There’s something disorienting about parking underneath the loop of the UK’s tallest rollercoaster.
But given that Blackpool’s super-luxurious Boulevard Hotel (designed BLVD) is owned by Amanda Thompson, whose family has run the Pleasure Beach amusement park for four generations, it should come as no surprise that guests leave their cars within easy reach. A big one.
What’s more telling is that this Lancashire seaside resort, a traditional traffic light for chip shops, slot machines and raunchy entertainment, has a very different side.
Of course, the so-called Golden Mile, packed with family attractions such as Sea Life, Madame Tussauds and Coral Island, as well as Blackpool’s three piers, still attracts crowds. While Pleasure Beach is one of the UK’s most visited tourist attractions (Boulevard guests can access it via a VIP ticket).
But to box Blackpool as a bold 3D coastal postcard is to miss out on much of its heritage.
Angela Epstein visits Blackpool (pictured), where she explores its heritage sites and learns about the city’s future plans.
There are certainly plans to attract a more discerning visitor. Marco Pierre White is even opening a restaurant here. Of course, the most obvious expression of the town’s heritage is the Grade I listed Blackpool Tower (recently in the news for a fake fire, which turned out to be an orange net).
Opened in 1894 and standing 518 feet tall, it is half the size of the Eiffel Tower, which had inspired the mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, to commission the project.
It’s hugely impressive. On one side, you’ll find the oak, mahogany and walnut ballroom designed by Victorian architect Frank Matcham that hosts daily tea dances. But take a lift to the top for a panoramic view of the Fylde coast and the chance to squeal in fear as you gingerly step onto the 5cm-thick glass viewing platform.
Shown above is one of Blackpool’s vintage trams, photographed along the seafront.
Blackpool’s Comedy Carpet (pictured) is a huge work of art featuring jokes, songs and comedy lines.
Outside the tower, we look at a huge grid of public art. Known as the Blackpool Comedy Carpet, it immortalises and celebrates the jokes, songs and comedy lines of Britain’s best-loved comedians and writers (some better than others). Meanwhile, Showtown, a new museum showing how the city became a center of bright lights and entertainment, will open next month.
The genesis of Blackpool’s tourist heritage began with the extension of the railway network in 1840. Next came the construction of the three docks, the tramway and the illuminations (which when Princess Louise, the town’s first royal visitor, arrived in 1912 to open a new section of the promenade that bears his name, totaling about 10,000 lights).
As we supported the strong wind blowing off the Irish Sea, we found another vestige of Blackpool’s past on its long seafront. Five curved spans of Grade II listed colonnades, joining other listed buildings such as the Grand Theater as well as the cast iron promenade, most of which are over 100 years old.
Angela is staying at the Boulevard Hotel, which is located beneath the tallest rollercoaster in the UK.
Shown above is one of the rooms at Hotel Boulevard, which Angela describes as “super luxurious.”
Even in winter you can’t escape the lights and color.
So, for more refined fun, we headed to Stanley Park, designed by Thomas Mawson & Sons in 1922, to admire its bandstand, Italianate gardens, art deco café and boating lake topped by ornamental bridges.
Back in the comfort of the BLVD lounge, we enjoyed the strangely therapeutic view of the relentless brown waves curving toward the beach. Clearly, Blackpool strives to cater to all tastes. And, just like the fake fire in the tower, everything is definitely not as it seems.