To think Blackpool is a bit shit

[Cutitup]

Just came back from Blackpool and it was utter shit. Why haven't the council there made improvements and made it a decent place to visit?

There is hardly anywhere halfway reasonable to eat, it looks completely broken and unloved. There is just so much potential for development and it could be the "Orlando" of England. Instead, it's just shite.

I've come away thinking I don't need to take my children to Africa to appreciate what they've got: just take them to Blackpool.

On a good note, the beach is very nice. Shame about the drunks weeing all over the stairs to the beach and leaving beer cans everywhere. I saw broken Britain in Blackpool and I shall never go back again.

mrsdv I love Southend. I haven't been to Blackpool for comparison but judging from this thread it must be miles better.

We love that it is cheap to get to, has a great little theme park which the kids love and is reasonably priced and not too busy, plus it has great seaside food and an authentic feel to it. Sure it is working class, but that's not a bad thing.

Someone I know is there for work and put some pics on fb that look nice. That is the extent of my contribution.

The pics were of sea front and some street art.

But if Kobes had started a new thread nobody would have said 'This again? There was a thread two years ago about this'.

Zombie thread aside I thought the whole point of Blackpool was that it was a bit shit. Kind of like a quaint charm. Haven't been for years though.

Have had to go to margate many times for work myself and that always seems horribly run down. Alot of that part of Kent is (see thanet, ukip etc). It's a shame as it could be lovely, and apparently Broadstairs is.

When I go to the seaside I go to Saltdean, near Brighton .

I love / hate Blackpool. Last time I was on a night out there we bumped into the annual "perverts in leather" conference in one of the pubs. Me and my sis were at the bar when a bloke wearing a kilt sidled up to us and said he was going commando too (we were dressed as squaddies as we were on a hen night...) Then he said he bet we couldn't guess what was under his kilt before flashing us to reveal a mini disco ball suspended from his willy His mate had a corkscrew attached to his, which I suppose must have been handy for a night out in Blackpool

I love British seaside resorts, Blackpool, Morecambe, Margate, Clacton, Southend, Skegness and the rest. It's sad to see the decline that they've pretty much all suffered since the 60s/70s (and the fertile ground that they've become for the kippers), but with cheap flights and package holidays to places with pretty much guaranteed great weather, I don't see how they can compete with Spain, Majorca and the like.

Hippymama

We used to live about an hour and a half from Blackpool.

Every year we used to go and see the Illuminations.

I used to wonder why we used to drive there, drive through the illuminations and then drive home. We NEVER got out of the car.

After reading this thread, I now know why

YABU! Blackpool is awesome because its shit. Its shitness is it's joy.

We go next week

The British seaside resorts were doomed on and from 1 January 1970, which was the day on which the foreign travel allowance was raised from £50 per year to £400 per journey (and later to £1,000 before exchange control was abolished in 1979).

Is there still a booth offering candy-floss and ear-piercing?

Blackpool has long had a bit of a "rough n ready" reputation, which seems to have got worse in recent times.
My family had a couple of holidays there in the 70s and I've got fond memories of it.
I don't think I'd hurry to go back, but it has a nice beach, very long.

I went last weekend. I actually had a brilliant time.

I once took a foreign boyfriend there. in January, we split up, I think it gave him PTSD

I grew up near Blackpool & it does have massive problems, as do many of our coastal towns.
People drift in and drift out, with drugs, alcohol, prostitution, STI, child protection and SEND problems. Often, the accommodation provided by the council/HA is 1 room in an old run-down B&B guesthouse. Many families string a blanket across the room. Getting the funding for these children is very difficult, schools get their funding for children who are registered in January. The support services often can't cope with the rapidly changing families demographic.
The powers that be are just beginning to realise that alongside inner-city deprivation, (which is often a settled, stable range of people), coastal deprivation is massive & often involves a floating population. (NOT travellers, but people who drift in & drift out; they're not even seasonal workers).
So, next time, "Blackpool is a bit sh!t," go off the main roads & look round the back streets at some of the run-down, Victorian B&Bs. Then look up, to the tiny windows at the top - the ones with the filthy rags strung across them. That's where many of our vulnerable families are bringing up our next generation. That's where our children are trying to grow, play, achieve, live.
Oh, and yes, it is, "a bit sh!t," isn't it.

I've been there for one day and night and it is very run down, I think it would be a hard slog to reguvinate the whole place but with less people going abroad there is a market for improvement.

I think kids love it as they see and experience the fun bits while we notice the dirty ripped curtains, run down buildings and generally the smell.
I went into a daytime "family" type eating place like weatherspoons but in Blackpool and they had two stripper poles in the middle with mattresses.

I did actually have a great night there but never again!

You like Blackpool, then?

I've never been to Blackpool but this thread is actually making me want to go...sounds fascinating!

I love it so much that my joyous jaunt through it was removed by HQ! The road out is very nice though!

... and yes, it is indeed fascinating, if only to see the missing link on the evolutionary ladder ... Darwin would have had a field day! Moving to the middle of a forest in North Wales and going back to university was the best thing I ever did!

I'm not surprised your rant was removed by MNHQ. It was incredibly unpleasant.

"and yes, it is indeed fascinating, if only to see the missing link on the evolutionary ladder"

I saw plenty of evidence of the missing link yesterday

While Blackpool is not my favourite destination we had a great day out there yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, which helped.

They have tarted up the front since I was last there and the beach was clean.

The tackiness was as tacky as ever and while I don't enjoy the amusement arcades DD and her friend did. I just found a seat in one of the bars and enjoyed reading my kindle. The Blackpool Dungeon was worth it though.

I much prefer seasides with interesting beaches and shops that I can mooch around.

The illuminations! They probably start soon, I must check.

Not sure why they can't run them in December though.

I remember Blackpool as being magical when I was a little girl when we sent to Dr the illuminations. I wanted to take my kids ther but friends who have been in last few years (to recreate their childhood memories too ) said it was horrid abd they were subject to racist abuse. So i stunt be taking my kids but remembering how much I enjoyed it as a child.