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Vacation in Blackpool

Posted in Travel Portal
at 1:36 am on Thursday, 16 October 2008

Introduction

Blackpool is a seaside town in England, on the coast of the Irish Sea.
It is traditionally part of Lancashire but on April 1, 1998 was made
into an independent unitary authority. It is believed to get its name
from a long gone drainage channel which ran over a peat bog. The water
which ran into the sea at Blackpool was black from the peat and formed
a “black pool” in the relatively clean waters of the Irish Sea.

History

During Roman times, the Fylde, was an area of oak forests and
impassable bogs. The Romans built a road through Preston to a
settlement outside Kirkham fort and this continued westwards, probably
towards a Roman port. In 1602 entries in the Bispham parish baptismal
register mention “de Poole” and “de blackpoole”, at that time a
collection of cobble and clay huts spread along the coast near to the
“Pool”. In 18TH Century The Fylde coast began to attract visitors from
the landed gentry by the 1720’s and in 1735 a cottage owned by Ethart
a’ Whiteside became the first ‘guest house’ used especially for
visitors. The 19th Century saw the rapid development of Blackpool as a
major resort for the industrial working classes of Lancashire and
Yorkshire. The 1970’s and 80’s brought competition from continental
holidays and from the consequent higher expectations of visitors.
Blackpool adjusted as it has throughout its history, by providing mini
breaks, en-suite facilities, and major indoor facilities such as the
Sandcastle, Sea Life Centre and most recently the World of Coronation
Street.

Place of interest

Blackpool is heavily dependent on tourism. Major attractions include:

  • Blackpool Tower, built in May 1894, is a 518-foot-tall copy of the
    Eiffel Tower. It was painted gold for its centenary.
  • The Blackpool Pleasure Beach amusement park, near to the South Pier.
  • Blackpool Zoo – provides a home to over 1500 animals from all over
    the world.
  • Blackpool Dance Festival – World famous annual ballroom dance
    competition of international significance: home page
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach – Theme park with lots of different
    attractions including the tallest rollercoaster in Europe.
  • Tower World – A huge complex of leisure facilities, entertainment
    venues and restaurants. Included is the famous Blackpool Tower, Tower
    Ballroom and Tower Circus.
  • Winter Gardens – Large entertainment and conference venue in the
    town centre.
  • North Pier – The northernmost of Blackpool’s three piers. It
    includes a small shopping arcade, a small tramway and a theatre at the
    end. It was damaged by a 1997 Christmas windstorm
  • Central Pier – The middle pier. It includes a large theme park and
    shopping.
  • South Pier – The southernmost pier. Almost directly opposite the
    Pleasure Beach, it houses a large theme park.
  • One controversial proposal, which has the involvement of the local
    council, is to transform Blackpool into a casino resort along the lines
    of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, making it the centre point of gambling
    in the UK.

    Blackpool remains a major summer entertainment venue, specialising in
    variety shows featuring entertainers such as Ken Dodd. Outside the main
    holiday season, Blackpool’s Winter Gardens routinely hosts major
    political and trade union conferences, ranging from that of the
    Conservative Party and the TGWU with thousands of delegates and
    visitors, to substantially smaller gatherings such as the CWU or NUS
    conferences.

    Museums & Art Galleries

    The world famous Waxworks exhibition is situated on Central Promenade
    and is open throughout the season from Easter to the end of October.
    Famous personalities such as film stars, television personalities, pop
    idols and politicians are all portrayed in wax. Why not visit the
    Chamber of Horrors and the Anatomy Exhibition for adults where new
    figures are introduced every season. Toy and Teddy Bear Museum is
    another attraction for visitors.

    Shopping

    Like other popular cities Blackpool has a number of shopping center
    chain. Among them : Littlewoods Extra with a massive range of 40000
    products, ranging from toys and clothes to electrical goods and sports
    equipment and Marks & Spencer for womenswear, menswear, gifts,
    flowers and a wide range of delcious food. Except this two, Bhs Plc,
    Clifton Arcade, Hearnshaw Of Fleetwood, Stringer Jw, Woolworths Plc,
    Lancastrian Shopping Mart etc., are some famous shoping centers in
    Blackpool.

    Food & Drink

    Blackpool hosts a number of restaurants offering all range of food and
    all verities of food from different place of the world. Blue Room,
    Cottage, Giggis Taverna, Grosvenor Casino, Galley Café, House of
    Spice, Il Corsaro Restaurant are some of the famous restaurants in
    Blackpool. Blackpool has a number of night clubs. Among them Barney’s,
    Heaven and Hell, Flamingo, Gaitety’s and Walcot’s Bar are some names to
    mention.

    Education

    Blackpool & Flyde College, Blackpool Sixth Form College, Lytham St
    Annes High Technical College are some of the famous institutes in their
    respective fields.

    Sports

    From the outset in 1994, the Blackpool Cup has enjoyed an overwhelming
    interest. The number of participants and nationalities is still growing
    every year. This year, their eleventh edition of the tournament, they
    have another huge entry with over 140 teams taking part. Blackpool
    Rugby Union Football Club (BRUFC) has enjoyed phenomenal success over
    the last six years. Blackpool also has a cricket club.

    Hotels & Accommodation

    There is a large range of hotels in Blackpool to suit all budget. Here
    is a selection of Blackpool
    hotels:

  • Norwood Hotel
  • The Danescourt Hotel ( PLEASURE BEACH)
  • The New Guilderoy Hotel
  • Cliffs Hotel
  • The Woodley Hotel
  • The Merecliff Hotel
  • Clifton Hotel
  • Arandora Star Hotel
  • The Carlee
  • The Norbreck Castle Hotel
  • Middleton Hotel
  • The Dudley Hotel
  • Warwick House Hotel
  • Courtneys of Gynn Square
  • Vidella Hotel
  • Hotel Elizabeth North Euston
  • Revills Hotel
  • Viking Hotel
  • Glenshee Hotel & Leisure
  • Chelston Hotel
  • Claremont Hotel
  • Warwick Hotel
  • Tours and Sightseeing

    Organised tours in Blackpool have variety in their theme and according
    to the theme the contents also changes. The most widely chosen tours
    are based on waxworks museum and other sightseeing subjects. These
    tours contains place of interests, famous buildings, museums etc.

    Transport

    The town’s tramway was for a long time Britain’s only working tramway
    outside of museums. Other cities have been rebuilding their networks
    since the late 20th century.

    Blackpool had two railway terminals with a total of over 30 platforms,
    mainly used by excursion traffic in the summer. Blackpool Central,
    close to the Tower, was closed in 1964, whilst Blackpool North was
    largely demolished and rebuilt as a smaller facility.

    Blackpool Airport operates regular charter and scheduled flights. The
    airport is actually in St Annes although a proposal to reorganise
    Blackpool’s borders would see the airport incorporated into Blackpool
    Borough.

    Biography

    Name: Maria Williams
    Occupation: Traveller
    Website: http://www.sleepuk.com
    Biography: Maria writes for Sleep UK – providers of discounted hotels to make your stay in tde UK as comfortable as possible.

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