Overview

Blackpool – Seven Miles of Heaven

Think of UK as a cold, rainy place full of ‘Stiff Upper Lips’? Visit Blackpool to see that image turned on its head. With the Golden Mile, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the Blackpool Tower mixed in with some serious amusement options this small seaside town attracts nearly six million beach combers every year. There is something for everyone here - the racy young tourists, big families on a break from domestic mayhem and for seniors looking for a quiet spot by the sea! The stiff upper lip got left behind in the city!

Blackpool is like a living entity, breathing, expanding and contracting with the influx and out-flux of tourist from high to low season and there is a marked difference in the city’s population between the two seasons. People come here to get away from it all, to comb its beautiful beaches, to get the adrenalin running at its gazillion roller coaster rides, to shop for some fun stuff and to enjoy the region’s ruddy cuisine.

Getting to Blackpool is easy as a pie and there are more beds in the city than all of Barcelona to accommodate all the traffic! With a beach at hand and water parks and a zoo there is everything here to make for a perfect weekend getaway. So what are you waiting for? Pick up that straw hat, pack in some sun block and the season’s hottest beachwear and get to Blackpool!

The Black Story

The popularity of Blackpool as a vacation town can be safely attributed to three things – the practice of sea bathing as a way to restore poor health, the development of that prudish contraption called the ‘bathing machine’ and the construction of a private road to the town by two enterprising men – Thomas Clifton and Sir Henry Hoghton.

For centuries before all of the above occurred, Blackpool was just another pretty village on the sea coast occupied in succession by the Setantii -which interestingly means “water dwellers”- who were a pre-Roman sub tribe of the Brigantes; and the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. Several place names existing from the 9th and 10th century suggest that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons may actually have lived side-by-side in peace! Perhaps had something to do with the tranquility in the air!

Around AD 80 the Romans occupied the area, then covered in deep oak forests and bogs, and left their unmistakable mark on the territory in the form of a fort of Dowbridge in Kirkham. From that time onwards, Blackpool, which is a part of the Fylde, grew as a notable Anglo-Saxon settlement, parts of which were even recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086.

The medieval era saw Blackpool emerging as a collection of farms on the coast, not being called ‘Blackpool’ till 1602 when entries in the baptismal register of the Bispham Parish Church mentioned its old name ‘ poole’ and the new ‘Blackpoole’. The city’s notable landmarks like Foxhall was built towards the end of the 17th century and an Act of Parliament in 1767 enclosed the area between Spen and Dyke as a ‘common’. Land was allotted to various landowners and the construction of several roads like Lytham Road and St. Anne’s Road began around this time, though Blackpool was still the country yokel’s land!

Then came the 18th century and with it the new fad of bathing in the sea to cure various diseases and Blackpool found itself at the center of the new panacea! The 1781 construction of a private road to Blackpool and the regular stagecoach services to Blackpool from Manchester and from Halifax in 1782, made it easier for the bourgeoisie to travel to Blackpool for repairing fraught nerves and general ill health. The town saw decent development in the early 19th century when Henry Banks started developing the city; four hotels came up along with an archery stall and bowling greens – making the town more suitable for longer stays and for vacations other than those that were medically driven.

Most of this real estate development can be traced back to Henry Banks who was responsible for several new constructions like holiday cottages and giving new life to the Lane Ends Estate and the Lane Ends Hotel. His work was carried on by his son in law Dr John Cocker who built the town’s first assembly rooms at the corner of Victoria Street.

However, the real surge in tourism came when the town got its first railway connection to the industrial towns of the north in 1840. Railway connections to Poulton and subsequently Lytham turned it into a destination with mass appeal and transformed it into a darling resort of the rich and the not so rich.

While the railway was snaking its way into the heart of Blackpool other developments were taking place in the city too - St John's Church was consecrated in 1821, the Victoria Terrace (1837) and St John's Market (1844) were constructed and amenities like gas light and piped water appeared by 1864.

A promenade along the sea front was built as well as the now famous North Pier and Central Piers were opened between 1856 and 1870. Other famous landmarks like the Raikes Hall Garden and the Winter Gardens were opened to public between 1872 and 1878. Meanwhile Blackpool got its Mayor and Corporation in 1876.

The appearance of electric lights in 1879 was quite an event as electric lights were the newest and most exciting invention of the decade and pulled in more visitors to Blackpool. Other events that cemented Blackpool’s reputation as a perfect holiday destination were the opening of the electric tramway in 1885 and the construction of the First Opera House in 1889. South Pier opened in 1893.

In the final years of the 19th century, Blackpool grew at an amazing rate with its population reaching 14,000 in 1881 and 147,000 by 1951! This was also the time when some of its most famous landmarks like the Blackpool Tower and the North Promenade were built. At the turn of the century more buildings of tourist interest came up – the Blackpool Town Hall in 1900, Grand Theatre in 1904, the first cinema opened in 1905 and the Grundy Art Gallery in 1911. The early 1900's also saw the development of the Pleasure Beach when the very first rides were installed with more to come.

In the period between 1920 and 1940 the city added more tourist attractions like the Blackpool Carnival, Stanley Park and Louis Tussauds Waxworks to its kitty. With all these attractions, miles of sunny beaches and so much to do, Blackpool today is one of your best bets for a carefree, affordable holiday.

The Best Time to go

Being close to the sea gives Blackpool an advantage over other holiday destinations in that there is a beach! But like English weather anywhere on the island, Blackpool’s weather is given to tantrums and capriciousness. The best way to minimize loss of fun on account of weather is to plan your trip between Mid March and November; the remaining months can be quite an exercise in restraining your temper!

Although some indoor attractions like the Blackpool Zoo are open all year round, squalls and strong winds can easily spoil a day at the beach or the pleasure park so aim for a time when schools are shut, winds are down and the rains are absent – some workout, huh?

The holiday season gets crowded during July and the madness hits the roof by September all through to November when nearly every family this side of the pond descends on Blackpool. Do book in advance because even with more beds than Barcelona, hotels are usually splitting with guests during high season.