BLACKPOOL

 

Lancashire's most famous location is probably the town of Blackpool, with its theme park, seaside landladies and 'kiss-me-quick' hats. It's the north-west mecca for stag and hen nights, and it's renowned for being the epitome of  'cheap and cheerful'
The most famous things in the town, are the Blackpool Tower, with its circus and ballroom, the trams, and the annual Blackpool Lights.

The white building to the right of the Tower, is the former Woolworths 4-storey flagship emporium, which opened in 1938.

In 1879, the first set of Illuminations were introduced when Blackpool Council devoted the sum of £5000 to experiment with the concept of electric street lighting, starting off with eight arc lamps on 60ft poles along the seafront.

These days, in total, Blackpool Illuminations cost over £2 million a year to stage. Blackpool Illuminations attract in excess of 3.5 million visitors a year! Visitors will spend more than £250 million when visiting Blackpool during the Illuminations. There are more than 500 designs and features in the eclectic display.

I don't have any pictures of the current lights, but meanwhile here are some old pictures - not sure of the date, but from the clothes of the women, I would say 1920/1930s?

Now here's something that show just how much the Tower means to locals and tourists alike - as 2023 drew to a close, there was a breaking news report on the BBC, that the top of the Blackpool tower was alight. 

Hundreds of people rushed to the seafront to look,  as 6 fire engines, police, two helicopters and a specialist team who were trained in emergencies on cliffs and tall buildings rushed to the spot. 

Everyone held their breath, as they watched the very top viewing platform burning, shocked at the thought that the tower might be lost.

Turns out the 'fire' was a sheet of orange netting being used by workmen as protection, which had broken loose and was flapping in the strong winds......................