All of which goes to illustrate how this much-maligned seaside town got it so right compared to other coastal resorts in the UK.
“We love coming,” says Sharon Critchley, 53, from Warrington, who is in Blackpool to celebrate a niece’s hen party. “I come with my fella at least once every winter, and we always come to Blackpool for hens and divorce parties.”
Neil Shannon, 67, from Blackburn, has been visiting since the 1970s. “It’s tradition isn’t it? You can’t beat Blackpool for atmosphere.”
Blackpool draws international tourists, too. “I come whenever I can for the punk festival,” says Mariano Miramontes, 51. “You meet real people here. London is boring.”
In March, Showtown, a museum of fun and entertainment, opened near Blackpool Tower, adding a dazzling cultural space to the town’s offering. It contains six galleries, each exploring a facet of Blackpool: seaside, illuminations, magic, circus, shows and dance. The displays are interactive and full of rich historical detail. Vintage puppets, posters, stage props, programmes and clown costumes are presented alongside collages that relate the town’s history. It’s a nostalgia fix – Sooty and Sweep, whoopie cushions, Orville the Duck, Tommy Cooper’s Fez – but it’s also an education. Showtown hosts temporary exhibitions as well; currently, a room is given over to the work of photographer Andy Hollingworth, who has captured the likes of Rowan Atkinson and Victoria Wood.
