Blackpool is a
seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England. Located on the
northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the
borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
, between the
Ribble and
Wyre rivers, and is north of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and northwest of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. At the
2011 census, the
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
of Blackpool had an estimated population of 139,720 while the urban settlement had a population of 147,663, making it the
most populous settlement in Lancashire, and the fifth-most populous in North West England after Manchester, Liverpool,
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
and
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
. The
wider built-up area (which also includes additional settlements outside the unitary authority) had a population of 239,409,
making it the fifth-most populous urban area in the North West after the Manchester, Liverpool,
Preston and
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
areas. It is home to the
Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
, which when built in 1894 was the
tallest building in the British Empire
The title of tallest building in the British Empire (later in the Commonwealth) has been contested since the late nineteenth century. In this era the nations of the British Empire possessed a large measure of cultural unity and naturally looked t ...
.
Throughout the
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
and
Early Modern period, Blackpool was a coastal hamlet in Lancashire's
Amounderness Hundred
The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the name ...
and remained as such until the mid-18th century, when it became fashionable in England to travel to the coast in the summer to improve well-being. In 1781, visitors attracted to Blackpool's sandy beach
[ were able to use a new private road, built by Thomas Clifton and Sir Henry Hoghton. Stagecoaches began running to Blackpool from Manchester in the same year, and from Halifax in 1782. In the early 19th century, Henry Banks and his son-in-law John Cocker erected new buildings in Blackpool, which increased its population from less than 500 in 1801 to over 2,500 in 1851. St John's Church in Blackpool was consecrated in 1821.
Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism in England when a railway was built in the 1840s connecting it to the industrialised regions of ]northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. The railway made it much easier and cheaper for visitors to reach Blackpool, triggering an influx of settlers; in 1876, Blackpool was incorporated as a borough, governed by its own town council and aldermen. In 1881, Blackpool was a booming resort with a population of 14,000 and a promenade complete with piers, fortune-tellers, public houses, trams, donkey rides, fish and chip shops, and theatres.[.] By 1901, the population of Blackpool was 47,000, by which time its place was cemented as "the archetypal British seaside resort".[ By 1951, it had grown to 147,000 people.
Shifts in tastes, combined with opportunities for British people to travel overseas, affected Blackpool's status as a leading resort in the late 20th century. Its urban fabric and economy both remain relatively undiversified and firmly rooted in the tourism sector, and the borough's seafront continues to attract millions of visitors every year.][ Blackpool's major attractions and landmarks include ]Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
, Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.
Also known locally as The Lights ...
, Pleasure Beach
Pleasure Beach is the Bridgeport portion of a Connecticut barrier beach that extends westerly from Point No Point (the portion in the adjoining town of Stratford is known as Long Beach). Prior to June, 2014, when Pleasure Beach re-opened, the a ...
, Blackpool Zoo
Blackpool Zoo is a zoo, owned by Parques Reunidos and located in the sea-side resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It provides a home to over 1,350 animals from all over the world.
History
The zoo opened in 1972 on a site which had ...
, Sandcastle Water Park, the Winter Gardens and Blackpool Tramway (the UK's only surviving first-generation tramway).
History
Toponymy
Blackpool gets its name from a historic drainage channel (possibly Spen Dyke) that ran over a peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
, discharging discoloured water into the Irish Sea, which formed a black pool (on the other side of the sea, "Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
" (Dubh Linn) is derived from the Irish for "black pool"). Another explanation is that the local dialect for stream was "pul" or "poole", hence "Black poole".
People originating from Blackpool are called Sandgrownians or ''Sandgrown'uns'' it is also sometimes used (as too for persons originating from Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
and Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
) or ''Seasiders'' (although this is more commonly associated with Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1887, th ...
).
Early history
A 13,500-year-old elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
skeleton was found with man-made barbed bone points (probably from spears) on Blackpool Old Road in Carleton in 1970. Now displayed in the Harris Museum
The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum.
History
In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...
this provided the first evidence of humans living on the Fylde
The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills t ...
as far back as the Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era. The Fylde was also home to a British tribe, the Setantii
The Setantii (sometimes read as ''Segantii'') were a possible pre-Roman British people who apparently lived in the western and southern littoral of Lancashire in England. It is thought likely they were a sept or sub-tribe of the Brigantes, who, at ...
(the "dwellers in the water") a sub-tribe of the Brigantes
The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...
, who from about AD80 were controlled by Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
from their fort at Dowbridge, Kirkham Kirkham may refer to:
Places
*Kirkham, Lancashire, England
*Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England
*Kirkham, New South Wales, Australia
*Kirkham (HM Prison), a prison in Lancashire, England
*Kirkham Priory
*Kirkham House
Other uses
*Kirkham (surname) K ...
. During the Roman occupation the area was covered by oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
forests and bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
land.
Some of the earliest villages on the Fylde, which were later to become part of Blackpool town, were named in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
in 1086. Many of them were Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
settlements. Some though had 9th and 10th century Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
place names. The Vikings and Anglo-Saxons seem to have co-existed peacefully, with some Anglo-Saxon and Viking placenames later being joined – such as Layton-with-Warbreck and Bispham-with-Norbreck. Layton was controlled by the Butlers, Barons of Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
from the 12th century.
In medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
times Blackpool emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck, the name coming from "le pull", a stream that drained Marton Mere
Marton Mere is a mere (lake) and Local Nature Reserve in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is located near to the Blackpool districts of Marton and Mereside and the village of Staining. It is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Inte ...
and Marton Moss into the sea close to what is now Manchester Square. The stream ran through peatlands that discoloured the water, so the name for the area became "Black Poole". In the 15th century the area was just called ''Pul'', and a 1532 map calls the area "the pole howsys alias the north howsys".
In 1602, entries in Bispham Parish Church
Bispham Parish Church, also known as All Hallows Church, is a Church of England parish church located in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, known as the ''Mother Church of Blackpool''.
The church is a Grade II Listed Building. It is the ...
baptismal register include both ''Poole'' and for the first time ''blackpoole''. The first house of any substance, Foxhall, was built toward the end of the 17th century by Edward Tyldesley, the Squire of Myerscough and son of the Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
Sir Thomas Tyldesley. An Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
in 1767 enclosed a common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
, mostly sand hills on the coast, that stretched from Spen Dyke southwards. Plots of the land were allocated to landowners in Bispham, Layton
Layton or The Laytons may refer to:
Places
United States
* Layton, Florida, a city
* Layton, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Layton Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa
* Layton, New Jersey, an unincorporated community
* Layton, Pennsyl ...
, Great Marton
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
and Little Marton
Marton is a settlement on the coastal plain of the Fylde in Lancashire, England, most of which is now part of the seaside town of Blackpool. Marton, which consisted of Great Marton, Little Marton, Marton Fold and The Peel, was originally part of ...
. The same act also provided for the layout of a number of long straight roads that would be built in the areas south of the town centre, such as Lytham Road, St. Annes Road, Watson Road and Highfield Road.
Taking the cure
By the middle of the 18th century, the practice of sea bathing to cure diseases was becoming fashionable among the wealthier classes, and visitors began making the arduous trek to Blackpool for that purpose. In 1781, Thomas Clifton and Sir Henry Hoghton built a private road to Blackpool, and a regular stagecoach service from Manchester and Halifax was established. A few amenities, including four hotels, an archery stall and bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
s, were developed, and the town grew slowly. The 1801 census records the town's population at 473. The growth was accelerated by the actions of Henry Banks, often considered to be the "Father of Blackpool". In 1819 he purchased the Lane Ends estate, including the Lane Ends Hotel, and built the first holiday cottages. In 1837, his son-in-law Dr. John Cocker built Blackpool's first assembly rooms which still stand on the corner of Victoria Street and Bank Hey Street.
Arrival of the railways
The most significant event in the early growth of the town occurred in 1846, with the completion of a branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industri ...
to Blackpool from Poulton on the main Preston and Wyre Joint Railway
The Preston and Wyre Railway was promoted to open up agricultural land in the Fylde in Lancashire, access a new port at what became Fleetwood and the Lancaster Canal at Preston: it opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to ...
line from Preston to Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
. Fleetwood declined as a resort, as its founder and principal financial backer, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood
Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, (9 May 1801 – 12 April 1866) was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by ...
, went bankrupt. In contrast, Blackpool boomed. A sudden influx of visitors, arriving by rail, provided the motivation for entrepreneurs to build accommodation and create new attractions, leading to more visitors and a rapid cycle of growth throughout the 1850s and 1860s. In 1851 a Board of Health
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environment ...
was formed. Gas lighting
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directl ...
was introduced in 1852, and piped water in 1864. By 1851, the town's population was over 2,500.
The growth was intensified by the practice among the Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Althou ...
owners of closing the factories for a week every year to service and repair machinery. These became known as wakes week
The Wakes Week is a holiday period in parts of England and Scotland. Originally a religious celebration or feast, the tradition of the Wakes Week developed into a secular holiday, particularly in North West England during the Industrial Revolution ...
s. Each town's mills would close for a different week, allowing Blackpool to manage a steady and reliable stream of visitors over a prolonged period in the summer.
In 1863, the North Pier
North Pier is the most northerly of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. Built in the 1860s, it is also the oldest and longest of the three. Although originally intended only as a promenade, competition forced the pier to widen its ...
was completed, rapidly becoming a centre of attraction for elite visitors. Central Pier was completed in 1868, with a theatre and a large open-air dance floor. The town expanded southward beyond what is today known as the Golden Mile Golden Mile or The Golden Mile may refer to:
Geographical features
* Golden Mile (Belfast), Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (UK)
* Golden Mile (Blackpool), Blackpool, UK
* Golden Mile (Brentford), Brentford, UK
* Golden Mile (Leices ...
, towards South Shore, and South Pier was completed in 1893, making Blackpool the only town in the United Kingdom with three piers. In 1878, the Winter Gardens complex opened, incorporating ten years later the Opera House, said to be the largest in Britain outside London.
The town was granted a Charter of Incorporation as a municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
in 1876. W.H. Cocker, son of Dr John Cocker, and therefore grandson of Henry Banks, was its first mayor. The town would become a county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
in 1904.
From the 1880s until the First World War, Blackpool was one of the regular destinations for the Bass Excursions, when trains would take employees of Bass's Burton brewery on an annual trip to the seaside.
Electricity
Much of Blackpool's growth and character from the 1870s on was predicated on the town's pioneering use of electrical power. In 1879, it became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting, as large parts of the promenade were wired. The lighting and its accompanying pageants reinforced Blackpool's status as the North of England's most prominent holiday resort, and its specifically working-class character. It was the forerunner of the present-day Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.
Also known locally as The Lights ...
. In 1885 one of the world's first electric tramways was laid down as a conduit
Conduit may refer to:
Engineering systems
* Conduit (fluid conveyance), a pipe suitable for carrying either open-channel or pressurized liquids
* Electrical conduit, a protective cover, tube or piping system for electric cables
* Conduit curre ...
line running from Cocker Street to Dean Street on the Promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
. The line was operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company until 1892 when their lease expired and Blackpool Corporation took over running the line. A further line was added in 1895 from Manchester Square along Lytham Road to South Shore, and the line was extended north, first to Gynn Square in 1899, and then to Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
. In 1899 the conduit system was replaced by overhead wires. The tramway has remained in continuous service to this day.
By the 1890s, the town had a population of 35,000 and could accommodate 250,000 holidaymakers. The number of annual visitors, many staying for a week, was estimated at three million. 1894 saw the opening of two of the town's most prominent buildings: the Grand Theatre on Church Street and Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
on the Promenade. The Grand Theatre was one of Britain's first all-electric theatres.
The first decade of the new century saw the development of the Promenade as we know it today and further development southwards beyond South Shore towards Harrowside and Squires Gate
Squires Gate is a district and an Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool, South Shore, Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south ...
. The Pleasure Beach
Pleasure Beach is the Bridgeport portion of a Connecticut barrier beach that extends westerly from Point No Point (the portion in the adjoining town of Stratford is known as Long Beach). Prior to June, 2014, when Pleasure Beach re-opened, the a ...
was first established about this time. Seasonal static illuminations were first set up in 1912, although due to World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and its aftermath they only enjoyed two seasons until they were re-introduced in 1925. The illuminations extended the holiday season into September and early October, ceremonially switched on by notables and celebrities.
Towards the present
The inter-war period saw Blackpool attain pre-eminence as a holiday destination. By 1920, Blackpool claimed around eight million visitors per year, three times as many as its nearest British rivals, still drawn largely from the mill towns of East Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
and the West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
. Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...
was laid out in 1920 and opened in 1926. The area around the park has become renowned for some of the most desirable residences in the area.
In 1937, Littlewoods
Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, but subsequently declined in the face of increased com ...
opened its first department store in the town.
Documents have been found to suggest that the reason Blackpool escaped heavy damage in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was that Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
had earmarked the town to remain a place of leisure after his planned invasion. Despite this, on 11 September 1940, German bombs fell near Blackpool North railway station
Blackpool North railway station is the main station serving the seaside resort of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the main Blackpool branch line and is northwest of Preston.
The station was opened in its present form ...
and eight people were killed in nearby houses in Seed Street. This site today is occupied by the new Town Hall offices and Sainsbury's Supermarket.
In the same war, the Free Polish Air Force
The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...
made its headquarters in exile at Blackpool in Talbot Square, after the force evacuated to Britain from France. The nearby Layton Cemetery contains the war graves of 26 Polish airmen. The famous No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron
No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons in the Royal Air ...
was formed in Blackpool, and became the most successful Fighter Command unit shooting down 126 German machines in only 42 days during the Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
.
Blackpool's population boom was complete by 1951, by which time some 147,000 people were living in the town – compared to 47,000 in 1901 and a mere 14,000 in 1881. In the decade after the war, the town continued to attract more visitors, reaching a zenith
The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The zenith is the "highest" ...
of 17 million per year. However, several factors combined to make this growth untenable. The decline of the textile industry led to a de-emphasis of the traditional week-long break, known as wakes week
The Wakes Week is a holiday period in parts of England and Scotland. Originally a religious celebration or feast, the tradition of the Wakes Week developed into a secular holiday, particularly in North West England during the Industrial Revolution ...
. The rise of package holiday
A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
s took many of Blackpool's traditional visitors abroad where the weather was more reliably warm and dry and improved road communications, epitomised by the construction of the M55 motorway
The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the Preston Northern Bypass. It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 motorway, M6 at Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is 12.2 miles (19.6 km) in ...
in 1975, made Blackpool more feasible as a day trip rather than an overnight stay. The economy, however, remains relatively undiversified, and firmly rooted in the tourism sector.
Government
Though the Blackpool Urban Area extends beyond the statutory boundaries of Blackpool to encompass Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
, Cleveleys
Cleveleys is a town on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire, England, about north of Blackpool and south of Fleetwood. It is part of the Borough of Wyre. With its neighbouring settlement of Thornton, Cleveleys was part of the former urban district ...
, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...
and Lytham St Annes
Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...
, Blackpool remains administratively separate with its wider borough.
Between 1904 and 1974, Blackpool formed a county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
independent of the administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. With the passage of the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, Blackpool's county borough status was abolished and it was made part of the shire county
A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...
of Lancashire. On 1 April 1998, however, Blackpool was made a unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
and re-formed as an autonomous local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
. However, it remains part of Lancashire for ceremonial
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin ''Glossary of ancient Rom ...
purposes.
As of the 2019 election Blackpool Council
Blackpool Council is the local authority of the Borough of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is a unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additiona ...
is currently controlled by the Labour Party, who took control from the Conservatives in 2011. They are the largest party represented with 23 councillors followed by the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
with 15 councillors.
Blackpool is covered by two Westminster constituencies:
* Blackpool North and Cleveleys,
* Blackpool South.
Demographics
The population of Blackpool has been declining constantly since 2001 and is expected to decline even further in the future.
In the 2011 census Blackpool was stated to have the highest percentage of divorced people in the country, 13.1% compared to the average of 9% for England and Wales.
Population change
Public health
In 2017, Blackpool had the fourth highest rate of antidepressant prescription in England with the most common health problems being depression, stress and anxiety. At 12.9%, Blackpool had the highest fraction of working-age people too sick to work and has no improvement on this percentage since 1999 despite the rate in the North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
as a whole improving from 11% in 1999 to 7.8% in 2016. Blackpool also has high rates of obesity (13.5%), smoking (27%) and alcoholic liver disease
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD), also called alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD), is a term that encompasses the liver manifestations of alcohol overconsumption, including fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and chronic hepatitis with liver fibrosis ...
(28 deaths per 100 thousand). Men in the Bloomfield ward had the lowest life expectancy at birth, 68.2 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.
Economy
This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added
In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure of ...
(GVA) of Blackpool at current basic prices by the Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
While Blackpool hosts a large number of small businesses and self-employed people, there are some large employers. The government-owned National Savings and Investments
National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is both a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of HM Treasu ...
was based at Marton, together with their Hardware random number generator
In computing, a hardware random number generator (HRNG) or true random number generator (TRNG) is a device that generates random numbers from a physical process, rather than by means of an algorithm. Such devices are often based on microscopic ...
, ''ERNIE
Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to:
People
* Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive
* Ernie Adams (disambiguation)
* Ernie Afaganis (born c ...
'' ( "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment"), which picked the Premium Bond numbers until their demolition in 2017. Other government agencies are based at Warbreck and Norcross further up the Fylde coast. Burton's Biscuit Company
Burton's Biscuit Company is a British biscuit manufacturer. It is recognised in the UK as the second-biggest supplier of biscuits. The company was formed by the merger of Burton's Gold Medal Biscuits and Horizon Biscuit Company in October 2000. I ...
, Tangerine Confectionery
Valeo Confectionery formerly known as Tangerine Confectionery and Toms Confectionery is a British confectionery company with its headquarters in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Since 2006, it had grown through acquisitions into one of the largest i ...
produce biscuits and other confectionery products, Klarius UK manufactures automotive components, Victrex
Victrex plc is a British-based supplier of high performance polymers. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250. The company's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are based in the UK with technical and customer support facilities in multiple mark ...
manufactures high-performance polymers and the Glasdon Group is a plastics manufacturer making litter bin
A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...
s, park benches and reflective road signs.
TVR formerly produced sports cars at its Bispham factory. Blackpool was also the original site of Swallow Sidecar Company
Swallow Sidecar Company,The first of three trading names used by W. Walmsley and W. Lyons for their manufacturing business. They were in partnerships:
* Swallow Sidecar Company 1922-1926
* Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company 1926-1927
* Sw ...
, forerunner of Jaguar Cars
Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...
.
The 2015 HSBC research on rental yields ranks Blackpool in the top three cities with the best rental returns. The numerous urban regeneration projects, the property prices which are among the most affordable in the UK, and the high rental yields create a very favourable environment for real estate investors.
Blackpool's main shopping streets are Church Street, Victoria Street, Birley Street, Market Street, Corporation Street, Bank Hey Street, Abingdon Street and Talbot Road. There is currently one shopping centre within the town, Houndshill Shopping Centre
Houndshill Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping centre in Blackpool, Lancashire England; located in centre of town, just opposite Blackpool Tower.
Centre Information
Construction on Houndshill began in 1978. A car park was also constructed a ...
.
Geography
Physical
Blackpool rests in the middle of the western edge of The Fylde
The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills t ...
, which is a coastal plain
A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...
atop a peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
. The seafront consists of a 7-mile sandy beach, with a flat coastline in the south of the district, which rises once past the North Pier to become the North Cliffs, with the highest point nearby at the Bispham Rock Gardens
Bispham Rock Gardens, also known as Devonshire Road Rock Gardens or the Rock Gardens, is a municipal park located in Bispham, Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The gardens are an important wildlife resource and contains a num ...
at around . The majority of the town district is built up, with very little semi-rural space such as at Marton Mere. Due to the low-lying terrain, Blackpool experiences occasional flooding, with a large-scale project completed in 2017 to rebuild the seawall and promenade to mitigate this.
Climate
Blackpool has, like all of the UK, a temperate maritime climate according to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system. Thus the same cool summer, frequent overcast skies and small annual temperature range is typical.
The absolute minimum temperature stands at , recorded during December 1981, however was recorded in January 1881. The lowest temperature to occur in recent years is during December 2010. In a more normal winter, the coldest night averages .
The absolute maximum temperature recorded in Blackpool was during July 1976. The highest temperature to occur in recent years is during July 2015. In a more normal summer, the warmest day will likely average , with slightly fewer than 5 days a year attaining a temperature of or above.
Rainfall averages slightly less than , with over 1 mm of precipitation occurring on 147 days of the year.
Green belt
Blackpool is within a green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
region that extends into the wider surrounding counties and is in place to reduce urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
, prevent the towns in the Blackpool urban area and other nearby conurbations in Lancashire from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage brownfield
In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on the permitted building.
As the town's urban area is highly built up, only (2017) of green belt exists within the borough, covering the cemetery, its grounds and nearby academy/college playing fields by Carleton, as well as the football grounds near the airport by St Annes. Further afield, portions are dispersed around the wider Blackpool urban area into the surrounding Lancashire districts of Fylde and Wyre, helping to keep the settlements of Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Warton/Freckleton and Kirkham separated.
Tourism
Blackpool is heavily dependent on tourism. In what is often regarded as its heyday (1900–1950), Blackpool thrived as the factory workers of Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
took their annual holidays there en masse, known as wakes week
The Wakes Week is a holiday period in parts of England and Scotland. Originally a religious celebration or feast, the tradition of the Wakes Week developed into a secular holiday, particularly in North West England during the Industrial Revolution ...
s. Photographs from that era show crowds of tourists on the beach and promenade. Blackpool was also a preferred destination of visitors from Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and remains so to this day. The town went into decline when affordable air travel arrived in the 1960s and the many previous visitors instead travelled to Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coastal resorts due to competitive prices and the more reliable weather.[Alan Cowell]
Postcard From Ailing British Coasts: Wish You Were Here
, ''The New York Times'', 12 April 2007. Today Blackpool remains the most popular seaside resort in the UK; however, the town has suffered a serious drop in numbers of visitors which have fallen from 17 million in 1992 to 10 million today.
Similarly Pleasure Beach Blackpool
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
was the country's most popular free attraction with 6 million visitors a year but has lost over a million visitors since 1998 and has recently introduced a £6 entrance fee.
In July 2010, an independent survey of 4,500 members of the general public by consumer magazine ''Which?
''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independen ...
Holiday'' (now ''Which? Travel'') found that Blackpool was the UK's favourite seaside resort, followed by Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
and Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
. Blackpool has now improved the seawall and promenade, and Blackpool Tower has been revamped.
In February 2012, a number of tourist attractions in Blackpool collaborated to produce the Blackpool Resort Pass which allows for discounted access in one ticket. The original pass included visits to Merlin Entertainments attractions and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. In February 2013, Marketing Blackpool, formerly the Tourism division of Blackpool Council, led the relaunch of the Blackpool Resort Pass which includes additional attractions including Blackpool Zoo
Blackpool Zoo is a zoo, owned by Parques Reunidos and located in the sea-side resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It provides a home to over 1,350 animals from all over the world.
History
The zoo opened in 1972 on a site which had ...
, Sandcastle Waterpark and Blackpool Model Village and Gardens.
Blackpool has a pioneering publicly owned Municipal wireless network
A municipal wireless network is a citywide wireless network. This usually works by providing municipal broadband via Wi-Fi to large parts or all of a municipal area by deploying a wireless mesh network. The typical deployment design uses hundreds ...
Wi-Fi, which covers the entire town centre, promenade and beach front. Visitors can take a virtual tour of Blackpool, and full internet access is available.
Conferences
Outside the main holiday season, Blackpool's Winter Gardens routinely used to host major political and trade union conferences. However, in recent years these are increasingly taking place in major cities with modern, purpose-built conference centres.
The National Union of Students last held its Annual Conference in Blackpool in 2009; they will now be hosted by the Sage Gateshead
Sage Gateshead is a concert venue and musical education centre in Gateshead on the south side of the River Tyne in North East England. Opened in 2004 and occupied by North Music Trust it is part of the Gateshead Quays development which include ...
. In January 2011, Blackpool hosted the NEEC Conference (formerly the North of England Education Conference), a key date in the education calendar. The Winter Gardens also hold the National Pensioners' Parliament.
The Young Farmers convention has been held regularly in Blackpool since the late 1960s.
Entertainment
Blackpool remains a summer entertainment venue but many local establishments now trade all year round. It is known for specialising in variety shows featuring entertainers catering to a broad range of tastes, from family-friendly Ken Dodd
Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.
A life ...
to the 'adults only' humour of Roy 'Chubby' Brown
Roy Chubby Brown (born 3 February 1945) is an English stand-up comedian whose act consists of offensive humour, high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness.
Early life
Roy Chubby Brown (born ...
.
In recent years artists such as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and disc jockey Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasion ...
, Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
and Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
, have performed in Blackpool and have performed during the MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
Illuminations switch-on weekends.
In 2018 The Blackpool festival took place on the comedy carpet in front of the Blackpool Tower which over three days played host to world class DJs and entertainers.
For the following four Fridays after the illuminations switch-on the town plays host to the world fireworks championship where four teams from around the world design their displays in time with music and are judged on their technique and display. On the fifth Friday following the illuminations switch-on the competition winner is announced and performs another display. These displays often attract thousands of visitors to the promenade.
Regular shows include those from Viva cabaret bar, the legends shows, Funny Girls, Joey Blower, Joe Longthorn as well as regular performances at both the Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre. The town has also seen a number of new food outlets opening. The Tower Ballroom still opens daily for dancing and hosts international dance competitions as well as playing host to many episodes of Strictly Come Dancing.
The Grand Theatre (locally known as 'The Grand') was designed by Victorian theatre architect Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...
and was opened in 1894 after a construction period of seven months, at a cost of £20,000 between December 1893 and July 1894. The project was conceived and financed by local theatre manager Thomas Sergenson who had been using the site of the Grand for several years to stage a circus. He had also transformed the fortunes of other local theatres.
Matcham's brief was to build Sergenson the "prettiest theatre in the land". The Grand was Matcham's first theatre to use an innovative 'cantilever' design to support the tiers, thereby reducing the need for the usual pillars and so allowing clear views of the stage from all parts of the auditorium.
The town also plays host to the longest-running seaside show in Britain, Legends, which features multiple tribute artists with a live band and dance troupe, first appearing at the North Pier in 1999, then at the Central Pier from 2000 to 2012 and now at the Sands Venue. Current tribute artists include "Neil Diamond", "Adele", "Elton John" and "Robbie Williams".
In February 2018 council chiefs attended a convention in Florida to identify a new "concert venue" concept for the town, doubling as a new purpose-built centre for conferences and conventions. The site earmarked for the propose project is the old central station site which now serves as a car park and police station with law courts on Bonny Street. The police have since moved to a brand new facility near to the M55 motorway entrance and the site in central Blackpool is earmarked for the new potential development.
An Imax cinema has been announced by the council as adding on to the existing Hounds Hill shopping centre on land that is now a ground level car park. The development is to be shared with the Wilko store which is to re-locate from its current location to make way for a new hotel and transport hub as part of the current urban regeneration and infrastructure improvements in the town. Expected final completion for these projects has still not been announced although work has begun on some of the foundation works.
Events and festivals
Gay Blackpool
Blackpool had its first gay pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...
celebration in 2006. Historically, seaside resorts have been able to provide niches for minority group
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
s. Blackpool, like other English resorts, has had a reputation for being a safe community for gay people. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, there was a proliferation of cafés, pubs and clubs where homosexual men could meet in Blackpool. In the 1990s, the town began to be promoted as a gay tourist destination. Blackpool contains several bars, pubs and nightclubs aimed at the LGBT community. These include Funny Girls
Funny Girls is a burlesque cabaret showbar on the North Shore of Blackpool, England, owned by English entrepreneur and businessman Basil Newby. The cast of the show comprise male dancers and drag performers. The showbar is in what was once t ...
(a burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
showbar), Buzz, Flamingo, and the Flying Handbag.
Pollution
Pollution was often found in the seawater at Blackpool, in particular bacteria counts that frequently exceeded the standards of the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
. However, sea water quality improved significantly since unfavourable reports in 2013, with the resort's south beach winning a Blue Flag award in 2016, and three other beaches achieving Seaside Award Status.
Regeneration
Blackpool has taken steps to improve its tourism industry. One controversial proposal, which had the involvement of the local council, was to transform Blackpool into a casino resort along the lines of the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
and Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
, making it the centre point of gambling in the UK
Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the United King ...
. Ultimately, Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
was selected for the initial trial by the Government's Casinos Advisory Panel. Since this decision, Blackpool's council and MPs have lobbied Parliament extensively, claiming their bid was misunderstood. The local newspaper, the ''Blackpool Gazette
The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...
'', sent a petition signed by over 11,500 local residents and visitors demanding the decision be reconsidered. On 29 March 2007, the Advisory Panel's recommendations were approved by the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, but rejected by the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, meaning the bill would be reconsidered by parliament. However, in early 2008 the House of Lords voted against the super-casino proposal, and the Government proceeded no further with the idea. In 2019, plans to develop a casino with other visitor attractions on the central car park (Blackpool Central Station) site were announced.
The Talbot Gateway is a planned civic quarter, originally costed at £285m in 2003. work was continuing on what is reported to be a "billion-pound growth and prosperity programme".
Regeneration work was completed in July 2009 on Waterloo Road in South Shore that transformed the area into a modern shopping centre. £1 million of public investment is helping to improve the public realm and act as a catalyst for the regeneration of South Shore.
In March 2010 it was confirmed that a deal had been made for Blackpool Council to purchase some of Blackpool's most notable landmarks from private ownership. The deal, totalling £38.9m, had national and local government backing and included the purchase of:
*Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
* The Winter Gardens
*The Sea Life Centre
*Louis Tussaud
Louis Joseph Kenny Tussaud (1869–1938) was a great-grandson of Marie Tussaud, creator of the Madame Tussauds wax museums. He worked at Madame Tussauds museum as a wax figure sculptor but left when his brother John Theodore Tussaud became chief ...
s Wax Works
*The Blackpool Tower Dungeon
*Indoor Golf Centre
*Bonny Street Market
*Mr T's Amusement Arcade
Merlin Entertainments Group also took over the running of Louis Tussauds Wax Works, converting it into their better-known brand, Madame Tussauds Wax Works. The Winter Gardens were purchased by Blackpool Council; the complex is operated by Crown Entertainment Centres Ltd.
Landmarks and places of interest
Major attractions
Other attractions
Theatres & Venues
* Grand Theatre, Blackpool
Blackpool Grand Theatre is a theatre in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Since 2006, it has also been known as the National Theatre of Variety. It is a Grade II* Listed Building.
History
The Grand was designed by Victorian theatre architect Fr ...
was built by Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...
in 1894. It offers a mix of drama, dance, opera, ballet and comedy including a yearly pantomime.
* The Winter Gardens is a large entertainment and conference venue in the town centre. It includes the Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
(one of the largest theatres in Europe), Pavilion Theatre, Empress Ballroom, Spanish Hall, Arena and Olympia.
* The Imperial Hotel is a large red-brick Victorian hotel, which has hosted guests such as Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
and Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
.
* Blackpool Sands stretch along the whole seafront and comprise the main natural attraction for tourists.
* Funny Girls
Funny Girls is a burlesque cabaret showbar on the North Shore of Blackpool, England, owned by English entrepreneur and businessman Basil Newby. The cast of the show comprise male dancers and drag performers. The showbar is in what was once t ...
is a drag cabaret burlesque showbar, located on Dickson Road.
* Viva Cabaret Showbar & Events Suite is a Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
-style production show venue next to the Tower.
Former attraction
The ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' Exhibition, which closed in 2009, was the biggest ''Doctor Who'' exhibition in the UK, containing props and costumes from the long-running BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV series, including some from recently aired programmes.
Transport
Air
Blackpool Airport
Blackpool Airport is an airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport and Blackpool International Airport.
Ownership of the air ...
operated regular charter and scheduled flights throughout the UK and Europe. The airport is actually just over the borough boundary into Fylde Borough
The Borough of Fylde is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It covers part of the Fylde plain, after which it is named. The council's headquarters are in St Annes. Some council departments, including Plann ...
, although a proposal to reorganise Blackpool's borders would see the airport incorporated into Blackpool Borough. This airport, formerly known as Blackpool Squires Gate Airport, is one of the oldest in the UK having hosted public flying meetings in 1909 and 1910. After a gap, it was active from the 1930s to mid 2014 and from December 2014 to date. Airlines that served Blackpool, before its temporary closure in late 2014, included Jet2.com
Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind EasyJet and British Airways. Jet2 is also officia ...
and Aer Arran
Stobart Air, legally incorporated as ''Stobart Air Unlimited Company'', was an Irish regional airline headquartered in Dublin. It operated scheduled services under the brands Aer Lingus Regional, BA CityFlyer and KLM Cityhopper on behalf of t ...
. The airport was reopened to small aircraft after failing to find a buyer in December 2014.
The airport's most recent scheduled services to Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
and the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
ceased when Citywing
Citywing (a trading name of Citywing Aviation Services Limited) was an Isle of Man-based company that sold seats on scheduled air flights operated under charter. Flights linked several airports in the British Isles, with the company having a ba ...
suspended operations in March 2017. Access to the town by air is now via Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...
or Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
, both approximately away by road.
In 1927 the local council announced that an airfield would be built near Stanley Park, which would become Stanley Park Aerodrome
Stanley Park Aerodrome was an airfield located in the Stanley Park area of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It was also known as Blackpool Municipal Airport, and was in use for civil and military flying from 1929 until closure of the airfield in ...
offering flights to the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
for £1-16s–0d (£1.80). The airport opened in 1929 and was officially opened by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
in 1931. However, with the opening of Squires Gate Airport a decision was announced in 1936 by the Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
to close the Stanley Park airfield. In fact, civil operations continued until the outbreak of war with scheduled services to the Isle of Man and elsewhere. During the war, Stanley Park was used as a Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) training station, known as No. 3 School of Technical Training. Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
assembled many Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
bombers here and Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
s were repaired for the RAF. The airfield closed in 1947. The land on which the airport stood now covers Blackpool Zoo
Blackpool Zoo is a zoo, owned by Parques Reunidos and located in the sea-side resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It provides a home to over 1,350 animals from all over the world.
History
The zoo opened in 1972 on a site which had ...
and a hotel and golf course. The hangar
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
s from the old airport are still in use at Blackpool Zoo as the main entrance building, Playbarn, Education Academy and camel house.
Bus and coach
* operates the main bus services in and around Blackpool
* Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company ( ...
operates the regional bus and coach services in and out of Blackpool
* National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
operates the main long-distance coach services in and out of Blackpool
Facilities include:
* Blackpool Talbot Road Bus Station, which was the main town centre bus station but is now a gym. Blackpool Transport stopped using the bus station in the early 2000s after a disagreement with Blackpool Council regarding the state of the bus station building. Blackpool Transport now use Market Street and Corporation Street, in the town centre, as their bus interchange. National Express have also recently stopped using this bus station, moving to the new National Express Blackpool Central Coach Station.
* Blackpool Central Coach Station, is main coach station for all National Express coach services. which is also used by some independent coach operators. The coach station has a booking office and toilet facilities.
* Blackpool Lonsdale Road Coach Station, was the main coach station for South Shore district of Blackpool. This was mainly used by independent coach operators. The coach station has a café, shop and toilet facilities but is in a state of disrepair.
* Blackpool Colosseum Bus & Coach Station, which was the main bus and coach station in South Shore. Located next to Blackpool Transport Headquarters, it was demolished to make way for a Somerfield
Somerfield (; originally Gateway) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company also previously owned the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative ...
supermarket. The site is now occupied by the link road from the M55 motorway and additional depot parking.
Railway
Train operators that serve Blackpool are:
* Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
* Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
Stations in the town are, or were:
* Blackpool North (originally Talbot Road)
* Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
(originally Burlington Road Halt)
* Blackpool South (originally Waterloo Road)
* Layton
Layton or The Laytons may refer to:
Places
United States
* Layton, Florida, a city
* Layton, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Layton Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa
* Layton, New Jersey, an unincorporated community
* Layton, Pennsyl ...
(originally Bispham)
* Squires Gate
Squires Gate is a district and an Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool, South Shore, Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south ...
(just outside the borough boundary but serving Blackpool Airport
Blackpool Airport is an airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport and Blackpool International Airport.
Ownership of the air ...
)
* Blackpool Central (originally Hounds Hill, closed 1964)
* (renamed Lytham Road 1903, closed 1916)
Blackpool once had two railway terminals with a total of over 30 platforms, mainly used by excursion traffic in the summer. Blackpool Central, close to Blackpool Tower
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...
, was closed in 1964, while Blackpool North was largely demolished and rebuilt as a smaller facility. The route of the former excursion line into Blackpool Central is now used as a link road from the M55 motorway to the town centre. The line into Blackpool via Lytham St Annes
Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...
now has a station serving Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
but terminates at Blackpool South station. The line into North station is now the more important.
Road
The M55 motorway
The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the Preston Northern Bypass. It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 motorway, M6 at Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is 12.2 miles (19.6 km) in ...
links the town to the national motorway network. Other major roads in the town are the A583 to Kirkham Kirkham may refer to:
Places
*Kirkham, Lancashire, England
*Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England
*Kirkham, New South Wales, Australia
*Kirkham (HM Prison), a prison in Lancashire, England
*Kirkham Priory
*Kirkham House
Other uses
*Kirkham (surname) K ...
and Preston, the A587 and A585 to Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
, the A586 to Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...
, Garstang
Garstang is an ancient market town and civil parish within the Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is north of the city of Preston and the same distance south of Lancaster.
In 2011, the parish had a total resident population of 4,268 ...
and Lancaster and the A584 and B5261 which both lead to Lytham St Annes
Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...
.
Tram
The Blackpool Tramway runs from Starr Gate
Starr Gate is a suburb in the South Shore district of Blackpool in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the southwest end of Blackpool on the Fylde coast, adjacent to the Squires Gate district of Blackpool.
The place is named a ...
in Blackpool to Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by , owned by Blackpool Council. The tramway runs for and carries 6,500,000 passengers each year.
The tramway was for a long time the only working tramway in the United Kingdom outside of museums. It was also the UK's first electric system. However, there are now a number of other tramways, including Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kin ...
, Sheffield Supertram
The Sheffield Supertram is a tram and tram-train network covering Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. The infrastructure is owned by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), with Stagecoach responsible for th ...
and West Midlands Metro
The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmin ...
.
On 1 February 2008 it was announced that the Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
had agreed to a joint Blackpool Transport and Blackpool Council bid for funding toward the total upgrade of the track. The government contributed £60.3m of the total £85.3m cost. Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council each provided about £12.5m. The Government's decision meant that the entire length of the tramway from Starr Gate to Fleetwood was upgraded and also sixteen new trams joined the fleet.
In April 2012, the tramway reopened after the major reconstruction. Day to day services are run by the 16 Flexity 2
The Flexity 2 is a family of tram or light-rail vehicle manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (later Alstom). It is 100% low-floor, in order to easily accommodate wheelchairs and pushchairs. The trams are bi-directional, with cabs at both ...
trams. Several double deck English Electric Balloon trams from the older fleet have been widened to work alongside the new trams to provide additional capacity in the summer months. Several non-modified older trams also operate a heritage service from Pleasure Beach to Little Bispham on weekends and holidays.
An extension of the new service to Blackpool North railway station
Blackpool North railway station is the main station serving the seaside resort of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the main Blackpool branch line and is northwest of Preston.
The station was opened in its present form ...
was planned to open by April 2019 between the existing North Pier stop of the Blackpool Tramway, along Talbot Road, and terminating at Blackpool North railway station, but was delayed and is now on schedule to open Summer 2022.
Filmography
The resort is featured in the 1934 film ''Sing as We Go
''Sing As We Go'' is a 1934 British musical film starring Gracie Fields, John Loder and Stanley Holloway. The script was written by Gordon Wellesley and J. B. Priestley.
Considered by many to be British music hall star Gracie Fields' finest ve ...
'', starring Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...
, as well as other cinema and TV productions, including '' Forbidden'' (1949), '' Hindle Wakes'' (1952), ''Holiday'' (1957), ''Coasting'' (1990), ''Funny Bones
''Funny Bones'' is a 1995 comedy-drama film from Hollywood Pictures. It was written, directed and produced by Peter Chelsom, co produced by Simon Fields, and co written by Peter Flannery. The music score was by John Altman, and the cinematogr ...
'' (1995) starring Lee Evans and Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), ''Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), ''Executiv ...
and directed by St. Annes born Peter Chelsom, and ''The Parole Officer
''The Parole Officer'' is a 2001 British comedy film, directed by John Duigan. The film follows a diverse group of former criminals as they assist their probation officer in proving his innocence after a murder accusation.
Plot
Simon Garden i ...
'' (2001) starring Steve Coogan
Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...
.
The Japanese film '' Shall We Dance?'' (1996) closes with a scene at the World Ballroom Dancing Championships in Blackpool. All the hair styling for the film was completed by Blackpool-born-and-bred hairstylist Eileen Clough, who has been in the trade since the 1960s. In the Hollywood remake of the film (2004), directed by Peter Chelsom, Blackpool is mentioned but not shown.
Blackpool is the setting for ''Bhaji on the Beach
''Bhaji on the Beach'' is a 1993 British comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha (in her feature film directorial debut) and written by Meera Syal.
Plot
A community group of British women (mostly Punjabis of various faiths) of differen ...
'' (1993) directed by Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...
. The film '' Like It Is'' (1998) directed by Paul Oremland was also partly filmed in Blackpool. The opening scenes were filmed in the Flamingo. The 2005 television comedy/thriller series '' Funland'' revolved around the fictionalised, seedier aspects of Blackpool.
The town also features heavily in the BBC television serial ''Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
'', starring David Morrissey
David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...
, Sarah Parish
Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including: ''The Pillars of the Earth'', ''Peak Practice'', ''Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Mistresses'', ''Merlin'', ' ...
and David Tennant
David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
and first broadcast in 2004, and the one-off follow-up ''Viva Blackpool
''Blackpool'' is a British television musical drama serial, produced in-house by the BBC, that first broadcast on BBC One on 11 November 2004. Starring David Morrissey, Sarah Parish and David Tennant, the serial was written by Peter Bowker, who ...
'', broadcast in June 2006.
In 2006 Lion Television filmed ''The Great British Summer'', which featured many buildings in Blackpool. The Royal Windsor Hotel was featured, with the owner talking all about the hotel seasons and industry. Bernard Manning
Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner.
Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...
was also shown at the hotel doing his spot through the season hosted by Blackpool Born local Entertainer & DJ Gordon Head and other local acts. ''The Great British Summer'' was narrated by Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Fred Titchmarsh HonFSE (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster, TV presenter, poet, and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he established himself as a media personality through a ...
.
Between 10 September 2012 and 19 November 2012 the resort was featured in Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's '' 999: What's Your Emergency?''.
The resort was also featured in the three-part reality television series, ''Blackpool Lights'' on Channel 5 in December 2013.
As well as this, the 2016 Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
film ''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' is a contemporary fantasy debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The story is told through a combination of narrative and a mix of vernacular and found photography from the personal archives ...
'' also features Blackpool and its key tourist attraction, The Blackpool Tower.
Blackpool was once again featured in a Channel 5 documentary series from 26 October 2017, this time entitled ''Bargain Loving Brits in Blackpool''. The series ran for six episodes until 30 November 2017.
Culture
Music
Reginald Dixon
Reginald Herbert Dixon, MBE, ARCM (16 October 1904 – 9 May 1985) was an English theatre organist who was primarily known for his position as organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, a position he held from March 1930 ...
, MBE, ARCM, who held the position as organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool from March 1930 until March 1970 made and sold more recordings than any other organist.
Blackpool Symphony Orchestra was founded by Percy Dayman in 1921. It presents an annual series of concerts and organises educational and community outreach projects.
1950s
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
performed at the Opera House on several occasions in the 1950s. A 1953 concert was recorded and eventually released on CD many years later.
1960s
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
had a long and varied association with Blackpool, including a significant event in John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's early childhood and multiple gigs in the town between 1963 and 1965.
Formed in Blackpool in 1963, The Rockin' Vickers
The Rockin' Vickers were an English rock and roll band from Blackpool, active from 1963 to 1968. They toured the UK and continental Europe and released four singles during their existence. The band is however best-remembered for launching the ...
were a rock and roll beat combo most notable for featuring Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, then known as Ian Frasier, later of Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
and more famously Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
, as a bassist and vocalist. The band recorded four singles before splitting in 1967. The other Rockin' Vickers guitarist, Nick Gribbon, continues to perform in pubs in and around Blackpool as ''Nick Unlimited'', with an open door policy that has given many talented younger Blackpool musicians their first opportunity to play live.
The Executives were a Blackpool band who recorded a handful of singles in the 1960s including the original 1964 version of March of the Mods, which became a top 40 hit for Joe Loss and His Orchestra in the same year. The tune was written by Tony Carr, the father of Executives' frontman Roy Carr
Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines.
Biography
Born in Blackpoo ...
, who later became a well-known music journalist with ''New Musical Express
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' and the author of several books on popular music and executive editor of music magazines including ''New Musical Express'', ''Melody Maker'' and ''Vox''. Executives bass player Glenn Cornick
Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick (23 April 1947 – 28 August 2014) was an English bass guitarist, best known as the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. ''Rolling Stone'' has called his playing with Tull as " ...
became a founding member of Jethro Tull, later forming Wild Turkey. Tony Williams, The Executives' guitarist, joined Stealers Wheel
Stealers Wheel were a Scottish folk rock/rock band formed in 1972 in Paisley, Scotland, by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty. Their best-known hit is " Stuck in the Middle with You". The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed bri ...
soon after its formation in 1972 and also briefly joined Jethro Tull in 1978 as a touring bassist.
Additionally, the nascent Jethro Tull, then called The Blades, featuring future Tull members Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
, John Evan
John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...
, Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946), often known by his former stage name Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is an artist and retired musician best known for being the bassist of progressive rock band Jethro Tull from 1971 to 1975. With Jethro Tull, Ha ...
, and Barrie Barlow, formed as students in Blackpool in the early 1960s.
Blackpool was notorious for having imposed an indefinite ban on the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
from performing in the town in 1964 after a riot broke out among the audience who had found their performance "suggestive" during their concert at the Empress Ballroom. The ban was lifted forty-four years later in March 2008.
The ''Jimi Hendrix – Experience'' video and DVD features concert footage of Hendrix's performance at Blackpool's Opera House in 1967.
1970s
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
were formed in Blackpool in 1968 and self-released two albums in 1971. Only 99 copies of their self-titled debut were pressed and this extremely rare vinyl album has since been described as "one of the "Holy Trinity" items of rare British Psychedelia". The band continued to play until 1978 when they disbanded with the onset of punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
. Limited edition remastered versions of both Complex albums were released by Guersson in 2012.
A number of bands from Blackpool achieved a level of success during the punk and post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
era. Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...
' Section 25 were formed in 1977 in Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...
, a small market town on the outskirts of Blackpool, as were the 1976–79 version of punk band Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver were an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, in 1976. Originally a punk band, Skrewdriver changed into a white supremacist rock band after reuniting in the 1980s. Their original li ...
, who recorded several singles and an album for the Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
label (the skinhead "white power" rock act of the same name that gained notoriety later, contained only one member of the original band). Both bands claimed Blackpool as their place of origin.
1980s and 1990s
Another Blackpool band signed to Factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
was Tunnelvision, who recorded just one single for the label in 1981.
When Barry Lights relocated his Lightbeat record label from Leeds to Blackpool in 1981, the label's first Blackpool signing was electronic rock band Zoo Boutique. After releasing the debut single by Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
punk band One Way System
One Way System are an English punk rock band formed in the Fleetwood area of Lancashire, England, in 1979.
Career
One Way System's initial line-up consisted of Craig Halliday (guitar), Gavin Whyte (vocals), Bob Grant(drums) and Gaz Buckley ( ...
, Lights set up specialist hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
''Beat the System'' label. Blackpool punk band The Fits
The Fits were a punk rock band from Blackpool, Lancashire, England, who were active between 1979 and 1985, having several hits on the UK Indie Chart. They reformed in 2011.
History
The Fits formed in Blackpool in October 1979, with an initial ...
were amongst the first to benefit, eventually releasing four indie chart hit singles in 1982–85.
The Membranes
The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Who ...
who featured John Robb initially set up their own Vinyl Drip record label in 1981 before achieving three indie top 20 hits from 1984 to 1986, reaching number 6 in John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
's Festive Fifty
The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...
in 1984 and making a pre-recorded appearance on Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
rock show The Tube.
The Ceramic Hobs formed in 1985 and to date have "made more than 30 uncategorisable releases on vinyl, CD and cassette for many different worldwide record labels".
Blackpool musician Lucifer's "Cyber Punk Rock" EPs of 1994 contained the first full vocal songs intended for playback on a computer.
2000 onwards
21st century musical exports from Blackpool include Karima Francis
Karima Francis (born Karima Antoinette Francis Cunliffe, 28 April 1987 in Blackpool, England) is an English singer-songwriter.
Karima was named by ''The Observer'' the number one act to watch in 2009. After performing at In The City in Manches ...
, The Locals, who first appeared on ''BBC Introducing
BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 ...
'' when they were just 15, Goonies Never Say Die
Goonies Never Say Die are a five piece instrumental and post-rock band from Blackpool, England. They formed around June 2007 in Blackpool UK. They have released two albums on Deep Elm Records and as of October 2014 have started work on a ...
, Litterbug, Aiden Grimshaw
Aiden Samuel Grimshaw (born 4 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actor who is better known by his stage name Butterjack. He successfully made it to the live shows in the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2010 and finished ...
who came ninth on the 2010 series of ''X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'', The Senton Bombs, UFX/Uncle Fester and Little Boots
Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has released ...
, who topped the ''BBC Sound of...'' poll in 2009.
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...
recorded their first official DVD, ''Under Blackpool Lights
''Under Blackpool Lights'' is the first official DVD released by The White Stripes. The DVD consists of 26 tracks recorded at The Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, Winter Gardens in the English seaside resort of Blackpool, Engla ...
'', at the Empress Ballroom
The Empress Ballroom is an entertainment venue in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is located within the Winter Gardens, a large entertainment complex in the town centre.
As part of the Winter Gardens, the ballroom is a Grade II* Listed Bu ...
in the Winter Gardens on 27 and 28 January 2004. Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About ...
guitarist Jim Suptic
Jim Suptic (born October 14, 1977) is an American musician and entrepreneur, best known for being the guitarist for the rock band The Get Up Kids.
Career
The Get Up Kids
Jim Suptic is best known for being the guitarist and sometime lead singer ...
's Kansas City, Missouri indie rock band Blackpool Lights
Blackpool Lights is an American indie rock band founded in Kansas City, Missouri, by The Get Up Kids guitarist Jim Suptic, bassist Brian Everard, and drummer Billy Brimblecom.
History
Formation and ''This Town's Disaster'' (2004–2006)
Black ...
is named after the DVD title.
In 2005, a compilation album, The Ugly Truth About Blackpool Volume One, chronologically documenting the best of Blackpool indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
music from 1977 to 2005, was released by Andy Higgins' JSNTGM Records in conjunction with the Arts Council, Blackpool Evening Gazette and Blackpool Council. Volume 2, showcasing the best Blackpool indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
bands active in 2005/6 was released the following year. Other Blackpool recording artists on JSNTGM include Sick 56, Erase Today and Litterbug.
Each August since 2006, Blackpool has been the venue for the largest festival of punk rock in the world, the annual Rebellion Festival
The Rebellion Festival, formerly Holidays in the Sun and the Wasted Festival is a British punk rock festival first held in 1996. The festival has attracted mainstream press coverage from such sources as The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily ...
, which is held in the Winter Gardens over four days and features over 200 punk bands.
In the 2010s, Grime music in Blackpool increased dramatically with the invention of BGMedia. They gained millions of views but also caught controversy due to the lyrical content of BGMedia rappers.
In August 2018, German Indie label Firestation Records released in Europe and Japan an eleven track retrospective album 'Illuminated', on Vinyl and CD, by the late 1980s Blackpool Indie Band 'Rik Rak'.
Songs about Blackpool
In 1937 George Formby
George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
's song "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock", was banned by BBC radio for having suggestive lyrics.
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
' song "Autumn Almanac" contains the following lines: "... I go to Blackpool for my holidays/Sit in the open sunlight ..."
"She Sold Blackpool Rock" was a minor success in 1969 for Honeybus
Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London. They are best known for their 1968 UK Top 10 hit single, " I Can't Let Maggie Go", written by group member Pete Dello who also composed their previous single "(Do I Figure) In Y ...
as the follow up to their 1968 top ten hit single "I Can't Let Maggie Go".
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
's semi-autobiographical song "Military Madness" begins "In an upstairs room in Blackpool / By the side of a northern sea / The army had my father / And my mother was having me".
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
recorded a song entitled "Blackpool" amongst a number of demo home recordings in the years 1971 and 1972.
The Jethro Tull song "Up the 'Pool" from the 1972 '' Living in the Past'' album is about Blackpool, singer Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
and other members of the band's childhood home. Another Tull track about the beach attractions of Blackpool is "Big Dipper", from the 1976 album '' Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!''.
In the early 1980s the then Blackpool-based band The Membranes
The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Who ...
used the town as the subject matter for their "Tatty Seaside Town" 1988 single, which was later covered by Therapy?
Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band r ...
in 1994.
Other songs written about Blackpool include ''Oh Blackpool'' by The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...
and several different songs called "Blackpool", by Sham 69
Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including "If the Kids Are United" and "Hurry Up Harry". The ...
, Macc Lads
The Macc Lads are an English punk rock band from Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Self-proclaimed the "rudest, crudest, lewdest, drunkest band in Christendom", the Macc Lads have typically used irreverent, foul-mouthed and politically incorre ...
, Roy Harper and The Delgados
The Delgados are a Scottish indie rock band formed in Glasgow in 1994. The band is composed of Alun Woodward (vocals, guitar), Emma Pollock (vocals, guitar), Stewart Henderson (bass guitar), and Paul Savage (musician), Paul Savage (drums).
Bio ...
. "Blackpool" is also the title song from a production co-written with author Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...
and Vic Godard
Vic Godard (born Victor John Napper) is an English singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now also a solo performer, while continuing to appear with various incarnations of Subway Sect.
Biography
Born Victor John Napper ...
(Subway Sect
Subway Sect were one of the first British punk bands. Although their commercial success was limited by the small amount of recorded material they released, they have been credited as highly influential on the Postcard Records scene and the indi ...
) in 2002, later released as a four-song EP called ''Blackpool''. A song called "Blackpool Fool" appears on the Frank Sidebottom
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Cur ...
album A, B, C & D (1997).
Franz Ferdinand's 2013 "Love Illumination" single was originally called "Blackpool Illuminati".
Songs that mention Blackpool in the lyrics include "Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier", the opening track of the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...
album '' Everything Must Go'', which contains the lyric "20ft high off Blackpool Promenade" amongst other references to Blackpool. The opening line of Soft Cell's 1982 " Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" hit (later a hit for David Gray in 1998) "Standing at the door of the Pink Flamingo, Crying in the rain" is believed to be a reference to Blackpool's famous gay nightclub The Flamingo. Låpsley
Holly Lapsley Fletcher (born 7 August 1996), known by the stage name Låpsley, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Her debut album '' Long Way Home'' was released on 4 March 2016.
Early life
Låpsley was born in York. Her m ...
's chillout song "Painter (Valentine)" includes the lines "you can paint these wings and make me fly / crush coming over like the R.E.M kind / orange in the colour like Blackpool on the sunrise".
Folk songs written about the town include The Houghton Weavers
The Houghton Weavers are an English folk music band formed in 1975, in Westhoughton, Bolton, Greater Manchester ( historically part of Lancashire), England. The current band members are David Littler ( acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, banjo ...
anthem "The Blackpool Belle" ("Oh the Blackpool Belle was a getaway train that went from Northern stations. What a beautiful sight on a Saturday night bound for the illuminations"), Jasper Carrot
Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), best known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, actor and television presenter.
Early life
Born in Shaftmoor Lane, Acocks Green, in Birmingham, Carrott was educated at Acocks Gr ...
's "Day Trip To Blackpool" ("Didn't we have a miserable time the day we went to Blackpool? An 'orrible day, we got drunk on the way And spent our money on chips and bingo...") and Mike Harding
Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet, broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist. Harding has also been a photographer, traveller, filmmaker and playwright.
Early life and education
Harding's ...
's single "Talking Blackpool Blues" ("Well my Mam and Dad and Gran and me / We went to Blackpool by sea / It rained and rained for most of the day / But we all got tanned in a funny sort of way").
Notable musicians born in Blackpool
* John Evan
John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...
, keyboard player with Jethro Tull (1969–1980), leader of The Blades, John Evan Band and John Evan Smash
* Jeffrey Hammond
Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946), often known by his former stage name Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is an artist and retired musician best known for being the bassist of progressive rock band Jethro Tull from 1971 to 1975. With Jethro Tull, Ha ...
, bass guitarist with Jethro Tull, (1970–1975)
* Chris Lowe
Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981.
Biography
Lowe attended Arnold School, an independent ...
of Pet Shop Boys
The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
* Nick McCarthy
Nicholas John McCarthy (born 13 December 1974 in Blackpool, England) is an English-German musician. His main focus is on songwriting and song production. He is also a guitarist, singer and keyboard player.
McCarthy was the guitarist, backing/ ...
of Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
F ...
* Larry Cassidy
Lawrence John Cassidy (18 April 1953 – 27 February 2010) was an English musician, best known for being the singer and bassist of post-punk and electronic band Section 25.
Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, into the family which owned ...
of Section 25
* Gary Miller Gary Miller may refer to:
*Gary Miller (politician) (born 1948), American politician
* Michael Dunn (actor) (Gary Neil Miller, 1934–1973), American actor
* Gary L. Miller (1947–1969), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
* Gary Miller ...
(1924–1968), had a hit with The Yellow Rose of Texas
* Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
of The Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...
/ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
* Robert Smith of The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
* John Robb, singer and bass guitarist
* Jon Gomm
Jon Gomm (born 11 July 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and performer. Using a single acoustic guitar to create drum sounds, bass lines and melodies simultaneously, his songs draw on a range of influences and styles including blues, soul, ...
acoustic guitarist
* Maddy Prior
Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...
, folk singer
* Rae Morris
Rachel Anne "Rae" Morris (born 2 September 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, '' Unguarded'', in 2015. Her second album, '' Someone Out There'', was released in January 2018.
Early life
Morris was born in B ...
, singer-songwriter
* Victoria Hesketh
Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has release ...
, better known as her stage name Little Boots
* David Atherton
David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and founder of the London Sinfonietta.
Background
Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar
School. His father, Robert ...
, conductor and co-founder of the London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.
The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...
* Boston Manor
Boston Manor is an English Jacobean manor house built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries and Boston Manor Park is the adjoining publicly owned green space including a lake. It was the manor house of ...
, alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Media
Newspapers that cover the Blackpool area include the ''Blackpool Gazette
The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...
'', the daily newspaper covering the Fylde Coast area, known locally as ''The Gazette''. They also publish a free weekly newspaper, the '' Blackpool Reporter'', which is delivered to householders in Blackpool. The Gazette also publishes a daily online version in Polish, ''Witryna Polska'' (''Polish Gazette'') to cater for the local Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
community. The ''Lancashire Evening Post
The ''Lancashire Evening Post'' is a daily newspaper based in Fulwood, a suburb of the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. According to the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of th ...
'' is a daily evening newspaper covering the county of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
.
Blackpool has a pioneering publicly owned ''Municipal wireless network
A municipal wireless network is a citywide wireless network. This usually works by providing municipal broadband via Wi-Fi to large parts or all of a municipal area by deploying a wireless mesh network. The typical deployment design uses hundreds ...
'', Wi-Fi that covers the entire town centre, promenade and beach front. Full internet access is available via the publicly owned ''Municipal wireless network
A municipal wireless network is a citywide wireless network. This usually works by providing municipal broadband via Wi-Fi to large parts or all of a municipal area by deploying a wireless mesh network. The typical deployment design uses hundreds ...
''.
Local radio was provided by Radio Wave
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies of 300 gigahertz (GHz) and below. At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm (short ...
, a commercial radio station, based on Mowbray Drive in Blackpool, which covered the Fylde Coast area. This radio station closed and last aired on 20 August 2020. Blackpool also falls in the coverage area of BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire.
It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Darwen Street in Blackburn.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly aud ...
, Rock FM Rock Radio is a former British radio network.
Rock Radio or Rock FM may also refer to:
*Rock FM (Spanish radio station)
*Rock FM (British radio station), based in Preston, Lancashire
* Rock FM 91.9, a radio station based in Johannesburg, South Af ...
, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire
Greatest Hits Radio (Lancashire) is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Lancashire and North West England.
As of June 2022, t ...
, Smooth North West
Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester.
History
GMG Radio ow ...
and Heart North West
Heart North West is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to North West England from studios in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre.
Overview
Century Radio (1998–2009 ...
.
Blackpool Gay Radio provides a part-time radio service catering for the local gay community featuring a mix of music, local features, news and celebrity interviews.
Blackpool also has four music related internet radio stations:
* Fylde FM, the Fylde Coast's largest internet radio station.
* Radio Vibe 2001 – 2003 (Blackpool Fylde & Wyre), an online music service only.
* Splash Net Radio
* Lancashire's Lighthouse Radio (Part of LLR Ministries)
Radio Victoria, based in Victoria Hospital, broadcasts throughout the hospital.
National television with local opt-outs is provided by ITV Granada
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
, the ITV franchise holder for the North West, BBC North West
BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire (western Craven), West Yorkshire (western Calderdale), Derbyshire (western High Peak), Cumbria (Barrow-in-Furness and So ...
, the regional BBC station for the North West region.
Blackpool also has a dedicated local TV news service, That's Lancashire, part of the That's TV
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat and Freeview. That's TV started off as the owner of a number of Local television in the United Kingdom, local television licences in several conur ...
network, broadcast from their studio in Preston.
Sport
Boxing
Blackpool has two main venues for boxing fight nights, the Tower Circus Arena and the Winter Gardens, which both hold regular fight nights throughout the year. Events at these venues have been screened on Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
, British Eurosport
Eurosport 1 is a French television sports network channel which is a division of Eurosport and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Discovery took a 20% minority interest share in December 2012, and became majority shareholder in the Eurospo ...
and Channel M
Channel M was a regional television station, serving Greater Manchester. The station, originally known as ''Manchester Student Television'', was owned and operated by the GMG Regional Media division of Guardian Media Group.
Coverage
Original ...
.
Blackpool is home to many current and former professional boxers including Brian Rose (born in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
), Jack Arnfield
Jack Arnfield (born 22 May 1989) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2018, and challenged twice for the British middleweight title.
Professional career
Arnfield vs. Byrne
Arnfield made his professional debut o ...
, Jeff Thomas (born in Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
), Mathew Ellis (born in Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
), Matty Askin
Matthew Askin (born 24 December 1988) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2018. He held the British Boxing Board of Control, British Cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight title from 2017 to 2018 and challenged once ...
(born in Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
), RP Davies and Scott Cardle
Scott Cardle (born 28 September 1989) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2012 to 2018. He held the British lightweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the welterweight division at the 2009 ...
.
Cricket
Blackpool Cricket Club are Blackpool's major cricketing team; they won the League Cup in 2013 and were National Champions in 1990. They won the Lancashire Cup on eight occasions between 1973 and 1996 and were League Champions fourteen times. Their home is in the grounds of Stanley Park, which also hosts Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...
.
Football
The town's professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club is Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1887, th ...
, who have spent 31 seasons in the top division and won the 1953 FA Cup Final
The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4–3, equalling the ...
. There are other, smaller football clubs located within Blackpool, including A.F.C. Blackpool
A.F.C. Blackpool is a football club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The club currently play in the . Based at Jepson Way, they are nicknamed ''The Mechanics'' or ''The Mechs'', and are full members of the Lancashire County Football ...
, Blackpool Wren Rovers and Squires Gate
Squires Gate is a district and an Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool, South Shore, Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south ...
.
Golf
There are three golf clubs in Blackpool. Blackpool North Shore Golf Club opened in 1904, moving to its present site on Knowle Hill in 1927; the new course was designed by Harry Colt
Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt (4 August 1869 – 21 November 1951) was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison ...
. In 1926, an Alister MacKenzie
Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian physician with the British Army during the Boer War ...
designed course opened within Stanley Park; it is home to Blackpool Park Golf Club
Stanley Park is a public park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. It is the town's primary park and covers an area of approximately . The park was designed to include significant sporting provisions, along with fo ...
. The newest addition is Herons' Reach Golf Resort, which was designed by Peter Allis
Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of ...
and Clive Clark and opened in 1992. Blackpool Golf Club, which opened in 1894, was located in South Shore; it closed at the beginning of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, with the land subsequently becoming part of Blackpool Airport
Blackpool Airport is an airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport and Blackpool International Airport.
Ownership of the air ...
.
Rugby
Blackpool Borough
Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and was ...
were the first professional rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
club in the town. However, they eventually folded after leaving the town in 1987. Blackpool Panthers
Blackpool Panthers RLFC was an English professional rugby league club based in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. They played at Bloomfield Road, between 2005-2007, then moved to the Woodlands Memorial Ground owned by Fylde rugby union club. They wer ...
were formed in 2004 and played in Co-operative Championship One. They ground-shared at Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...
then in 2007 at Woodlands Memorial Ground
Woodlands Memorial Ground is a rugby stadium in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is the home of Fylde Rugby Club and was the home of the Blackpool Panthers between 2006 and 2010.
The Northern Rail Nines group matches, quarter and semi ...
, the home of Fylde Rugby Club
Fylde Rugby Union Club is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's Nationa ...
in the neighbouring town of Lytham St Annes
Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...
. The club ceased to exist after the 2010 season due to lack of finance.
Blackpool Stanley, Blackpool Scorpions and Blackpool Sea Eagles are amateur rugby league clubs in the town.
The resort formerly held the now discontinued Northern Rail Cup
The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
Final at Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...
, a Rugby League knockout competition for all clubs outside of the Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
attracting many thousands of visitors.
Blackpool is currently home to the annual ' Summer Bash' rugby league tournament held at Bloomfield Road, where an entire round of Championship matches are played in the city to showcase the sport.
Blackpool also has a rugby union club, called Blackpool RUFC. Their home ground is Norbreck Rugby Ground.
Running
The annual Blackpool Marathon is staged on the Promenade each April. Thousands of competitors run on the closed Promenade, organised by Fylde Coast Runners.
Professional wrestling
The Pleasure Beach's Horseshoe Show Bar was home to professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
events throughout the season, promoted by Bobby Baron. The bar shows were home to a "wrestling booth" where members of the public could challenge the wrestlers for cash prizes for each round they survived. These challenges would be taken by shooters, wrestlers skilled in the brutal submission holds of catch wrestling
Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission h ...
, which they could deploy to defend the prize money even against skilled amateur wrestler
Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...
s. Booths such as these had been a foundation of the professional wrestling industry since the 19th century, and Baron's booth is reputed to have been the last of its kind in the world.
Numerous renowned professional wrestlers worked as carnival shooters at the booth, including future WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
star William Regal
Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...
; his tag team partner Robbie Brookside
Robert Edward Brooks (born 11 March 1966), better known by his ring name Robbie Brookside, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works as a trainer/producer for the NXT brand. He has toured all ove ...
; Shak Khan, who runs a catch wrestling school in the area; and future women's champion Klondyke Kate
Jayne Porter is an English female professional wrestler known by her ring name Klondyke Kate. She wrestled for All Star Wrestling, holding their British Women's Championship, which she won in a match featured in a BBC2 documentary. She also r ...
. The booth ended with Baron's death in 1994, although other promoters have since held shows in the bar.[''Walking A Golden Mile'' William Regal, WWE Books 2005] Additionally, the Tower Circus
Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in ...
was a frequent venue for wrestling shows. A photograph of noted wrestling villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
Jack Pye in action at the circus was, for some time in the late 2000s, displayed by the entrance to the circus. The tradition was revived by All Star Wrestling, ASW when they promoted a summer season at the venue in 2008, and a similar summer season in 2012 at the Winter Gardens. The Tower Ballroom hosted one date of the six show live tour of the ''World of Sport Wrestling'' TV show in February 2019.
WWE held a tournament at the Empress Ballroom
The Empress Ballroom is an entertainment venue in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is located within the Winter Gardens, a large entertainment complex in the town centre.
As part of the Winter Gardens, the ballroom is a Grade II* Listed Bu ...
on 14 and 15 January 2017 to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion. In attendance were Regal and Triple H, with the latter commenting to local journalists, "Blackpool has this reputation. It's easy to get to, a lot of people come here and when they come here they lose it and that's what we wanted. I almost feel like there wasn't really another choice." Tyler Bate won the inaugural tournament to become the first WWE United Kingdom Champion.
Several renowned wrestlers have invested in Blackpool. Peter Thornley, Kendo Nagasaki owns the Trades Hotel and KAOS Nightclub, Rex Strong (born Barry Shearman, 1942–2017) owned the Hadley Hotel, and Johnny Saint owned a block of holiday flats in the town. Shirley Crabtree, Shirley "Big Daddy" Crabtree worked as a lifeguard on Central Pier. He was reunited, on a 1979 edition of ITV's ''This Is Your Life (British TV series), This Is Your Life'', with a woman whose life he had saved in the course of his duties.
The Blackpool Combat Club, a heel faction in All Elite Wrestling led by Regal, was named in honour of Blackpool.
Religion
Blackpool has a number of Christian churches, including 18 Church of England, Anglican and 10 Catholic churches. Other Christian groups in the town include Blackpool Baptists, Baptist Tabernacle, Blackpool Christian Centre, Blackpool Community Church, Kings Christian Centre, Metropolitan Community Church, Liberty Church, and New Life Community Church. The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Blackpool, Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes is now redundant church, redundant and is being converted into a community centre by the Historic Chapels Trust.
There were previously two synagogues in Blackpool for its Jewish population, now down to one. The Blackpool Reform Jewish Congregation caters to the Reform Judaism, Reform population and is located on Raikes Parade with a synagogue hall and classroom facilities, a purpose-built sanctuary hall and an assembly room. Blackpool United Hebrew Congregation was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox synagogue located on Leamington Road with a synagogue hall and community centre. The synagogue closed in May 2012 due to a declining Orthodox population, with the final rabbi David Braunold having retired in 2011. As of January 2022, the building which formerly housed the synagogue was awaiting new use.
There is a residential Buddhism, Buddhist Centre in North Shore called Keajra Kadampa Buddhist Centre which is a member of the New Kadampa Tradition. There are also two mosques for the Islam, Muslim population: the purpose-built Blackpool Central Mosque, Blackpool Central Mosque & Islamic Community Centre is located on Revoe Street and provides prayer facilities while the Blackpool Islamic Community Centre (BICC) offers Islamic studies, Islamic education.
Blackpool also has small communities of Bahaʼi Faith, Bahaʼis, Hinduism, Hindus, Jainism, Jains, Mormonism, Mormons, and Sikhs. The Blackpool Faith Forum was established in 2001 in conjunction with Blackpool Council to provide interfaith dialogue between the various faith groups in the town, to raise awareness of the various faiths in the town and to promote a multifaith community. It is linked to the Interfaith Network of UK. In February 2007 a youth forum was established, Blackpool Faith Forum for Youth (BIFFY).
Education
As well as 29 state primary schools and eight state secondary schools, there is also a range of activities for children and young people in the town. Some of these are delivered by ''Blackpool Young People Services'' (a part of Blackpool Council).
Shipwrecks
A number of shipwrecks have occurred on the coastline of Blackpool. The most recent occurrence was the grounding of the cruiser ''Coco Leoni'' in March 2008. Famously, in 1897, HMS Foudroyant (1798), HMS ''Foudroyant'', Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Nelson's flagship before HMS Victory, HMS ''Victory'', was grounded close to North Pier in a storm.
Crimes
Blackpool has experienced numerous high-profile crimes since the early 20th century. In 2012, Blackpool was identified as a "crime hotspot", and in 2016 was revealed as having the fourth-highest murder rate in the UK. Rates of violent crime, sexual assault and domestic violence exceed national averages.
In 1913, the "Brides in the Bath" serial killer George Joseph Smith drowned his second wife Alice in their rented room of a boarding house on Regent Road. He was due to be the beneficiary of a sizeable life insurance policy upon his wife's death.
In 1971, Supt Gerry Richardson, 38, was shot dead while chasing a gang of London thugs who had robbed a resort jewellers. The five-man group bungled the raid on Preston's Jewellers in the Strand. They arrived late and failed to check a back room where the shop manager had already raised a silent alarm connected to Blackpool Police Station. As the gang made their getaway they became involved in a high-speed chase through the streets of North Shore which ended with Supt Richardson's tragic murder at the hands of "Fat" Freddie Sewell. Supt Richardson was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1972. Wounded Inspector Carl Walker also received the George Cross.
In 1972, Dr Ahmad Alami (the son of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) murdered three sleeping children at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. He also stabbed two nurses and other children sleeping on the ward. Alami was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and judged unfit to stand trial. He was detained at Broadmoor Hospital, Broadmoor high security hospital for several years before being released and deported back to his native Jordan.
In 1999, Stuart Michael Diamond was convicted of the brutal murder of a homeless 17-year-old heroin addict, Christopher Hartley. Diamond murdered Hartley and dismembered his body before 'dumping' the remains in a hotel 'swill bin'; Hartley's head was never recovered.
In 2007, the jury in the case of the alleged rape and murder of Blackpool schoolgirl Disappearance of Charlene Downes, Charlene Downes, 14, heard a police surveillance tape of Jordanian Iyad Albattikhi, 29, and Iranian Mohammed Reveshi, 50, allegedly detailing her stabbing, and her later alleged disposal in their "Funny Boyz" kebab shop's mincing machine by the prosecution. Albattikhi allegedly boasted that he had sold her remains in kebabs. Both men were acquitted of the alleged offence. John Bromley-Davenport, for the defence, said: "We have uncovered within the Blackpool Police force an astonishing catalogue of incompetence, failure to disclose, manipulation and lies, some of which were uttered on oath during the trial last year. If the jury at that trial had swallowed the lies and been duped by the manipulation then a grave miscarriage of justice would have occurred."
Fifteen-year-old Paige Chivers went missing in 2007 after leaving her home in Bispham. In 2015 Robert Ewing was convicted of her murder. Her body has never been found. Her father Frank Chivers was murdered in 2013.
On 25 July 2010, nurse Jane Clough was stabbed to death in Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Victoria Hospital's car park. Her ex-boyfriend Jonathan Vass, a paramedic, was later found guilty of her murder.
On 31 January 2013, 16-year-old student Murder of Sasha Marsden, Sasha Marsden was sexually assaulted, stabbed to death and her body set on fire.
Notable people
Blackpool has been the birthplace and/or home to a number of notable people.
Twin towns/Sister cities
Blackpool is Town twinning, twinned with:
* Bottrop, Germany
* Sanya, China
Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City, Freedom of the Borough of Blackpool.
Individuals
* William Henry Cocker: 19 June 1897.
* Joseph Heap: 19 November 1907.
* John Bickerstaffe: 6 February 1912.
* James Fish: 6 February 1912.
* James Ward: 16 November 1914.
* Robert Butcher Mather: 16 November 1914.
* John Grime: 3 November 1915.
* James Heyes: 3 November 1915.
* David Lloyd George, Rt Hon David Lloyd George: 6 August 1918.
* Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier General Thomas Edward Topping: 2 August 1922.
* Thomas Bickerstaffe: 4 August 1926.
* Albert Lindsay Parkinson, Sir Lindsay Parkinson: 4 August 1926.
* William Henry Broadhead : 4 August 1926.
* Henry Brown : 3 October 1928.
* Samuel Hill : 3 October 1928.
* John Collins : 3 October 1928.
* Thomas Fielding : 3 October 1928.
* Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, Lord Derby : 1 August 1934.
* Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, Lord Stamp: 23 March 1937.
* Sir Cuthbert Cartwright Grundy: 31 January 1938.
* Winston Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: 4 September 1946.
* Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Lord Montgomery of Alamein: 21 July 1948.
* Eli Hey Howe: 3 March 1950.
* Tom Gallon Lumb: 3 March 1950.
* Thomas Fenton: 3 March 1950.
* Sir Harold R Grime : 3 March 1950.
* Rhodes William Marshall: 2 May 1973.
* Harold Grimbledeston: 2 May 1973.
* Ernest Alfred Machin: 2 May 1973.
* Joseph Shepherd Richardson: 2 May 1973.
* Leonard Broughton: 2 May 1973.
* Raymond Jacobs: 25 June 1984.
* Walter Uriah Robinson: 25 June 1984.
* Harold Leslie Hoyle: 25 June 1984.
* Percy Patrick Hall: 25 June 1984.
* Stan Mortensen: 29 November 1989.
* Doris Thompson: 9 April 2003.
* Jimmy Armfield: 9 April 2003.
Military units
* R (Blackpool) Battery 288 (2nd West Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army: 1961.
* HMS Penelope (F127), HMS Penelope Royal Navy, RN: 1990.
* 12th Regiment Royal Artillery: 2005.
* The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 2017.
* The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.
* HMS Triumph (S93), HMS Triumph Royal Navy, RN: 2017.
See also
*Blackpool High Tide Organ
*Listed buildings in Blackpool
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Business in Blackpool
*
Blackpool Council
*
{{authority control
Blackpool,
Seaside resorts in Lancashire
Towns in Lancashire
Beaches of Lancashire
Populated coastal places in Lancashire