Blackpool Illuminated

Whether you’re eight or 80, chances are you have happy memories of a holiday spent in Blackpool… mildly frightening donkey rides, sticky sticks of mint-flavoured rock, ropey sand castles on the Golden Mile and Dad being silly in a ‘kiss me quick’ hat.

It doesn’t matter if you think its cool or clichéd; nothing says a great British holiday like a break in this famous Lancashire town.

The resort itself has a long history with the British public: “Initially, in the Victorian era, people used to come here for the perceived health benefits of sea bathing,” says Mike Chadwick of Visit Blackpool, “We have a flat, gently shelving beach which always made it a popular choice.”

It certainly hit the right notes with Mike. Born and bred a Sand Grown, as the locals call themselves, he has devoted his whole career to telling people about the joys of the beach. “Over the years I’ve done it all from watching summer shows to playing in the sand. I love it here. Blackpool’s wonderful – the name is just synonymous with fun.”

Without wishing to dent Mike’s civic pride, Blackpool was originally synonymous with something slightly less pleasant than fun. The name is actually believed to come from a stream (or poole in local dialect) filled with the black water that drained from a nearby peat bog.

Luckily the town’s glorious beach ensured that the stream wasn’t the only thing it had to offer and the advent of a branch line from the main Preston and Wyre Joint Railway in 1846 saw Blackpool boom.

With an easy link between the seaside resort and the factories that dotted the northern end of England visitors begin to arrive in droves – providing the incentive for entrepreneurs to build hotels and new attractions throughout the 1850s and 1860s.

In 1863, the North Pier was completed, rapidly becoming the place to be seen for privileged visitors. Central Pier was finished in 1868, with a theatre and a large open-air dance floor. The town stretched southward past what is today known as the Golden Mile, towards South Shore, and South Pier was completed in 1893, making Blackpool the only town in the United Kingdom with three piers. In 1878, the Winter Gardens complex opened, incorporating the Opera House theatre, which was said to be the largest in Britain outside of London.

However, mention Blackpool’s heyday to people now and their mind will most likely turn to the 1950s when families would take their annual holidays in the resort en masse. The town thrived as more than 17 million holidaymakers per year relaxed on the beach and promenade. It was a golden period and, sadly, one that was impossible to sustain.

Almost as soon as cheap air travel enabled affordable package tours abroad people decided to decamp to the Mediterranean in search of more reliable weather – a trend that continues to this day. Go back a year or two and the town was in danger of losing its charm – the Golden Mile was getting grubby and suffering from the ravishes of endless stag parties. Frankly, Blackpool was in danger of becoming Cesspool.

But now the city is rising Pheonix-like from the flames and taking back its family holiday crown. “There’s a big emphasis on giving people more and more reasons to come to Blackpool,” says Mike Chadwick. “Stag and hen nights happen in every town across the UK at the weekend, and people still come here to have a good time, but the town is reclaiming its family image.

“It’s all about having fun. Around 10 million people come to visit every year, so a lot of money is being spent to keep them coming back. For example, at the moment the whole of the Promenade is being rebuilt to make it wider and turn it into an excellent space. It’s a great place to holiday that’s why generations of families have come to Blackpool again and again.”

He’s not wrong. Firstly there are the obvious attractions – the Pleasure Beach with its mix of traditional wooden rides and modern steel roller-coasters, the 158m Blackpool Tower containing a ballroom, circus and aquarium plus the ever-impressive annual Illuminations.

And then there are the seaside shows too. For more than a century people have bought tickets to see their favourite performers appearing live in Blackpool. One of the most enduring of these acts – who still play the town to this day – are Cannon and Ball.

Bobby Ball of the duo has nothing but praise for the resort. “Blackpool means a lot to Tommy Cannon and I,” he says with a smile. “When we were young the highlight of our year was the annual visit to Blackpool to see the Illuminations and, of course, seeing all the great stars appearing at the many theatres.

“Even to this day there is a magic about Blackpool. It doesn’t profess to be the cultural capital of the world but it certainly professes to be the fun capital of England. There is something to do for everyone – no matter what your taste you can find it in Blackpool. In fact it’s that good I came and lived here!”

The future’s looking pretty bright too with a £500m in place to build Storm City a proposed multi-themed indoor entertainment complex on a 30 acre site between Rigby Road and Central Drive. Once complete, it will house a 12,000-seat arena, four hotels, shopping areas, five themed entertainment areas, rooftop gardens and Blackpool’s own version of the London Eye.

It seems the last word should go to Mike Chadwick, as few people know the town better: “There’s a lot of competition out there these days but Blackpool still pulls them in and continues to be the most popular holiday destination in the UK.

“After all, there’s always something to do in Blackpool, whatever the weather. I know that sounds like a terrible cliché but, just for once, it’s true.”