Blackpool, Bizarre and Brassy (Blackpool in General)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Blackpool in General
Date:	09/06/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to look at, lots to do, diversity.

Disadvantages: It can eat up all your money if you let it

It's my opinion that if you don't like Blackpool, you're tired of life. Even if you think it's loud, crass and cheap there's something fascinating about the place.

There's so much to say about this town, I am going to limit my review to the beach, The Golden Mile, the amusement arcades and the nightlife.


My love affair with Blackpool goes right back; I grew up in Preston (about 14 miles away) and my great grandma had a house in St Annes-on-Sea (5 miles away) so I was always going to Blackpool for a treat. Even now, I still spend the odd weekend there.


The Golden Mile
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This is the mile of the promenade which stretches from North Pier to the Pleasure Beach (rides). It is full of amusement arcades, chip shops, cheap shops with 'Kiss Me Quick' hats, pubs, attractions and hotels. A good way of walking 'The Golden Mile' is to get the tram to the Pleasure Beach and then walking back (or vice versa). I challenge you not to buy anything at all.


The Beach and Sea
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The beach has changed visually very little over the years. Miles of sand, donkeys and the sea, which is sometimes so far away it looks like you need to catch a bus there. The sand quality, however, has - the pollution has lessened. Thirty years ago, there was a lot of oil in the sand - so when you played on the beach it squidged between your toes. Mmmmn, nice. The poor mums, dads and grans had the pleasant job of wiping it off before jamming your feet into your jelly sandals. We knew how to have fun then. These days, the sand is much improved - I wouldn't say it was perfect but you can sit on it and kids can play in it and it looks pretty good.

Thirty years ago, you could look over the rails of one of the three piers and see astonishing things floating on the surface of the sea. I remember being horrified by the amount of used sanitary towels flapping about in the wave action under the pier struts. Perhaps even worse, I remember swimming in the sea with my nan and being bitten by tiny sewage bugs. Things have changed now though. The town had a major upgrade of its sewage system quite a few years ago so the sea is much cleaner. I have been amazed at the improvement in water quality. I even ventured in for a paddle with my daughter when she was smaller; no nasties, no bugs.


The sight of that unpleasant flotsom and jetsom all those years ago burned into my brain and made me a lifelong supporter of 'Surfers Against Sewage'. I urge everyone - flush only poo and toilet paper down the toilet; put other stuff in the bin.


Amusement Arcades
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I think, if I put my mind to it, I could be a gambler. Blackpool is a perfect place to exercise (or exorcise) that Las Vegas spending addiction - on the cheap. There are huge, gaudy grottos of grab with flashing lights on the 'Golden Mile' and on the piers. They lure you in from the rain with the bizarre, clangy music of the machines. Before you know it, you have approached the booth and swopped a pound coin for a tub of 2ps.

I only ever play the 2p machine. I know I'm going to lose it all in the end so I limit my losses and indulge myself to the crazed non-stop slotting - until it is all gone. How do I know that I could do this big time? When it's all gone, I look in the machine pay-out slots for stray 2ps, like a ten year old.


There are several amusement arcades and they are interesting even if you do not spend lots of money. My daughter took lots of photographs of slot machines and amusement kiosks for her A level project and got an A grade. There are many ways to look at these places.


Blackpool Nightlife/Daylife
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I really enjoy opening the doors of the Tower Lounge and seeing people partying hard in their club gear. They are drinking heavily, flirting with purpose and dancing - but this is not 1am in the morning - it is 10 am! There is something pleasingly anarchic about this - but then Blackpool has always been this way - a hundred years ago, unmarried coital activity used to take place under the pier as a matter of course. I believe it used to look like a vast colony of mating seals after dark. Slap and tickle! See it all over the postcards you can buy everywhere.


Blackpool also has a famed Gay scene with many bars and at least one club. There are also numerous gay and lesbian bed and breakfasts - so the town has one lot of tourists who come whether it is Summer or Winter, rain or shine.


Just recently, I went to Blackpool to see Russell Brand and we stayed in the new south Shore Travel Lodge (quite nice). We went out after the gig, lots of friendly people talked to us in the pub, lots of people talked to us on the way home (quite late). It was just such an interesting communicative time.

In the day, we walked 'The Golden Mile' and looked at some of the shockingly rude tat you could buy. There was one particular joky item I looked at in a shop was so rude I couldn't possible describe it. It was on a low shelf and it only cost £1.50; joky, unashamed, pocket-money porn.

Highbrow it was not - but diverse, liberal and above all, entertaining it was.

Summary: A town of tantalising tawdry glamour