A disgusting cesspool (Blackpool in General)

Member Name: raynor238

Product:	Blackpool in General
Date:	21/05/01 (246 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nightlife, Pleasure Beach

Disadvantages: Nightlife, Filth

No offence meant to any of Blackpool's residents, but the place really has dropped its standards and no way near deserves its place as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Britain.

I remember as a child looking forward to the 2 annual trips to Blackpool. One trip was in early summer, and involved donkey rides, candy floss and sheltering from the rain. The other was in the Autumn, and involved the illuminations, traffic jams, and sheltering from the rain.

What I don't remember is the filth. I know it must be hard to keep up with thousands upon thousands of people all eating take-away food and drinks, but surely it should be the councils responsibility to do so. On a night, the streets become cluttered with greasy cartons, spilt food, discarded bottles and broken glass. The occasional pile of puke points the finger at the culprits.

OK, so it is not the council's fault that people go and get drunk and become irresponsible, but the town itself seems geared up to that sort of behaviour.

The pubs themselves can only be described as sordid. On the beach front, it is not easy to find anywhere to have a quiet drink without having to watch some sort of transvestite cabaret, or a troup of 'exotic' dancers. Those without entertainment often resort to bareknuckle fighting to while away the hours.

To say that people visit Blackpool for the nightlife is quite disturbing. I am a big lad, and I can handle myself when there is trouble, but I have not once felt safe in these places. What people see atrractive about getting tanked up and battling is beyond me, it just seems that Blackpool attracts that sort of person.

It must be quite saddening for the local residents to see this influx of revellers every year leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

My experiences of the legendary Blackpool B&Bs hasn't exactly been great. Maybe it was because I myself was ususally with a group of lads
on a stag-do that our tastes weren't exactly on the posh side.
I have had to put up with bed sharing (because nails were sticking up out of mine), and sleeping in my clothes (due to the sheer volume of unpleasant looking stains on the sheets and mattresses). The landlords and ladies did however live up to their reputation, and provided a warm and hearty welcome, and a large lardy breakfast.

Blackpool is a large town, but shopping facilities for anything rather than stupid hats and sticks of rock is pretty bleak. Most standard high street retailers have only made a cursory effort to maintain a prescence, and some of those are small and poorly stocked stores.

So is there anything positive to say? A few things, I suppose. The Pleasure Beach can still hold its head up as one of the top attractions, with continued investment in new rides, but even they are struggling to stem the onslaught of detritus seeping in from the outside. Each year, the whole site appears to get a little grubbier, and the rides a little creakier.

The beach is now quite well maintained, after years of neglect and abuse from the local sewage plant, but if you want a beach, there are plenty of nearby resorts which have far superior sand-scapes, and less of the associated noise and clutter.

The tram system as always, is cheap and efficient, and still remains the quickest way to get from the North to South shores and vice-versa.

They have cleaned up on their public cruelty to animals. I know the donkeys are marvellously cared for, and you will not see idots with monkeys on chains anymore, hoping for a photo. There are a few people with snakes on their shoulders (I have a serious phobia against snakes, and these scared the living bejesus out of me). The animal 'shows' which do remain are carefully supervised and monitored.

Blackpool seems to have lost its way over the years. No longer do people visit for a walk on the promenade filli
ng their lungs with the bracing sea breeze. They tend to go for parties or to get plastered. The entertainment industry there caters for this, so more people go there for the same purpose. A vicious circle has started, and I fear has gone too far to be corrected. Unless Blackpool starts to clean up its act, I fear it will become a victim of its own success.

Summary: