To wonder if blackpool is as bad as they say?

[Chefpig]

I'm hoping to plan a short break somewhere and blackpool is cheap. Is it as bad as people say though?

Why go to Blackpool and spend a lot of time in the apartment watching films?

We had a couple of nights in Cleveleys last year to do the Blackpool 10k. Was nice there and easy to get the tram in and out of Blackpool.

There's plenty to do with kids. The prom area is nice. Go a couple of streets back and you can see the deprivation but you probably aren't choosing Blackpool for the town centre, more the attractions.

Lytham is really nice and very close by.

With Blackpool two things can be true at once. It does have a lot of poverty and is run down but it also has good bits, lots on offer and you can enjoy a short break there, especially if it's with young children and mid week.

And the zoo is excellent.

Very true, I’m not saying nobody should ever go - just that we wouldn’t.

My husband is a quiet, sensitive and sensible soul, he was not made for places like that and neither is DC. His siblings would be the children running around feral! So we don’t judge.

I used to ask my mum to go to Skegness as a child, as that’s what other kids did, and boy was I shocked when I actually went with some friends. Horrors!

I think it’s mad that in this country people are desperate for traditional seaside holiday destinations but Blackpool ends up like this.
i live near a small traditional seaside town, it’s generally always busy even in the winter and there’s not much there at all. In the summer it’s rammed.
Something went very wrong in Blackpool, I don’t know if it was going after the stag/hen do crowd over families.

I’m from the Yorkshire coast and I have in the past used this exact description of Blackpool!

Even 25 years ago I never found anywhere nice to eat in Blackpool

All the larger seaside resorts had the same problem once people started going on foreign package holidays. The numbers of people staying in the boarding houses fell off a cliff and councils/authorities started busing unemployed, alcoholics, addicts, newly released offenders (and now illegal immigrants) into the empty boarding houses turning them into bed sits. But the authorities didn't put in adequate support and policing, so crime, anti social behaviour etc increased causing a vicious circle as more people stopped going to stay in those places on holiday causing more empty boarding houses, which in turn became used for "problem" families etc.

I lived in a smaller seaside resort relatively close to Blackpool where the rot set in during the 80s, continued into 90s, and never been reversed really. Whole swathes of my old town became run down, semi derelict and pretty unwelcoming and dangerous very quickly indeed.

I've often said that entire blocks of old boarding houses need to be demolished en masses and decent sized family homes built instead. We've had several "modernisation" initiatives in some of the worst areas, but the newly renovated bed sits are just ruined by the next wave of "problem" tenants bused in, so the streets are OK for a short time, but within a few years are semi-derelict again.

Trouble is that the unemployed, addicts, newly released prisoners and immigrants have to be housed "somewhere" and it's just the easy option for the authorities to use empty/run down bed sits/guest houses for them. Of course the landlords and owners love the idea of the rental income which they bank for a while but don't save to use to renovate/improve once they've been trashed, so just wait for the next "initiative" of governmental money/grants to refurbish in years to come!

The real problem with Blackpool (and other large resorts) is that they;re now too big for the much smaller numbers of people. They're too spread out. That's why smaller places (such as Scarborough and Whitby) have weathered the storm a lot better as there's less of it, so the relatively smaller number of visitors are more concentrated in a smaller area, making the empty units (shops and homes) less obvious and less social deprivation impact. No one notices the one or two empty shops in Whitby centre, but you can't help but notice the dozens of empty shops/derelict guest houses in some streets of Blackpool!

It's because of the concentration of people with severe social problems who've been housed there, without enough support.

It’s worse than people say. It really is eye opening. It’s the sort of place every A level geography class should go to for a field trip of unban deprivation. The deprivation is really visual. We stayed in one of the better hotels. There were still people in the breakfast buffet in their PJs. WTF! I have never seen the likes of it. 🤮

I travel a lot for work - about 5 nights a month in hotels. In 20+ years of travelling for work there are two hotels I have arrived at and decided to go elsewhere on safety grounds - both were Blackpool.
I also spent the days working in Blackpool (both times out of the Ballroom) and I found it an utterly depressing place.
I have taken my kids to the roller coaster / theme park place on the seafront, and still thought it was poor....

So yes, Blackpool is a shthle in my view.

Are you in Southport or Fleetwood by any chance?

It’s dire! You need a hot shower after spending any time there.

St Anne’s is lovely and not too far away or Lytham - both much nicer :)

The water park there was amazing. Clean, exciting, good price and loads of different slides. We went there on the way to Cumbria. I believe the fun fair is great too.

I used to have to go to Lytham for work over a number of years. In school holidays we would take the kids. However, we found a really nice hotel just outside to stop in. Funfare is good and the seaside is nice. Is it what it is. Quite fun for a few days or a day out.

We went this winter with kids and had a great time at the Sandcastle Waterpark. Stayed in a hotel just south of the Pleasure Beach and got the tram into town for the arcades, meal out etc. Plenty to do and didn't feel unsafe at all.

I’ve had many fun times in Blackpool but I wouldn’t take the kids. Pleasure beach is alright for kids though, and the Blackpool Dungeon is really fun - imo they have the best actors out of any of them.

Me, DH and my uni friends tend to meet up there for a party weekend once in a while, it’s cheap and cheerful imo. It’s not a classy break but it can be a fun weekend if you’re with the right people who can appreciate that it is a bit of a dump. Every time we’ve been out there we’ve met some interesting locals who were characters to say the least - but to me that’s the real fun.

Depends what you want. Some b&bs are very basic - usually full of hen parties, and so to be avoided. The seafront is beautiful but some of the shops are not. Funfair on Central Pier is varied and includes dodgems etc. North Pier has a small 'railway' and in September is host to the firework displays for an international competition. The Grand theatre has a varied programme of ballet, opera, Shakespeare, modern plays, and niche events (I saw the Red Hot Chilli Pipers there, very niche, and also Ken Dodd, less niche). There is a good cinema just behind the shopping mall - Imax, I think - neighbours say it's good, I have not been. Small art gallery attached to the library, which does specialist exhibitions. Aunty Social on Topping Street has unusual craft gifts and does classes in e.g. felting and occasional exhibitions. It's next to a good fish and chip shop, too. Some weird and wonderful stuff as well. Be wary of the Pleasure Beach, you have to pay just to be a spectator. Waterworld has been enjoyed by my DGC but it is expensive.
Try the Gurkha restaurant on Waterloo Road, preferably on a Saturday as the menu is more adventurous. It's an all you can eat but is excellent (Joanna Lumley has visited) and has a small museum display about the Gurkas. Must be booked.
Antiques and collectables at The Regent, top of Church St, an ex-cinema (does films using the still existing cinema balcony e.g. Wonderful Life, that sort of thing). There's a good second hand book shop on Topping St.
The council is doing it's best to remove all character by knocking down Victorian guest houses and artisan dwellings, sadly.
Blackpool is an inexpensive place to stay if you want access to the Forest of Boland and the Lakes - Windermere is about an hour away on lovely country roads, or nearer in time if you want to use M and A roads. Also Lancaster (interesting and historic) and Morecambe (nice beach, lethal tide).
Fleetwood, to the north, and Lytham St Anne's (south) are easily accessible, Fleetwood by the excellent tram service. All three are worth visiting. Be prepared to pay high prices for food, drink etc in Lytham. Fleetwood has a ferry to Knots End (two pubs, a few shops, and a stunning beach of the rock pool variety - I once saw a small plane land on it) - the ferry is tidal, if missed there is a bus to Blackpool from Knots End. Fleetwood itself is bucket and spade holiday territory. St Anne's has a lovely beach but the sea is a very, very long way away. In compensation it probably has the best charity shops in the country outside parts of London.

I wonder if you met me and my late DH. We probably qualify as 'characters'.

Also extortionate. Why would you need a shower after visiting Blackpool? It's not muckier than anywhere else and the beaches are Blue Flag.

Here's the 2012 AIBU for Blackpool back when it was a bit more sweary. The visual imaginary is burned into my brain all these years later.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1810027-To-think-Blackpool-is-a-bit-shit

Uncle Brian's guesthouse website was something special and his attention to detail, checking the TV was working whilst women were in their rooms was indeed, creepy thoughtful.

Neither Southport nor Fleetwood meet the description of run-down and full of drug addicts (not sure why immigrants are included). Neither do Cleveleys and Thornton, or St.Annes and Lytham (unless you think people who park Maseratis on the Prom are on benefits?).

I like Blackpool

It’s brilliant for little kids, there’s never a moments boredom. Some very nice restaurants too - can’t remember the name but there’s a man Asian buffet place that was the best Chinese and curry I’ve ever had in my life, we stayed for hours and stuffed ourselves. There’s also good plays on and good museums too. I think people are just snobby about it a lot of the time TBH.

It didn't help that the council imported large numbers of feckless homeless people with drug habits to placate some hotel owners.

It also doesn't help that the council will not allow deregulation of hotels in the 'holiday area' - many would make superb large family homes, having generally no more than 8 bedrooms, which could be renovated into larger rooms and used as reception rooms as well.

We live an hour away and it's no where near as bad as people are making out. We usually venture for the illuminations. There's loads to do with kids. The pleasure beach, sand castle the tower. My kids live the 2p arcade games. Yes it's tacky. There's some amazing shows at winter gardens. There's some lovely walks down the front. Or you can bike down. There's sealife the dungeons. It's what you make it. Don't go off the main drags in the evening you'll be fine.