whats happened to Blackpool

Old Oct 15th, 2008, 12:53 AM
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whats happened to Blackpool

I last went to Blackpool 3 years ago – week before half term, weather showery & very windy.
Yesterday went again – half term next week, mostly rain with moderate wind.

First impressions were that there does not appear to be a lot of people around. Hardly any cars on the golden mile & there seemed to be fewer lights up & most of what I saw have been up for years. Any way we parked up in the Sainsbury car park at Bispham – it’s free & stays open to at least 10.00pm. Headed back to the Bispham tram stop popping in for a coffee & cake and then play on the penny falls. They were both pretty empty but this was why we go before the half term holidays.

Got the tram down to the Sandcastle & walked over to Pleasureland. You can only now enter Pleasureland by ticket. We usually buy passes for our kids & then tickets for ourselves as necessary. Faced with the prospect of having to buy 4 full passes we were shocked. Worse still the park was due to close at 6.00pm & the last rides were at 5.30pm. The price had been reduced from £25 to £20 each but even so we were looking at £80 for just over an hours worth of rides – Disneyland Paris was £34 each for a full day.

Thanks but no thanks – I was not prepared to fork out that much today.

After that disappointment we headed to the restaurant – it was closed for refurbishment. We then noticed that all the food stalls at Pleasureland were closed. We headed back down the prom & had a few games of skittles in an arcade that had seen better days. It was pretty empty too. Headed back up the prom to Central pier but gave up walking any further. Hotels were competing for custom because they were empty, shops were boarded up, chip shops were empty – I had the greasiest portion of chips ever that must have been cooked hours before & then kept hot. It is still repeating on me today.

The illuminations were on but the light show this year must have been the worst I have seen in years. There were few trams running & we jumped a taxi back to Bispham.

We will not be returning to Blackpool for quite some years after this experience.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 01:53 AM
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Yesterday's weather was really lousy. Worst day for about two weeks.
It's Scottish Half Term at the moment and there are fair few people from over the border staying in local hotels and taking in the sights. It will be busy in 10 days when English Half Term begins.
Pleasure Beach - yes, they have introduced the controversial £20 a head admission charge for all during October. They say it's just an experiment. From next season, those who don't want to take any rides can buy a £5 Freedom Pass.
If you come over a weekend, and the weather is nice, you will see a lot more people. There is now a much enlarged indoor shopping centre at Hounds Hill, and they are getting a lot more shoppers there.
I don't eat on the Prom or Golden Mile (they are mainly tourist traps). You should have returned to Bispham where there is a good selection of eating places and pubs (e.g. roast dinner from £3.50). Better still, at Cleveleys where there's an even better choice and at very reasonable prices (that's where we go; small fish and chips from under £3).
It's possible to have a good time in Blackpool, and without spending a lot of money. You just need to know where to go and what to avoid.
NB. Be careful about parking in supermarket car parks. Most have 2-hour limit, and offenders can get a ticket or wheel-clamped. Most side streets in Bispham have all-day free parking, and pretty safe too.



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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 02:08 AM
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I wonder how much of the problem is down to the conference business.

A relative of mine is a frequent attender at political conferences. All these Echo Arenas and Birmingham Metalbashers Centres that have sprung up have taken that business from Blackpool - to the intense delight of the politicians concerned, who'd have sold their own mothers if that guaranteed they'd never have to trek up to Blackpool, and its truly, truly awful hotels, ever again. And not just the one big annual summer party conference: the sheer scale of Blackpool's auditoriums used to get it other conference biz too

Obviously, conference attenders didn't spend that much time on the fairground rides when there was enough Mickey Mouse stuff going on in the conference halls. But it was all traffic.

Probably traffic that'll never come back, Blackpool's not been able to compete with Marbella for weather, ever. Now it lags every big city for auditorim quality, night life, hotel standard and accessibility. Who'd invest in decent facilities there when Liverpool - and Glasgow, and Brum and probably Oswaltwistle - offer so much more.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 02:25 AM
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Blackpool Council had put all their eggs in the same basket for the super casino bid. When the whole project was pulled by Gordon Brown, Blackpool foud itself with no plan B. There is no funding nor concrete plan in place for a new conference centre (they had hoped the money generated by casino trade would pay for it), and while there is some work going on in the new retail quarters (e.g. Hounds Hill), Talbot Gateway (near Blackpool North Station) and a new outdoor arena on the sea defence by the Tower, there is as yet no comprehensive regeneration plan being put into action which will upgrade facilities and make the resort fit for the 21st century.
Still, Blackpool gets more day visitors than any other seaside town, so the potential is there. It's just that the infrastructure hasn't kept up with the times.
But there are some hopeful signs. The current credit crunch is making people re-examine their travel plans and many more are expected to spend their holidays at home. There are new family-value hotels spring up all over. Tour operators are expected to bring more people, and hotelers are fielding more enquiries from groups and individuals for 2009.
Blackpool isn't all bad. Far from it. If you look beyond the tatty shops and peeling paint on old buildings, you have first-rate golf on the Fylde Coast (The Open at Lytham St Annes in 2012), revamped Morecambe a short drive away, and the Lake District in little more than an hour. Plus some excellent value for money in towns round about. And when the sun shines and the sea is clam, it's hard to beat a walk along the sea front from North Pier to Bispham.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 03:50 AM
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I have been going to Blackpool for years now. It was so disappointing this year to see so many shops closed and the number of street hawkers was well down on previous years. I only noticed 4 torch light sellers, no chestnut stalls and only a few mobile vans. Pleasurelands new strategy stinks – there are plenty of parents who may only go for their kids to go on rides & to make them pay full price is ridiculous. I usually only venture on a few rides & pay for tickets as necessary, so paying full price is not fair.

Camelot or Alton Towers must now be cheaper by comparison and will provide as much entertainment.

I also take exception to the number of speed cameras – at one point I thought there was a fault with the satnav pinging all the time but it was because there was a succession of them lining the street. On the golden mile I spotted 8 cameras but there are probably more.

I have been there in worse weather than last night & it has been packed on the prom & also the funfair was still open after 6.00.
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 04:05 AM
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I wonder if all British resorts are quieter since we've had such an awful summer throughout - maybe most people booking an autumn break decided they needed to get away to somewhere with a better chance of sun ?
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Old Oct 15th, 2008, 04:12 AM
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There are around 50 speed cameras in Blackpool, but locals know that most don't have film in them! You are likiely to be caught on cameras on access roads in and out of the town, such as on Preston New Road off junction 4 of M55, where they also frequently deploy mobile camera crew (distinguished by a van with rear door open and camera sign visible).
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