the town, be it a hate or love syndrome but it can surprise many who have never been there before, like me !

History of Blackpool.

It has a tenuous link to the past. If you really want to claim ancient history for the place, then evidence of humans living here date from over 11,000 years ago. In 1970 arrowheads found in a 11,000 year old dead elk show hunting was happening here by man at that time.

In 1840 and 1926, Roman coins found here show that Romans inhabited the area. In 1086 various villages nearby were named in the Doomsday Book.

A name similar to Blackpool was first used here in Medieval times and referred to the “black”ish water, that drained off the nearby “Pull” or peatlands of the day. So I guess the name means “Dark peatland waters”.

The official name “Blackpoole” first appears in 1602.

Houses first appeared in 1767 in coordinated long roads to the north and east of present day Blackpool. Four major hotels arrived in 1780 for guests wanting to take in the health giving properties of the sea air. Beach horse riding, bowls and recreation was now enticing the well-to-do.

In the 1800’s, Henry Banks, often considered to be the ‘Father of Blackpool’, started  building on a grander scale with public buildings in what is now the town centre. His daughter married William Crocker, son of another influential Blackpool builder.

Crocker went on to commence the enlargement of the town on a big scale. He built the present Winter Gardens around his own substantial house as well as a  massive new attraction – an Aquarium.

This building later became the site of the famous Blackpool Tower. The tower was styled on the Eiffel Tower of Paris and stands today as a landmark of the town.

He became Mayor in 1895 and died in 1911.

The railways, carrying cargo, arrived in 1840, mainly to serve the port of Fleetwood, a few miles north. The cargo was overtaken by passengers by 1846. These passengers were the mill and factory workers of the industrialised towns further inland, who were now using Blackpool as a day or small break destination. .

In the 1860, music Halls and entertainment areas were appearing and thriving from this new influx of “holiday trippers”, In 1863 Blackpool’s first pier – the North Pier – was built and secured the town’s name as a day-trip destination for the working class northerners of the surrounding area.

From 1865-75 the town was home to new buildings and attractions and another Pier (central Pier) was built. Bathing pools, theatres, pubs and more entertainment centres for the working masses were added and the huge new sea promenade was finished. The railway had to be double tracked to cope with the demand!

Blackpool, a working class seaside town

The town was now a working class destination during the Summer months and not for the gentry as before.

In 1885 the present electric railway tram routes were laid down (another Blackpool landmark and must see).  This was the first of its kind anywhere in the UK. By 1890 there were 250,000 visitors arriving annually in Blackpool.

By 1889 an opera House had been built and in 1894 the famous Blackpool Tower was finished – the tallest building in the UK, and indeed the British Empire, at the time. It was a huge attraction with its top floor viewing platform and still is the number one attraction today. It’s hard to imagine Blackpool without its tower and trams today!

In 1893 its third pier – the Victoria Pier, now called the South Pier arrived …. how many piers does this town need?!

What have I missed out that Blackpool is also famous for …. well the Illuminations of course. These overhead decorative lights were invented and displayed to welcome the wife of the King to the town in 1912.

At 10 km long and using over one million bulbs, the Blackpool Illuminations are an awesome spectacle. Usually they are here from the beginning of Sept to the beginning of Jan to cover the run up to Christmas and into New Year.

Originally called “Artificial Sunlight,” each year they shine out at night, lighting up the entire seafront promenade.

Blackpool Highlights

The town, love it or hate it, has become a steadfast interpretation of the English holiday town. It’s up there with Brighton and Skegness as a seaside destination for a cheap, and in most people’s mind, tacky weekend or week away.

It suffers from the view of it as a northern working class town, pampering to the base elements of a week away for those who can’t afford a week abroad. Heavens know why as these days a week abroad as often cheaper than a week here.

The B&B’s are not so cheap and the funfair and amusement rides not inexpensive. Yes, you may get fish n chips, candy floss, and ice cream cheaper but beer, food in general and accommodation would be uncompetitive.

You also have to contend with the British climate – blink and you may miss the height of Summer, the sea is still cold in Summer and there is always a good old British downpour of rain even in the high season….. so why do they still flock here in their thousands.

Well, for most of them Blackpool is a short car or train ride away, rather than half a day of plane and taxi transfers. It sells everything British (for those who can’t take the “foreignness” of abroad). It is cooler for those who can’t stand the heat of foreign shores and I suppose for many who consistently come here, religiously every Summer, it is a case of familiarity and the norm.

For me the town has some charm, but the attempt to convert Edwardian buildings into something modern doesn’t work. The sight of fairground attractions send chills down my spine – I’m not a vertigo, nausea-inducing lover of  spinning rides.

The cold sea, with a Summer in England that is never too hot for me, would never entice me onto its beaches.

The hordes of screaming kids and often drunk lads groups similarly repel me. I’m ashamed to be doing a review of a town that I do not enjoy that’s British, but its got to be done!

For those that enjoy all the above it is heaven and I wish them well and hope they have a great time here. To me, being the culture-vulture, history-loving, single traveller that I am, it would be a nightmare location.

Blackpool Beaches

The beach, granted, is wide and well maintained. It stretches for several kilometres along the front of the town from the North to the South Pier via the Central Pier and even further. The bathing is generally safe with lifeguards present at the height of the season.

I’ve seen the huge crowds in the Summer. Unless you like the masses, or are prepared to go on the less crowded but more north or south extremes of the beach, you will feel overwhelmed.

The sea promenade is wide. pedestrianised and actually quite attractive to stroll along.

The backdrop across the road (dodging the trams as they trundle by), has many amenities. The shops and stores selling takeaway food, bars and restaurants and general amusement arcades are all at hand.

I found most of these stores however to be conversions of bland buildings or over- attempts from the sixties to build a “modern building”. Bar signage is overlarge on the outside, presumably for them to be seen across the road on the promenade to entice people in.

It can seem a rag-bag of differing styles of architecture and heights of buildings that in my opinion looks jaded and past their best. Sea front B&Bs jostle with amusement arcades and bars on the same stretch of promenade. Suffice to say nothing enticed me in.

Blackpool Tower

This Eiffel Tower. Paris inspired structure is 158 metres tall and is actually the 125th-tallest freestanding tower in the world. In its day it was the tallest structure in the British Empire.

This is the defining landmark building of Blackpool and its image is often mistaken for its Paris rival due to the near identical design.

It contains a famous ballroom from which dance competitions have been held for decades. Today TV ballroom dancing shows are broadcast from here. There is also a café  and a roof garden within .Click here for Tower website for entrance info 

It sits atop a three storey red brick building, somewhat industrial looking in style and dates from 1894.

The interior has been maintained well and still shows the original reddish glazed brickwork and embossed turquoise decorative tiles.

The old wide staircase is still here and it shows its age in actually creaking slightly with each step.

A glass showcase displays what you are about to climb so you can understand its structure beforehand.

If you do nothing else, then the “must do” thing in Blackpool, is to take the elevator to the top. You will get fantastic views across the town and seafront.

Yep, like most tourist towers around the world, it has a glass floor section for those adventurous enough to walk on it. Not me ! I get vertigo anyhow at heights and the thought of walking on a glass floor, with a 150 metre drop below, terrifies me.

That’s my foot touching the glass pane of the floor … and that’s as far as I was willing to go!

Others were loving the experience of a glass floor and the number of kids squealing in delight at the novelty of it was fun to watch.

The nearby mountains of the Lake District can be seen from here and the whole seafront opens up before you, The panorama across the town and the countryside can be enjoyed, with the impending high hills of the inland looming ahead.

You can clearly see right from the south pier to the north one and onto Fleetwood further along the coastline. More on Fleetwood later when I visit it on this trip.

Blackpool Promenade

This promenade was gradually extended and enhanced throughout the centuries. It was initially designed as a sea defence against the harsh and tempestuous Irish Sea.

Then it was needed as a fortification of the walkway above it, as Blackpool attracted residents and day trippers wanting to enjoy the walks along the sea front and the bracing sea air.

It is today a semi-entertainment zone in itself and provides a sheltered backdrop to the sandy beach.

The railings and steps down to the beach hark back to its Edwardian era and the buildings that line the seafront are a mish-mash of every style from the 1870’s to the 1970’s.

A one hundred years line of assorted buildings, in assorted uses, forms its sea front line-up.

Comedy Carpet

The Promenade also contains a unique and very English themed attractions.

On the walkways is a floor display of the famous and well known quips and jokes from the stars of Music Halls, theatres and, more recently, TV  through the ages. I have to say I had heard most of them, but a few threw me.

Some are just downright stupidly funny but many are certainly risqué even by todays standard. Double entendres and play on words were the funniest for me. The biggest lettering were for the most well known sayings from famous comedians and stand up comics, even a few comedy actors.

Blackpool has long been associated with working Men’s Clubs and Music Halls where many of these comedians would have played. The Comedy Carpet thus harks back to a Golden Age of Blackpool entertainment.

The best view on the floor painted display was probably from the Blackpool Tower just in front.

From the tower, at the roof level, you can look across to the display to appreciate how large its total display area is.

Blackpool Trams

Blackpool was the first town in the UK to have electric trams and they are still very much in use today as part of its integrated urban transport system.

There are 76 trams (including 8 preserved trams) and 7 trailer cars. They are a variety of ages and designs, with a mix of double and single-deckers, open and closed-top cars, and special illuminated trams.

There is even a special Heritage Tram Service. These are various trams mostly from the 1930s that take a route along the promenade. You can book and ride in one of the expertly refurbished trams and experience a ride from days long gone.

I saw a couple of the beautiful old trams trundle by and they have special stops to get on and off at. It is worth the time to arrange to ride one of these unique vehicles and it could even be a highlight of your trip here. Click here for Heritage Tram info

The majority are modern trams, just as you would see in most modern cities, but the older versions still run.  Every now and again one pulls up as part of the regular service and a photo opp just screams at you !.

This must be one of the few places in the world where old and new versions of trams run as one service, deliberately combined.  I can only think of Vienna in Austria, Zagreb in Croatia and San Francisco in the USA where I have seen a similar service.

I have to say that I think Blackpool however runs the oldest trams still and in such a marked variety to the other three cities.

Winter Gardens

This place is huge and although I was not able to go inside due to renovation works, it is impressive in its ornamentation from the outside.

Originally opened in 1878 as an indoor promenade area. It had a concert hall/theatre, glass conservatories and facilities designed to attract people in, especially during the famous bad weather times.

It was gradually extended and added to over the decades. An Opera House was added in 1889 but altered and rebuilt several times. In 1896 a huge Ballroom and Arena were added. In 1896 the original Ferris wheel was located here (now long gone).

The Olympia Hall was added in 1930, originally a hall of stalls and attractions but now a kiddies adventure playground.

The Winter Gardens today are now renown as a conference centre and exhibition hall.

Over the decades it has hosted the annual conferences of most British political parties and trade unions. It is claimed that every Prime Minster since World War 2 has addressed their party at a conference here. Fame indeed!

Nowadays it hosts major festivals, sports gathering, dance competitions and world darts tournaments.

Blackpool Town Centre

Blackpool does not contain ancient, historical buildings, The Tower, Winter Gardens and classic old metropole Hotel are famous enough in themselves but more for entertainment and meetings.

There’s no Castle, Cathedral, major museums, art galleries, important Stately Homes halls or Royal connections. The town itself is rather small, somewhat run down with desperate attempts to modernise old buildings for store usage, but fails to impress.

There are a couple of what may be called attractive buildings in themselves but not tourist must sees. they are depicted below

St John’s Church is probably the nearest it has to anything historical. Built in 1878 it replaced a church from 1821 and is still in use today.

The Town Hall, built in a rather attractive Jacobean style was opened in 1900 and has grand murals in its Council Chambers.

One pedestrianised street has rather over-the-top futuristic seating and overhead lighting arches. Its aluminium silver frames look totally out of place in the mainly Victorian red brick and later stucco clad buildings. I thought I was entering into an alien themed street when I turned the corner and saw it! Definitely a  street artwork piece that clashes with its surroundings.

At the far northern end of town sits the quaint old Metropole hotel. Opposite a tall obelisk memorial to the past World Wars stands rather grandly facing the sea .

So what have I missed out here

Alternative Blackpool

Blackpool is an entertainment centre. It caters mainly for family holidays by predominantly English and Welsh residents. There is a large Scottish presence during certain times of the year too. These groups need looking after so there are centres for funfair and adventure style rides. I’ll list them below but not being a funfair person I did not go there.

They are valid places to visit if you want to pass the time in a fun atmosphere with the family or as a group of friends.

• Blackpool Zoo. Over 1000 animals, birds and reptiles reside in a scenic 32 acre park amidst mature trees, lakes and spacious lawns. All the favourites are here including big cats, elephants, giraffes, sealions, gorillas, orangutans, camels, zebras and many, many more. It is a small zoo located next to Stanley Park which is a quiet park to take a stroll in. Located about 3 km east of the city.
• Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Located near the South Pier on the sea front. This is a huge themed amusement park full of traditional and exciting rides and entertainment. It holds “The Big One”, a massive roller coaster that in its day was the tallest in the world. Thrill seekers should head here but be warned as the entrance ticket is not cheap.
•  Sea Life. Showing more than 50 dazzling displays and more than 2,000 spectacular aquatic creatures including tropical sharks, colourful reef fish, octopus, rays and sea horses. Located near the Central Pier on the sea front next to Madame Tussaud’s
• Madame Tussaud’s. A provincial version of the famous London waxworks. It also includes many British figures, that I suspect will be unknown out of the UK. Located near the Central pier next to Sea Life.

Having seen Blackpool in a day I had a spare day free. I was in the area meeting some friends for a get together and decided that I would make a two day event of it and see more of this part of the UK. I rarely travel this far north of England, although I have travelled extensively throughout most of the UK.

I heard about Fleetwood being an old fishing port now closed down and past its hey day. I noticed that the tram network goes from the far south of the city and ends here – effectively in another town.

So I returned to my hotel for the day and resolved to explore Fleetwood the next day.

Tram trip to Fleetwood

For years I had wanted to ride the  famous Blackpool tramway the full length of the line. Now I had a full day to do it in before I set off back home on a 5 hour drive.

I picked up the tram at its southern depot, the Starr Gate stop. Staying on it till it reached Fleetwood some 18 km away, it took about an hour to complete the journey.

The tram I choose was one of the modern version. Absolutely spotlessly clean, safe, comfy and pristine, as if new. The travellers were locals and a complete mix of people. There were schoolkids getting to school. older generations doing their shopping and business people using the tram to get home. This was not a tourist trip and presumably the tourists waited for the older, traditional styled trams.

The route runs parallel to the coast and beaches initially from the southernmost stop. It veers inland through the suburbs at a mid way point. Great views of the beaches and piers can be had from your seat.

It passes the seafront entertainment locations so if you did need to stop of at any of them, the tram is the best way to get to them, I was using it as a sightseeing trip and even though I didn’t go in the many fun attractions I saw them from the comfort of my window seat.

Arriving at the mid point of the seafront promenade, I noticed the tram was filling up. People with shopping bags and workers were getting on as clearly many lived in the northern suburbs of the town.

The tram then passes through the residential areas of the town. It vies with cars on the road, who give way to the tram, especially at the traffic control points.

The Edwardian and 1950’s houses of the northern suburbs were well spaced out. An almost affluent feel started to appear in the homes near the track and next to the frequent parklands we passed by.

An hour later and I had arrived at the northern terminus in Fleetwood where I will spend a couple of hours.

Fleetwood

The town was established by in 1830 by the wealthy landowner of the area who wanted to turn  the hamlet into a seaport and railway spur.

He commissioned civic buildings, many of which still exist today, and residential houses to be built. The sea port expanded as a deep sea fishing port and grew as a ferry link to the off-shore Isle of Man. The railway arrived from London and it was also a rail-ferry terminus for boats to unlinked Scotland.

The town declined when a railroad was built straight through the Lake District to Scotland. Fleetwood and its ferry boats to Scotland were now no longer needed to get to the previously remote Scotland.

The fishing industry disappeared in the 960’s, but some small factories remained. Today it is a sleepy commuter town with a small centre.

The views from its well maintained sea front Esplanade show the vastness of the Irish Sea it faces. On a clear day you can see across Morecombe Bay to the mountains of the Lake District on the far opposite bank.

Probably the two largest buildings or structures in the town are also the most famous.

The semi-circular grand North Euston Hotel, next to Jubilee Park, stands out. It seems such a large building, from 1841, for what is now a small town.

This building was originally built as a hotel (and it still is today) for guests overnighting from London, before catching the ferry to the Isle of Man.. It was also near the terminus for the steam boats to Scotland.

Queen Victoria travelled on this rail route in 1847 but did not stay at the hotel.

Jubilee Park is a grassy, lawned, open area next to the tram terminus. It is used recreationally by locals and has pretty flower beds and benches to rest on. On my visit there were some fun Star Wars themed dressed statues on the lawns of the Park.

Fleetwood lighthouses

The Pharos (lighthouse) was built in the town in 1840 next to Jubilee park and its light could be seen for 21 km out to sea.

Two further lighthouses were built nearby. One, known as  the Lower or Beach Lighthouse from 1939 is on the Esplanade walkway. Its light can be seen from 14 km out to sea.

Another built off shore is now disused. Fleetwood is now the only town in the UK to possess three lighthouses. The two within the town itself remain fully operational.

The Esplanade

The sea front has a cute walkway along most of the sea frontage. The floor has a modern creative twist is its swirling patterns of beige sealed gravel and grey tarmac.

Small silver fish are set into the ground, denoting its fishing heritage and a few pieces of past industrial equipment have been converted to pieces of street artwork. The ferry to Knott End still operates across the wide river mouth.

So, that’s Blackpool done and dusted.

I got what I expected – a northern working class seaside town with family theme parks, amusement halls and decent beaches. Nothing too grand there and pretty much as expected.

What did surprise me was the wide sea front promenade and the fabulous trams running the length of the coast. The town itself was clean and tidy and seemed to be holding up well against the decline of the traditional British seaside resort.

Yes, there were a few building needing renovation and some were abandoned or badly converted.

The suburbs were very neat and looked quite affluent in many areas.

The trip to sleepy but quaint Fleetwood on the tram was more enjoyable than I expected. The views across Morecombe Bay were spectacular and a real bonus to my trip.

Am glad to have finally done the trip. Would I go there on a long journey solely for seeing Blackpool – No.

I would combine it with a trip to somewhere else nearby as I did. I drove from Birmingham after my stay there. Click here for the link to my Birmingham post . I then actually stayed in Preston about 27 km, 30 mins travel away as this is where my friends were meeting and commuted in Blackpool..

If you need to see the classic “working class” seaside town then head for Blackpool. The Tower and Promenade alone are worth the trip !

July 2017

Below are some related posts on nearby places to visit. Click on the pic to view.