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On holiday in Blackpool

I was forced to learn, and then recite at my junior schools leavers show thing, Albert and The Lion.

I’ve hated Blackpool ever since, and have managed to mostly avoid the place, only going on day trips to the Pleasure Beach with my own kids.
 
I was there one January night, 20 years ago, in a storm.
It looked alright.
There was nobody there though.
 
"I spent a week there one day..."

I have been there twice for a holiday. First time was Scots Week but bought some nice used vinyl. My abiding memories from both times was (a) everywhere is geared up to take your last penny and (b) you can't evade the smell of hot chip fat all along the sea front.
 
As somebody mentioned Goths earlier in the thread:

Well my name it is Dai Young
I'm the King of Welsh Goth
The village I come from
Is near Abersoch
I was brought up on Bauhaus
And black bedroom walls
And I had my first Snakebite
When I was in halls
Now the graveyard is calling
The sky's getting greyer
I'll drink the warm blood of
The Borough Surveyor
And I'll murder the verger
I've seen how he gawps
And I'll write on his headstone:
"Here lies Jones the Corpse"
Now my overweight girlfriend
She sits and she crimps
Her mother's convinced she's
Communing with imps
Her brother's alright though
He's a good lad is Wilf
'Cos he's into Placebo
And Cradle Of Filth
At my gig up in Butlins
The Redcoats complained
They tried to remove me
With bottles they rained
But for the first time in history
I didn't run and hide
And the Scousers in shellsuits
Had Goths on their side
Now this Land Of My Fathers
It don't suit my needs
I'd rather be some place
Like Bradford or Leeds
Where the Gipton teenagers
Could meet in my shed
For advice on mascara
And all things undead
Now my left index finger
Is nine inches long
It's hovering over
A world that's gone wrong
Ask me to Prestatyn
And that's what I'll do
And we'll all die together
And Dylan can't sue
 
I used to go to Prestatyn as a nipper. There was a non-branded holiday camp there.

Two memories (possibly from separate holidays there): a) nearly drowning in the swimming pool when I inadvertently stepped from the shallow end to the deep end, and being rescued by a large woman. I don't know where my parents were. b) Getting a splinter down my thumbnail from one of the slides, and being congratulated by the resident nurse for not crying when she removed it.
 
I live safely south of the Ribble estuary. My observations on Blackpool, having been a resident of the North West for 20+ years (and as the sort of person on whose grave Arkless would no doubt dance - southern AND public school…):

1. It is, but it’s own admission, somewhere that exports it’s young and heathy and imports the long term unwell and the financially desperate. It’s economy and public health is consequently impacted. That does provide plenty of work for academics and medics I guess.

2. The atmosphere has changed from roustabout and simple fun to a rather edgier feel. One street back from the front has an unpleasant atmosphere.

3. My best memories of Blackpool are, in no particular order: cycling from Manchester to Blackpool and back on the annual charity ride, going to the Sandcastle two years ago with my daughter and a couple of her friends for her birthday, seeing Peter Kay do his Mum Wants a Bungalow tour show there, taking my girlfriend and her much younger brother to the Pleasure Beach 25 years ago, seeing the White Stripes (recorded as the Under Blackpool Skies concert film), visiting with my Dad in his convertible (classic) mini - in fact I’m going to send him the photos while he suffers chemotherapy.

4. Funland was filmed there.

(This sounds like I’m extremely fond of the place. I’m not. Its only redeeming feature is that I can see the tower from the hill behind my house of from the safe distance of the Sefton coast. Those few positive visits aside I’m quite content to avoid it entirely. Dump.)

(Oh and I’ve been to Whitby on a day out from university. Once was plenty for there too.)
 
I used to go to Prestatyn as a nipper. There was a non-branded holiday camp there.

Two memories (possibly from separate holidays there): a) nearly drowning in the swimming pool when I inadvertently stepped from the shallow end to the deep end, and being rescued by a large woman. I don't know where my parents were. b) Getting a splinter down my thumbnail from one of the slides, and being congratulated by the resident nurse for not crying when she removed it.
I could have sworn that was a Pontins , we went there and the Ainsdale one for a day out when I was a kid.
 
I think I went to that one when it was Pontins in about 1979 or 80 on a Youth Training Scheme (a Tory work for dole scheme) with a load of Down Syndrome folk from the Adult Training Centre I was placed at. It was a truly bizarre place, totally out of time by then, and pretty decrepit, but great fun in that particular context. The folk we took absolutely loved it.
 
Difficult when you can't pigeon hole and categorise, isn't it?

I also voted green in the last election.
Don’t flatter yourself too much. There’s nothing particularly unique about a Brexiter looking down at hoi polloi.
 
Fylde coast chippies? Some recommendations:

Various locations - Seniors
Lytham - Whelans
St Anne’s - St Anne’s chippy, The 3 Fishes (if it still exists)
Blackpool - The Cottage
Cleveleys - Kays, Fish loves Chips
Thornton - Thornton chippy
Fleetwood - The Fish House, Granada fish bar, The Dolphin
Knott End - Knott End chippy

Not that I’m an expert.

EDIT: Forgot to say there’s a framed photo on the wall in the Granada bar showing George Osborne eating in there, just in case that puts you off. Worked for me.
For Fleetwood fish & chips, Pisces on Poulton Road is pretty good, I’ve bought my Nan & Grandad a few times when visiting. Shakies is excellent, but it’s on a residential street (Shakespeare Road), not really where any tourist would readily find. Fleetwood is a mostly residential town rather than a tourist destination, a much, much nicer place than Blackpool. Hoping to get up there in the next few weeks to see my family.
 
If you want a really beautiful British costal town, Tenby is absolutely gorgeous, much more up my street.

Blackpool is bonkers, but it can be fun… I’d be selective about where I’d stay in Blackpool with kids, it is home to a lot of stag and hen parties and that’s something to be aware of. There are plenty of nearby quieter areas to stay, and there’s the tram network to transport you in and out of the hustle and bustle, plenty of things to do in Blackpool with kids if you look around, so I wouldn’t write it off. You really would want to use the trams or buses is you were staying outside of Blackpool itself… parking is a pain in the arse in Blackpool, and expensive too.
 


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