Blackpool: History and Tourism

• Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England, situated on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately 27 miles north of Liverpool and 14 miles west of Preston.
• It serves as the primary settlement in the borough of the same name.
• Coordinates: 53°48′51″N 3°03′01″W
• Area: 34.47 km2
• Population: 141,000 (2021)

History

• Originally a small hamlet, Blackpool began growing in the mid-18th century due to the rising popularity of sea bathing for health.
• The opening of a railway station in 1846 greatly increased visitor access and spurred further growth throughout the 19th century.
• Blackpool became a borough in 1876.
• The town's development was closely linked to Lancashire cotton mills' annual maintenance shutdowns.
• Population reached 147,000 by 1951.
• Late 20th century saw a decline in Blackpool's status due to shifting holiday preferences and increased international travel.
• Blackpool's urban layout and economy are still heavily focused on tourism.
• Today, attractions like Blackpool Tower, Illuminations, Pleasure Beach, and Winter Gardens attract millions of visitors annually.

Early History

• In 1970, a 13,500-year-old elk skeleton with barbed bone points was discovered in Blackpool
• The Fylde was home to the Setantii, a British tribe.
• In medieval times, Blackpool began as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck.
• The name "Blackpool" originated from "le pull," a stream that discolored the water due to peatlands.
• By the 15th century, the area was called Pul, and by 1532, it was referred to as "the pole howsys alias the north howsys".
• In 1602, the name "blackpoole" appeared in Bispham Parish Church baptismal register.
• The first notable house, Foxhall, was built by the Tyldesley family in the 17th century.

Sea Bathing and Growth

• Sea bathing for health benefits became popular in the 18th century, attracting visitors to Blackpool.
• By 1788, there were about 50 houses on the sea bank.
• In 1781, the town's amenities expanded, including hotels, archery, and bowling greens.
• By 1801, the population reached 473.
• Henry Banks purchased Lane Ends estate in 1819 and built the first holiday cottages in 1837.

19th Century Development

• By the early 19th century, small purpose-built facilities began catering for a middle-class market.
• The completion of a railway branch line to Blackpool from Poulton in 1846 spurred development.
• Blackpool prospered, fostering rapid growth in the 1850s and 1860s.
• A Board of Health was established in 1851, gas lighting in 1852, and piped water in 1864.
• The town's population exceeded 2,500 by 1851.
• North Pier opened in 1863 for Blackpool's "better classes".
• Construction of South Pier (now Central Pier) in 1868 and Victoria (now South Pier) in 1893.
• The Winter Gardens opened in 1878.
• Blackpool Tower construction completed in 1894.
• Blackpool's Royal Palace Gardens at Raikes Hall was a popular destination for entertainment.
• By the 1870s, working-class tourists dominated the resort.
• Entire towns closed their industries during Wakes weeks for holidays in Blackpool.
• Blackpool still catered to a "significant middle-class market during the spring and autumn".
• Electric lighting came to Blackpool in 1879.
• Blackpool became the world's first municipality with electric street lighting along the promenade.
• Blackpool Tramway officially opened on 29 September 1885.
• By the 1890s, Blackpool's population was 35,000 and could host 250,000 holidaymakers.
• Notable structures, like the Grand Theatre (1894) and Blackpool Tower, emerged.
• The Grand Theatre was among Britain's first all-electric theaters.
• 1897, Blackpool Corporation prohibited "phrenologists, "quack" doctors, palmists, mock auctions and cheap jacks" hawking on Blackpool sands.

1900 to 1960s

• In 1911, the town's Central Station was the busiest in the world.
• In May 1912 Princess Louise officially opened a new section of North Promenade – Princess Parade.
• The First World War called a temporary halt to the display in 1914.
• By 1925 the lights were back and extending the Blackpool Illuminations to almost six miles.
• By 1920 Blackpool had around eight million visitors per year.
• Blackpool's population boom was complete by 1951, with 147,000 people living in the town.
• During the Second World War, the illuminations were again suspended from 1939, not resuming until 1948.
• The town continued to attract more visitors in the decade after the war, reaching a peak of 17 million per year.

1960s to Present

• By the 1960s the UK tourism industry was undergoing radical changes.
• The construction of the M55 motorway in 1975 made Blackpool more feasible as a day trip.
• The modern economy, however, remains relatively undiversified and firmly rooted in the tourism sector.
• Many seaside resorts fell from grace during the latter half of the 20th century but Blackpool managed to retain its popular/working-class appeal as the "Las Vegas of the North".
• Tourism in the town supports 25,000 full-time equivalent jobs – one in five of the workforce.
• In 2023 the town was named the nation's best-value holiday destination.
• In 2021 18.8 million visitors contributed £1.5 billion to the local economy.
• In 2022 the resort attracted a further 1.5 million visitors.

Geography

• Blackpool rests in the middle of the western edge of The Fylde, which is a coastal plain atop a peninsula.
• The seafront consists of a 7-mile sandy beach.
• The highest point nearby at the Bispham Rock Gardens at around 34 metres (112 ft).
• Due to the low-lying terrain, Blackpool experiences occasional flooding.

Climate

• Blackpool has a temperate maritime climate, according to the Köppen climate classification system.
• Cool summers, frequent overcast skies and small annual temperature range fluctuations.
• Minimum temperature recorded was −15.1 °C (4.8 °F) during December 1981, however −18.3 °C (−0.9 °F) was recorded in January 1881.
• Maximum temperature recorded in Blackpool was 37.2 °C (99.0 °F) during a 2022 United Kingdom heat wave.
• Precipitation averages slightly less than 900 mm (35 in).

Geography: Green Belt

• Blackpool is within a green belt region to reduce urban sprawl.
• Only 70 hectares of green belt exists within the borough.

Demographics

• Blackpool's population was approximately 141,000 in 2021.
• 41% of Blackpool residents reported having 'No religion' in 2021.
• 49.5% of residents aged 16 years and over were employed (excluding full-time students), with 3.8% unemployed in 2021.
• Blackpool's population is forecast to rise slightly to 141,500 by 2044.

Governance and Politics

• There is just one tier of local government covering Blackpool, being the unitary authority of Blackpool Council.
• Parts of the Blackpool Urban Area extend beyond the borough boundaries of Blackpool into the neighbouring boroughs of Wyre and Fylde.
• Blackpool was historically part of the township of Layton with Warbreck, which was part of the ancient parish of Bispham.
• The township was constituted a Local Board of Health District in 1851, governed by a local board.
• In 1868 the Layton with Warbreck district was renamed the Blackpool district.
• In 1876 the district was elevated to become a municipal borough.
• In 1904 Blackpool was made a county borough.
• In 1974 Blackpool became a lower-tier non-metropolitan district.
• In 1998 it was made a unitary authority.
• Blackpool remains part of the ceremonial county of Lancashire for the purposes of lieutenancy.
• Blackpool is covered by two Westminster constituencies: Blackpool North and Fleetwood and Blackpool South.

Economy

• As a local authority area, Blackpool's gross domestic product (GDP) was approximately £3.2 billion in 2020 – 0.2 per cent of the English economy.
• Seventy-five per cent of people of working age in Blackpool were economically active in 2021.
• Twenty-five per cent of jobs were in human health and social work.
• 10.9 per cent were in accommodation and food services.
• Blackpool is the third lowest local authority area in the UK for gross median weekly pay.
• The main centre of the wider Fylde Coast sub-regional economy.
• Polymers company Victrex, in Thornton and formerly part of ICI, is one of the major private sector companies headquartered in the area.
• Blackpool's travel to work area has 2.5 times the Great Britain-average concentration of food manufacturing workers.

Conferences and Exhibitions

• Blackpool was one of the country's leading locations for political conferences, up to 2007.
• The Conservatives returned for their spring event in 2022.

Regeneration

• Blackpool declined from the 1960s onwards.
• Lack of investment in the town and its facilities for both residents and tourists.
• A new masterplan in 2003 was a response to this decline and the growing threat from coastal erosion.
• In 2002 Leisure Parcs unveiled £1 billion plans for in 2002.
• In 2007, Blackpool and Greenwich in London were considered frontrunners among the seven bidders for Britain's first and only supercasino licence; however, Manchester won the bidding process.
• Before being wound up in 2010, ReBlackpool led on Central Seafront.
• ReBlackpool also prepared the Talbot Gateway scheme.
• In 2010, Blackpool Council bought landmarks Blackpool Tower, the Winter Gardens and the Golden Mile Centre from leisure entrepreneur Trevor Hemmings.
• Public ownership enabled significant further investment in the facilities.
• The restoration of the Tower's stained glass windows was carried out by local specialist Aaron Whiteside.
• Blackpool Council was one of four local authorities in the Blackpool Fylde and Wyre Economic Development Company.
• It oversaw the development of the Blackpool Airport Development Zone, which came into existence in 2016.
• Blackpool Council, once again owner of the airport since it acquired it from Balfour Beatty in 2017.
• The masterplan for the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone then envisages a new digital and technology quarter called Silicon Sands.
• In 2018, Blackpool Council announced plans for the 7-acre Blackpool Central development.

Talbot Gateway

• The first phase of Talbot Gateway was completed in 2014.
• Phase two began in 2021 and was due to be completed by 2022 but was delayed and it opened in May 2024.
• Construction started in February 2023 on new government offices as part of phase three of Talbot Gateway.
• In January 2023, Blackpool and Wyre councils were awarded £40 million from the government's Levelling-Up Fund for a new education campus as part of phase four of Talbot Gateway.

Blackpool Central

• Plans for Blackpool Central's multi-storey car park and Heritage Quarter were approved in October 2021.
• The £300 million development was stalled because of a lack of funding to move the Magistrates and County Courts from the site.
• In November 2022, Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove said his department would award £40 million of funding.

Heritage Action Zone

• The Blackpool Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) aims to bring new uses to the town centre.
• Its initial funding of £532,575 was secured in 2020.
• Abingdon Street Market was partially reopened to the public in May 2023.
• The Edward Street side of the market was redesigned as a food hall and space for live entertainment and community events.

Tourism: Main Tourist Attractions

• North Pier, 1863. Blackpool's first pier designed by the leading pier engineer Eugenius Birch.
• Central Pier, 1868. Designed by John Isaac Mawson for a more popular market than the North Pier.
• South Pier, 1893. Designed by T P Worthington and known as the Victoria Pier until 1930.
• Winter Gardens, 1878. Originally boasting an exotic, glass-roofed Floral Hall for promenading, indoor and outdoor skating rinks, and the Pavilion Hall for special events.
• Blackpool Tower, 1894. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower Blackpool Tower was the tallest manmade structure in the British Empire when built – 518 feet (158 metres).
• Grand Theatre, 1894. Dubbed 'Matcham's masterpiece' the theatre has a flamboyant free Baroque exterior and lavish interiors.
• Pleasure Beach, 1896. Founded in 1896 by W G Bean in an area populated by Romani Gypsies.
• Madame Tussauds, 1900. Louis Tussaud opened waxworks in Blackpool in the basement of the Hippodrome Theatre, Church Street.
• Blackpool Illuminations, 1912. Launched to celebrate the opening of Princess Parade on North Promenade, today the Illuminations stretch 6.2 miles (10 km) between Starr Gate and Bispham.
• Ripley's Believe it or Not, 1973. Based on the extensive collection of Robert Ripley (1890–1949).
• Blackpool Zoo, 1976. The zoo opened in 1972 on a site of the former Stanley Park Aerodrome.
• Sandcastle Waterpark, 1986. Built on the site of the former South Shore Open Air Baths.
• Sea Life, 1990. Located on Central Promenade and opened by First Leisure as the Sea Life Centre.
• Peter Rabbit: Explore and Play, 2022. Based on Beatrix Potter's storybook character.
• Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse, 2023. Adapted from children's stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
• Showtown, 2024. Blackpool's museum of entertainment opened in 2024.

Tourism: Fringe Attractions

• Golden Mile, 1897. The name given to the stretch of Promenade between the North and South piers.
• Pleasure Beach Arena, 1937. The oldest purpose-built ice theatre in the world.
• The Casino, 1940. Built in 1913 in an oriental style reminiscent of continental casinos
• Brooks Collectables, 1947. A family run collectables shop for three generations with free entry to their first floor museum on South Promenade.
• Princess Parade Crazy Golf Course, 1957. Located in the seafront sunken garden near Blackpool North Pier.
• Model Village, 1972. Designed as a traditional Lancashire village.
• Coral Island, 1978. The largest of the town's many amusement arcades.
• Funny Girls, 1994. A cabaret drag bar founded by Basil Newby.
• Pasaje Del Terror, 1998. An interactive walk-through horror attraction.
• Spitfire Visitor Centre, 2009. Based in Hangar 42 at Blackpool Airport.
• Comedy Carpet, 2011. Constructed on the headland opposite Blackpool Tower.
• Viva Blackpool, 2012. The cabaret showbar hosts a variety of year-round acts and shows.
• Tramtown, 2015. The Heritage Tram Centre offers tours of tram sheds and engineering workshops.
• House of Secrets, 2021. The first dedicated family magic bar in Blackpool.
• Hole in Wand, 2022. A wizard-themed golf course.
• Arcade Club, 2022. A retro arcade on Bloomfield Road with over 200 games.

Tourism: Nature Tourism

• Beaches. Blackpool boasts "seven miles of golden sands".
• Stanley Park, 1926. A 260-acre park.

Culture: Art

• The Grundy Art Gallery on Queen Street opened in 1911 and adjoins Blackpool Central Library.
• Blackpool Art Society was formed in 1884 by George Dearden as Blackpool Sketching Club
• Blackpool School of Arts, part of Blackpool and The Fylde College, opened in 1937.
• Plans for a new town centre 'multiversity' are set to replace the current Park Road campus in 2026.
• Established in 2011 and named after its former use for the production of Blackpool rock, the Old Rock Factory consists of studios housing printmakers and other artists in Blackpool.
• Running between 2011 and 2016, the Sand, Sea and Spray street art festival featured live street art by international artist produced on walls and billboards in various locations throughout central Blackpool.
• Opened in 2014, Abingdon Studios is a contemporary visual art project space and artist studios curated and directed by Garth Gratrix, who champions working-class and queer artists.
• HIVEArts is a gallery space and grassroots arts collective that hosts regular exhibitions.
• Tea Amantes is a tearoom and gallery established in 2021 which hosts monthly art exhibitions by local emerging artists.

Left Coast

• Left Coast is an arts organisation that was established in 2013.
• Left Coast projects have included a National Community Lottery funded Real Estates programme.
• Left Coast helped raise finance for the Art B&B project which opened in 2019.
• In 2022, Left Coast opened Wash Your Words: Langdale Library & Laundry Room on social housing estate Mereside.

Aunty Social

• Established in 2011, Aunty Social is a voluntary-run community arts organisation in Topping Street.
• Aunty Social runs the online arts and culture magazine Blackpool Social Club, the Winter Gardens Film Festival and BFI Film Club.
• Local textiles group Knittaz With Attitude is an Aunty Social project which has carried out several yarn bombing projects in public spaces.

Public Art

• Medici Lions, created in: 1790 (originals) 2013 (replicas). A pair of lions modelled on the Medici Lions in Rome stand in Stanley Park.
• Stanley Park also features a number of nature-inspired sculptures in its Italian Gardens, and We Love You To The Moon, a stone carving memorial to Jane Tweedle from Blackpool who was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.
• Ballet Dancers, installed in the 1990s. Two bronze ballet dancers standing on stainless steel plinths at either end of Clifton Street in the town centre.
• Great Promenade Show, commissioned from 2001 to 2005. Alluding to the town's ballroom culture, They Shoot Horses, Don't They is a giant mirror ball by artist Michael Trainor.
• Choir Loft, installed in 2008. Artist Ruth Barker's work consists of letters carved into granite blocks and treated with gold leaf reading 'Sing softly. Be still. Cease'.
• The Wave, installed in 2009. Installed in St John's Square and by Lucy Glendinning.
• Soldier Sculpture (and Salisbury Woodlands) installed in 2009. Designed by Thompson Dagnall in Salisbury Woodlands.
• A number of large scale graffiti artworks feature throughout the town in locations including Talbot Road, Cookson Street and Palatine Road.
• The 999 statue, installed in 2013. A 2.5m monument by Matt Titherington installed at Jubilee Gardens.
• Lightpool, started in 2016. Lightpool is an annual light festival held over October half term that sees artistic light installations throughout the town centre and various fringe events.
• Fancie Benches, installed in 2020 (1st bench) 2022 (2nd). Artist Tina Dempsey installed her first Fancie Bench in Blackpool's King's Square and a second bench was installed in Edward Street.
• Tram Benches, installed in: 2020. Part of the Quality Corridors Scheme, artist Andy Hazell installed two stainless steel benches in the shape of trams in Talbot Square.
• The Call of the Sea, installed in 2021. A life-sized bronze painted sculpture by artist Laurence Payot in Talbot Square.
• Storytrails: Queercoaster, created in 2022. By Joseph Doubtfire, as part of the government-funded Unboxed festival.

Performing Arts: Theatre

• The Grand Theatre was built in 1894 and dubbed Frank Matcham's masterpiece.

Performing Arts: Dance

• Blackpool Empress Ballroom, built in 1896.
• One of the first places visitors could dance was on the open air on the piers and its popularity led to ballrooms opening across the town.
• The Tower Ballroom came first in 1894, quickly followed by the Empress Ballroom and the Alhambra.
• The first Blackpool Dance Festival was held in the Empress Ballroom during Easter week in 1920.
• Blackpool Tower Ballroom, designed by Frank Matcham, opened in 1899.
• During the 20th century, ballroom bandleaders created new novelty dances including The Blackpool Walk, the dance craze of the 1938 summer season.
• Inspired by the Blackpool Walk, in 2020 local dance company House of Wingz created a new social dance, The Blackpool Way, as part of a community project called Get Dancing.

Performing Arts: Amateur Dramatics

• There are a number of notable amateur and community theatre companies in Blackpool.
• A blue plaque was unveiled on Michael Hall Theatre School (formerly Marton Parish Church Hall) on Preston New Road recording that, from 1930 to 2002, Marton Operatic Society performed Gilbert and Sullivan and other operas there.
• TramShed is an inclusive theatre company and charity offering inclusive performing arts.

Music Heritage

• Blackpool has a rich musical heritage associated with its tourist industry
• The first registered venue offering musical entertainment in Blackpool was the original Uncle Tom's Cabin, situated on the cliffs at North Shore, from the early 1860s.
• The Wurlitzer organ at Blackpool Tower Ballroom was played by Reginald Dixon from March 1930 until March 1970.
• Lawrence Wright was a successful music publisher and songwriter who moved to Blackpool in the 1920s.
• Blackpool was instrumental in the music of big bands who performed jazz and swing music in its dancehalls and ballrooms from the 1930s-1950s.
• The town hosted three or four variety shows per night during tourist seasons, each featuring popular music.
• The town's top British beat groups played including The Beatles and the Rolling Stones

Music: Inspired By Blackpool

• Blackpool has been referenced within popular music for the best part of a century.
• Local artists include Boston Manor, Chris Lowe, Graham Nash, John Evan, Victoria Hesketh, John Robb, Jon Gomm, Karima Francis, Rae Morris, Robert Smith and Section 25 Up The Pool by Jethro Tull,, was released in 1971.
• In Blackpool Tower Suite, Manchester indie band World of Twist present a personification of the Tower.
• Blackpool-born singer Rae Morris’s 2022 album Rachel@Fairyland pays homage to her hometown.

Music Scenes

• Blackpool has played a significant role in music scenes including northern soul, punk, rave and grime.
• At the end of the 1970s it was renamed Tiffany's and later the Rhythm Dome, home to Federation – influential in the 1990s house and rave scene.
• Blackpool retains a strong connection to northern soul with major weekender events still taking place in the town at both the Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens. Rebellion Festival has been hosted anually in Blackpool since 1996,
• The town became more well known for its homegrown post-punk groups, The Membranes, The Fits, Section 25 and the Ceramic Hobbs.
• In the mid-2010s a number of mostly school-aged MCs began to showcase themselves on YouTube channels including Blackpool Grime Media (BGMedia).

Film

• The resort is featured in the 1934 film Sing as We Go, starring Gracie Fields, as well as other cinema and TV productions
• The Japanese film Shall We Dance? (1996) closes with a scene at the World Ballroom Dancing Championships in Blackpool.
• Blackpool is the setting for Bhaji on the Beach (1993) directed by Gurinder Chadha.
• The 2005 television comedy/thriller series Funland revolved around the fictionalised, seedier aspects of Blackpool.
• The town also features heavily in the BBC television serial Blackpool, broadcast in 2004, and the one-off follow-up Viva Blackpool, broadcast in June 2006.
• The 2016 Tim Burton film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children also features Blackpool and its key tourist attraction, The Blackpool Tower.
• Blackpool was once again featured in a Channel 5 documentary series from 26 October 2017, this time entitled Bargain Loving Brits in Blackpool.

Media

• Newspapers that cover the Blackpool area are the Blackpool Gazette.
• The Lancashire Evening Post is a daily evening newspaper covering the county of Lancashire.
• The principal local radio station is Central Radio North West - across The Fylde, Leyland and Chorley areas of Lancashire,.
• Blackpool also falls in the coverage area of BBC Radio Lancashire, Hits Radio Lancashire, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire, Smooth North West and Heart North West.
• Bay Trust Radio is a hospital radio station run by volunteers and broadcast throughout Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
• Fun Coast Digital, a not for profit Community Interest Company, was awarded an Ofcom licence.
• Blackpool Social Club is an independent, volunteer-led online arts, culture and listings magazine.
• National television with local opt-outs is provided by ITV Granada and BBC North West,.
• Blackpool also has a dedicated local TV news service, That's Lancashire, part of the That's TV network.

LGBTQ+

• Blackpool had its first gay pride celebration in 2006.
• Blackpool, like other English resorts, has had a reputation for being a safe community for gay people.
• Blackpool contains several bars, pubs and nightclubs aimed at the LGBTQ+ community.
• As of the 2021 census, 3.26% of Blackpool residents aged over 16 identified as gay men or lesbians.

Twin Towns/Sister Cities

• Blackpool is twinned with Bottrop, Germany and Sanya, China.

Sport

• Blackpool has two main venues for boxing fight nights, the Tower Circus Arena and the Winter Gardens.
• Blackpool Cricket Club is Blackpool's major cricketing team.