| Product: |
Blackburn in General |
| Date: |
11/11/00 (156 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Impressive shopping; decent housing; Blackburn Rovers; very late pub opening hours.
Disadvantages: High-ish poverty and crime; Victorian architecture lost; townies take over at weekends; the council are incompetent.
Think of Blackburn for a second. What comes to mind? I'd bet the football team is somewhere near the top of your list, and the more political-minded of you might recall that Jack Straw is the town's MP. Beyond that, the cliches start to come into play. Mills, flat caps and whippets, a chip shop on every street corner and enormous numbers of terraced houses, home to bitter, craggy-faced housewives with fifteen children under the age of five.
I'd like to say those cliches are entirely untrue, but unfortunately there is still at least a small element of truth in some of them. It is still hard to find an area of the town without a Victorian mill visible on the skyline. The only difference now is that instead of churning out half of the country's cotton, they are derelict, vandalized shells which only serve to remind the town of what it once used to be. Likewise, should those dee-licious Weight Watchers 'shakes ever get you down, there's sure to be a chippy just round the corner to serve up a nice, healthy bag of chips and a greasy dab on the side.
Blackburn, then, could perhaps have been the place A Tale Of Two Cities was referring to (only more pies, and less Parisian). On the one hand, the legacy of its long and quite successful history looms over the town, while on the other it is a town trying desperately to pull itself into the twenty-first Century. Both sides are clearly visible to the visitor and resident - from the uber-chic new train station and boulevard, right down to the Anglican cathedral only a few footsteps away. The effect is a curious one - whereas many towns have an easily identifiable "style" that you remember them by, Blackburn is a mish-mash of inspired design and architectural disasters.
There is much on offer for the prospective visitor. The town is well situated in the rail network, being only a half-hour journey from the central point of Preston and lying on the east-west Blackpool to
Scarborough line as well. The council, responding to decades of criticism, have in recent years undertaken a complete re-structuring of the area surrounding the train station and boulevard, creating an all-in-one, modern arrival point. The jury is still out on the success of these plans, however, with critics citing the lack of facilities in the area and high crime levels as examples of the scheme's failure.
Many of the town's problems stem from over four decades ago, when a number of events conspired to signal a major downturn in the town's fortunes. The decline of the cotton industry in this country reached its peak and hit Blackburn - at one time the world's largest producer - especially hard. The result was mass unemployment and the beginning of the migration away from the town which has only leveled off in recent years. The councils of the Swinging Sixties were also carried away by the excitement of the time and the rush to be seen as modern, and began the wholesale destruction of much of the town's Victorian architecture to be replaced by hideous brown-shiny-tiled monstrosities that have only been replaced themselves (thanks heaven for small mercies) in the last few years. The little classic architecture that remains, for example the superb town museum and surrounding area, is now the exception rather than the rule, which is a crying shame. Cities such as Chester have thrived on the basis of their heritage, something Blackburn will never be able to do (unless hideous 1960s architecture should come back into fashion in a hundred years).
What in lacks in design, fortunately, Blackburn makes up for in content. There is much more to the town than most realise, something I imagine could be said of many places across the country. The afore-mentioned cathedral is a must-see, featuring some superb stained-glass windows and regular organ and choir recitals (including my good friend Phil, an excellent organist and jazz aficionado wh
o played at a wedding the day after the night of his eighteenth birthday - now that's dedication for you).
Only a short walk from the cathedral sits the entrance to the shopping centre, at present owned and under development by Standard Life. All the major national chains are represented, and there are very few empty shops. The whole centre has undergone modernisation over the last few years, and for a change it must be said it has on the whole been successful. The entrance to Ainsworth Street in particular is very impressive. The most recent shoppers guide ranks Blackburn two places behind its neighbour Burnley, which I believe is unjust - although to put this into context, the two towns are ranked 149th and 151st respectively. If only by virtue of its huge indoor market, Blackburn deserves to be ahead. The market has also been modernised of late and is no longer the shabby mess some may remember it as.
Entertainment-wise, Blackburn has much to offer, although it is a long way from competing with bigger towns and cities. The cinema in the town centre is newly refurbished and shows all the latest releases, while for visitors seeking a culture trip, the museum has regular displays and is well worth a look. The town also boasts an Olympic-size ice arena, and I must say it's a great way to spend an hour or two, even if you do regret it in the morning (ice cuts really, really hurt, I've found...). Of course, Blackburn Rovers could not go without a mention - although the team's fortunes have dipped of late, Ewood Park remains a superb venue and tickets are now more reasonably priced. The whole area surrounding the ground comes alive on matchdays, and the more unscrupulous visitor may wish to watch games for free, sat on the embankment behind the ground.
A special mention must also go to the town's nightlife, which I would rank above almost every other town I have ever been to (York being the exception). Blackburn has an abov
e-average number of pubs per person, and this is reflected as you walk around the town centre - it being almost impossible to walk a distance without finding a pub in your way. At weekends, the entire town centre fills with people on a night out. Most pubs are within a very short distance of each other, particularly around the Northgate and Sudell Cross areas, which means at closing time the streets fill with people and the takeaway tills start ker-chinging. Late licenses are far more numerous than elsewhere, too, with several pubs opening until 2am and most nightclubs open until 3am.
With a stable population of just over a hundred thousand, Blackburn cannot be such a bad place to live. Much of the town's housing is a remnant of its Victorian boom years, with long rows of terraced housing circling the town centre and beyond. In the past few decades, suburbs have really begun to develop in outlying areas, such as Lammack and Beardwood, where the most expensive housing is found. Unfortunately Blackburn is also home to its fair share of crime-ridden council estates, Shadsworth and Mill Hill being just two examples. Police have found it nigh on impossible to tackle what is really a social problem, and crime remains high in these areas. Yet, the town as a whole offers a wide range of attractive properties, and prices remain well below the national average.
In the big picture, Blackburn appears to have numerous problems - from high crime in some areas, to a fairly sterile shopping environment, to social deprivation and unemployment. But as with all things, it also has a positive side which does shine through - the superb nightlife, respectable entertainment facilities, huge number of shops and markets, and a brilliant football team to boot. With enough to satisfy even the most ardent day tripper, Blackburn is well worth a look, even taking the tired old cliches into account.
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