Blackpool - has it always been like this or do I have rose-tinted specs?

I agree with this. I lived in Torquay for years; pretty enough by the harbour etc. and the tourist-trap areas, but JFC it was dog rough.

I visited c 2010 for the first time since I was a child. I was attending a work conference at the Pontins holiday park. That place was hideous. Looked like a camp from Beirut or somewhere. The chalets had filthy curtains flapping through even more filthy windows and the dining room sported plastic gingham tablecloths and Squeezy ketchup bottles on each table. The ‘entertainment’ hall (probably a nice ballroom / bingo hall in its time) had a filthy carpet with a stale fag smell despite the fact that you hadn’t been allowed to smoke indoors for several years at that point.
Luckily I wasn’t staying there. For that I had the pleasure of a Premier Inn which was pleasant enough, but the walk into town was not. Run down houses, drunk people, filthy litter everywhere.

So sad - I visited a few times as a child and loved the illuminations, trams, Pleasure Beach, amusements etc.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1810027-To-think-Blackpool-is-a-bit-shit?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Here's the 2013 review. I think at one point we were getting a Mumsnet trip to stay at a particularly amusingly reviewed guest house. Enjoy the classic banter

To be fair, all piers smell of wee underneath - even in naice areas - presumably because the structure of a pier is a natural place for large deposits of seaweed to gather; and seaweed smells of wee!

Brighton historically had the same problem. People would come when they had nowhere else to go because they had happy memories. Brighton still has the same social problems, but they are very much tempered by the overall prosperity of the city which gives advantages Blackpool just doesn't have.....

We went in 2021. First time I had ever been, we should have stayed for 3 nights but on the first night we saw a group of women snorting lines off an OUTDOORS BEER GARDEN TABLE while their children perused the play area and a couple were having a Chinese on the floor of a bus stop. We went home the next day, it’s a dirty, miserable shithole and I don’t holiday in shitholes. I’m not a fan of ‘British Seaside’ towns anyway but Blackpool
took the award for worst one ever.

Blackpool used to be one of the popular places for conferences (political/union/business etc). Went a couple of time but didn't see much other than the hotel and conference centre. We did take the girls to a holiday caravan park at Blackpool. They thoroughly enjoyed it, travelling on the trams going on the pier, playing on the beach. They had a busy tiring holiday but apart from the prom didn't really see much of Blackpool.

We've visited quite a few seaside towns. DH had a thing about visiting towns with piers and or proms so we've been to quite a few seaside towns. Again though it tends to be limited to the seafront.

We went about 15 years ago after a lovely holiday in the Lake District. Confronted with a dirty nappy on getting out of the car and it went downhill from there. Soured the whole holiday for me, never again. OTOH we went to Whitley Bay for an evening a few years ago when stopping overnight and had the best curry I’d ever had!

Awful place sadly. It’s fairly close to us so we pop by on a sunny day for the kids in the summer holidays to enjoy some fish and chips and doughnuts, and probably during the time when the lights are on but its so sad to see the drug taking, the disregarded houses, the homelessness and the unruly groups heading around the town. It has definitely gotten worse over the years.

I once read an article that the rate of homelessness is so high because many people come to Blackpool once they have hit rock bottom and want a new/fresh start and so as they associate Blackpool with fond memories from their childhoods, they decide to come there with this hope things will be better.

I last went 15 years ago and it was an absolute shit hole then, haven’t been since

The illuminations are alright if you don’t get out of your car 😁 The front is ok - plenty to do, but one street back is like the zombie apocalypse. It is a shame as I remember going to Blackpool being a massive treat when I was young. We go to St Anne’s for the beach and Lytham for something to eat instead - it’s a completely different experience considering you can see Blackpool from St Anne’s beach.

It’s an absolute shithole. I have been there a couple of times recently for events and you can’t even find somewhere decent for a coffee - even the Costa is 100 times shitter than a normal Costa Coffee.

Its Cheesy and Tacky but without the fun these days I am afraid.

Oh heck. I was planning on visiting Blackpool for a day with DP. We went to Southport last week and thought that was bad enough!

Saturated with cheap flats and HMOs for the people seeking asylum. The beach is fabulous and the prom is great. A great shame.

I was actually surprised how nice it looks round there!

Went often to the seafront and fair as a kid in the 90s, so I knew it wasn't exactly upmarket, but then didn't go again for a couple of decades until visiting the zoo quite recently.

There is lots of videos on you tube about Blackpool. You can watch Blackpool in the sixties and seventies and see how bustling and popular it was. Guesthouses were all well maintained and nice to stay in.

You can also see lots of videos on how it is now.

It's vastly different. Very sad

Here's a video from Blackpool from a fella who travels around the country talking to people:

I remember going there many years ago and under the pier stank of wee
grotty dump of a place then

Absolutely hated it. The drugs, the people, the busyness, the lack of parking, the awful phone signal, the horrible dated b&bs with inexplicably high ratings, the inability to serve any food that isn’t deep fried, the horrible atmosphere in pubs and restaurants. No no no no no.

I've not been for a night/weekend for a while but if you go on a weekend in season it'll still have that vibe. Social problems are everywhere now anyway in UK.

I think a lot of the clubs have gone though so it won't have the variety of a night in Liverpool/Manchester that it used to, but it'll.still be a good night out in season.

Oh, I've never been, but have just booked a weekend, expecting it to be cheesy and tacky fun, but I didn't realise it was like this.

I used to love Blackpool. It's never been an elegant place, but it was always good down-to-earth fun.

We actually had a week of our honeymoon there in the last millennium!!

I'd still like to go back again, in spite of the many, many reports of how bad it's got; as those strong memories of all the good times are still firmly lodged in my head. Possibly just the once, though...

I'm the same.

Used to have day trips to Blackpool at least once a year as a child (80s/90s). It used to feel so exciting and we used to have a great time.

My Grandparents used to go every year for a holiday.

Now it just feels dirty and depressing.