Nana’s Tour of Blackpool

My Nana spent some time here when she was growing up in Blackpool.

Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire in the North West of England.

Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism in England when a railway was built in the 1840s connecting it to Northern England. The railway made it much easier and cheaper for visitors to reach Blackpool.

In 1881 Blackpool was a booming resort with a population of 14,000 and a Promenade complete with piers, fortune-tellers, public houses, trams, donkey rides, fish-and-chip shops and theatres.

Blackpool’s major attractions and landmarks include Blackpool Tower, Blackpool Illuminations, the Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Zoo, Sandcastle Water Park, the Winter Gardens, and the UK’s only surviving first-generation tramway.

On our tour of Blackpool, we first went by where Great Nana and Great Great Aunty had their sweet shop. Then onto Nana’s High School (Montgomery School) and Nana’s House on Bethel Avenue.

We then went to Pleasure Beach amusement park. The park is currently home to nearly 40 rides and attractions, including ten roller coasters, of which five are wooden – the Grand National, Big Dipper, Nickelodeon Streak (Alex’s favourite ride), Wild Mouse and Blue Flyer. The newest roller coaster, ‘Infusion’ opened in 2007. When it opened in 1994, Pepsi Max Big One (my favourite ride) was the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster of any park in the world. It was also substantially one of the longest, measuring 1,675 metres long. Currently, the ride holds the crown as the tallest in the UK, measuring 65 metres and features a drop of 62 metres. I went on this twice and it was awesome.

The Pleasure Beach is one of the few parks left in the world to operate a traditional wooden Wild Mouse coaster. The ride was built entirely in house, post-World War II and is still in complete working order (Mum and Dad’s least favourite, along with the Grand National!). I wonder which ride was Nana’s favourite?

After dinner we wandered along the Promenade and saw Blackpool Illuminations. Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and held each autumn (from late August until early November).

Dubbed as “the greatest free light show on earth”, they are 10 km long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.

The lights were absolutely amazing and Blackpool Tower looked fabulous.

Love Ella