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.

I've only been once, must have been about 30 years ago.
Nothing that I've read in this thread has made me want to go back there.
I live near Southend and I love it there. They have made an effort with it though.

YABU to even ask. Of course it's shit. Even people who love Blackpool love it despite it being shit. Or are liars.

We went at the start of the summer before the schools broke off when it was still quiet, the pleasure beach and sandcastle were deserted there were no queues at all. I imagine it would be hellish at peak times. 4 year old DD had a ball, she keeps asking to go again. It does have lots of run down grotty looking bits and the tower was a complete rip off for fuck all but I did enjoy the chips, rock and fresh doughnuts. We didn't stay in the town itself or go in at the weekend so thankfully missed the delights of the pissed up stag parties and other nightlife.

I thought Blackpool was pretty bad until I went to Hastings.

It was pretty quiet yesterday morning - before the hens and stags woke up.

Went there for a hen do, we had fun of course it could do with improvements and many seaside towns are the same re drunks etc but it holds lovely memories for me as a child and the hen night was good ( we were nothing like others posted) so yeah yabu you don't like it don't go

i live in bolton so blackpool is about an hours drive from us so we go at least twice a yr for an afternoon yeah its a dive but no more so than any seaside town we went to Lythem St Annes yesterday which is just a mile up the road from blackpool its much nicer and far more sedate than Blackpool.

Although I haven't been to Blackpool, I live just outside Morecambe, used to live in Hull and was born in Chatham. Could it get much worse?

I used to teach at Blackpool - oh the joys of hearing about weekend life under the piers and working underage running rides, the drugs, the gangs, the kids from Fylde Farms (now shut). It was like entering another world and I was very relieved to leave it behind.

We live about 45 mins from Blackpool, and DD always begs to go to Nickelodeon Land. When we do summon up our energy to face the Blackpool world it always reminds me just how awful it is.

We have tried three times to reach the Illuminations but always give up before we reach the prom........that is how bad Blackpool is. I also remember my mum and dad going for a quiet short break to one of the larger hotels. They were sitting in the bar and my dad pointed out they were the only couple who turned up together. The rest of the guests were clearly divided by the one paying and the other being paid.

Another Blackpool anecdote. I used to work on the road where Darren Day was staying when he was having an affair with Isla Fisher and doing the dirty on Tracy Shaw of Corrie. I think the sleaziness of Blackpool just got to him really.

I disliked Morecambe much more than Blackpool. Happy mount park was nice enough but the town was pretty depressing.

I love Blackpool precisely because it is shit. Haven't been there for around 5 years though, so don't know if it's deteriorated. But I know they've had lots of problems there because the old hotels have been used to house the homeless and that's meant they've had a massive influx of people with drug and alcohol problems, mental health issues and criminal records. My Gran nearly moved there in the mid 90s, I'm glad she didn't.

My sincere apologies if you found any of my post offensive. It was actually meant as a lighthearted pop at the distinct Blackpool underclass and their lack of standards and education which brings the town down. I did say that there are decent people in Blackpool, because there are, but my goodness, when you have inadvertently seen the other side of the place through work and whatever else, your opinion of the place becomes slightly jaded. I also understand that social deprivation is a huge problem in Blackpool, as it is in the whole country because of a Conservative government where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer (we only have to look at Shoreditch for this). However, there are certain class of people in Blackpool who use social deprivation as an excuse for some of the most contemptible things, generally people and their belongings being harmed. My post was never meant to be inflammatory and please accept my sincere apologies for any offence that I caused you, it was never my intention to offend. Thank you for reading and I wish you well.

I think you have just made a very valuable point: Blackpool is what you make of it, depending on what you are into. Personally, I used to do acting in Blackpool and find the fact that Blackpool was an important place for many old comedians and entertainers and I appreciate some of that (very) faded glamour aspect. I used to love seeing bands in Blackpool (Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Pulp, etc), and that was an important part of my teenage years. I think some people just outgrow the place though due to lack of anything else there. Personally, I had to get out of there to further any sort of career because Blackpool does not cater for the things that I am interested in. It is often the devil's armpit for creative, educated people.

Blackpool is not a latte sipping yuppie paradise it excels at debauchery, drugs, cabaret, and comedians.

We used to live 40 mintues from Blackpool, it is grim. dcs liked it I'll never forget seeing a just walking baby with notjing on its feet, walking around at night on the filthy streets. I'llnever visit again.

We went to Southend at the weekend, its very posh next to Blackpool.

Yes, I agree. Whilst Blackpool certainly hasn't seen the revolt against the re-emerging yuppie culture that places such as Shoreditch have, there is still an absolute social disparity in the class system, as there is ever-increasingly in every town in the United Kingdom. This country is now based on this very real sociological reality: The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. One needs to be on the right side of that line, because if not, you will be shafted. For some people, Blackpool is not the right place to be on the right side of that line. I quite like lattes! .

Blackpool is not a latte sipping yuppie paradise it excels at debauchery, drugs, cabaret, and comedians.

Perhaps, but it's still a fucking shithole

Hhhhmmm, yes, I have unfortunately seen things like that too and it is horrifying. Some quarters of Blackpool are like an image from a Charles Dickens novel. Children being dragged around supermarkets in pyjamas is another good one, I really do not think that can be blamed on social deprivation though!

"... it excels at debauchery, drugs, cabaret, and comedians": At least it manages to excel at something I guess!

I had the best fish and chips off life in Blackpool 30 years ago so shut up you lot

Does anybody know about Disney and Blackpool.
Yes, tis right, Disney was going to be in Blackpool but the council refused.
They are notorious for making bad decisions.
My ils have just sold their house and are finally leaving the place.
Mil parents moved their to retire and now all the old ones have gone, her and her dh are finally able to move.
It used to be lovely when I was growing up, a great place for a short break or even a week with young kiddies.
It's not the same now, they even destroyed much of the heritage of the Tower

I work on the south shore.

It's ... Interesting!

I do not, and will never, live in Blackpool.

I used to go to Blackpool in the 80's as a kid. I took my DP there in he mid 90's, and there were lots of stag and hen parties then. We ate in a lovely Italian place that was modelled as if you were sitting in an Italian courtyard with stars up above. I loved it.

It is indeed a Mickey Mouse town! Yes, many decent people are being driven out in a process that has been going on for years. The decent people are sick of how much the place has declined. My Mum and Dad live just outside Blackpool and having worked there for 30 years seeing it's decline first hand before taking early retirement and setting up his own business, my Dad just says "It's horrible" and won't even step foot in the place unless absolutely necessary.

Reading Uncle Brian's guestbook is amazing. Pea soup, duck (DUCK??) and gateau for £7?? Surely it's from Iceland?

Apparently it's all been refurbed though