Oh I do like to be beside the seaside:Lytham and Lytham St Annes
 

I love both ends of Blackpool. I take after my Mum that way. I remember sitting on the promenade at the “Cliffs” end with Mum in her late age reminiscing about her working days there. It moved me enough to write an article attempting to inspire care workers to treat older people with dignity.
At the other end of Blackpool are the wonderful towns of Lytham and Lytham St Annes. Lytham just beats St Annes as being ‘upmarket’; but don’t tell the people of St Annes that.
Lytham has an almost cosmopolitan atmosphere especially on a hot summer day when the people spill out onto the pavements and into the Cafes. It has a number of good Italian restaurants, and we ate there that Saturday: Le Spago.
http://www.spagolytham.uk/#_=_
Great food and slow service.
There are plenty of other places to eat many of which are Mediterranean, or you can plonk yourself in the local award winning chippy: Seniors.
http://www.seniorsfishandchips.co.uk/#_=_
Great service and even better fish (served with mushy peas and a pot of tay). Mrs Lyon insisted on making chip butties and I could sense Mum moving in her grave. Seniors serve fish tapas – small portions of plaice, cod, and haddock.
St Annes also has a range of restaurants catering for all tastes. Greens is a fabulous English restaurant tucked away on a backstreet. Its great food and atmosphere attracts a lot of people.
http://www.greensbistro.co.uk/Greens_Bistro_Page.html
The main reason for our trip this time was for the Lytham Proms. Last year we went and endured Tom Jones (actually he was quite good) and enjoyed it so much we visited again. Lytham Proms lasts for four days catering for a range of tastes. Thursday night was rave/dance music; Friday night was 80s/90s with artists like Billy Ocean; Saturday we endured McBusted and Sunday was classic night with Elaine Page etc. You can take a picnic with you on the last night and much champagne is consumed and Marks and Spencer butties eaten.
Its difficult getting accommodation during Proms weekend in Lytham but our friends talked us into going AirBNB which turned out a fantastic choice. We had some fabulous hosts who insisted on ferrying our various possessions up to the Proms and were just accommodating in every way. We had a big four poster bed which we shared with a friendly pussycat (making me feel at home and less missing of my own cats). AirBNB has a range of accommodation options from private flats through to sharing a house. It was our first experience of it and will not be our last.
All in all, a great weekend helped by being blessed by great weather, great hosts and great food.

Oooh me too me too. Haven't been back there recently but lovely (?) memories of sitting on the beach behind a wind-break freezing cold and pouring with rain eating butties brought from home.
So now they have Proms, Mediterranean restaurants, champers and AirBnB? Sounds like I need to revisit.
Thanks for the enthusiasm.

We enjoy driving across to Lytham too. Usually it's a Sunday late afternoon and we have an early dinner in one of the several very good restaurants in the centre.

Not much enamoured of the North end of Blackpool though, it's not got that much to recommend it these days.

Indeed Gertie, some say its a great shame. Mrs Lyon curses every time the air conditioned tram flies past and curses when the ramshackle tram judders through. The charm of the place is the rough rubs up against the smooth, and I find myself pulled in different directions. You can take the boy out of the council estate but you can't take the council estate out of the old man.

God help.

Fodors has discovered us.

There will be endemic tipping soon, tourists with bad hair and bum bags.

Glad you enjoyed your trip Steve, The Square is a lovely place in the sun. Greens was a great find, how did you manage that? Next time try Zen ( better food than Thailand itself or The Grand Hotel.

All the Bentleys in Lytham have 120% mortgages on them, the real money is in St Annes. The tight money bags there make the Aldi one of the busiest in the UK.

We always make sure we are in Scotland when Lytham Proms are on, horrible time for locals.

Have you been away this summer?

BritishCaicos, you are talking like a local (St Anne's that is).Thanks for the tip on Zen.

never been, and i've never really thought of going. Perhaps one day, Steve.

thanks though for the interesting info re airBNB which I have yet to use.

I had a wonderful fortnight in St Anne's with my best friend and her family in 1960.

I dyed my hair red in the hotel wash basin and thought I was the bees knees.

Looking back, we did so many what would now be considered suicidal things involving boys our own age, it was a testament to the gentlemanly behavior of the local youths.

I live locally and go to Lytham at least once a week for a round of golf (choice of four courses, all with character).
Live in Northern end of Blackpool and it's not bad at all. Cheaper to live than Lytham and St Annes and some good-value places to eat. The Irish Sea is the same for both locations.

Fun report, stevelyon. Makes me want to go and inflict my hairdo on the locals.

Love the hairdyeing detail, shouldbe, and your testament to gentlemanly youth.

Shouldbewriting, not sure you'd get the same respect in Blackpool nowadays (maybe in Lytham and possibly St Anne's) and they wouldn't look twice at your bright red hair. Good tip on Blackpool Alec, we are entertaining retiring to the seaside and were looking towards Lytham amongst other places and always thought Blackpool a bit of a risk. Like most places we looked at (apart from St Anne's and definitely not Lytham) its got a very run down feel but this may be a totally prejudiced (incorrect) opinion.

St Annes is a really good option as the property is still Victorian period but fairly reasonable. There is little petty crime and people are generally comfortably friendly.

Lutham prices can be high for the North.

I agree Alec, I cycle (a lot). Lytham to Scotland sometimes and it is only through cycling that I have got to fully see Blackpool. Some of the areas in the North going towards Thornton and Poulton are shockingly.

i cycled to Fleetwood last night.

It was quite a sad sight.