Scots are rediscovering the best seaside resort in Britain. I can see why |
The signs are Scots are rediscovering their favourite seaside resort. Does it have lessons for the rest of the country, asks Mark Smith
The first time I was there was before I was born. It was 1969, my mother was pregnant with me, and there’s a picture of her on the pier, eyes wide, smile big, hair a tribute to Dusty, with the sand and sun going on and on behind her. She’d travelled the five hours or so down from Aberdeen and was having a wonderful time because it was a wonderful place.
Then the changes came. The industries that supplied most of the holidaymakers during the Glasgow Fair Fortnight started to shut, then the cheap package holidays started, then the roads improved so it was easier to go down for a day or two rather than a fortnight. It meant that, as Tenerife and Ibiza thrived, Blackpool suffered, and in many ways it still is suffering.
But here I am, for the umpteenth time and it’s magnificent. We’re down by the pier, the same one my mother was photographed on in ’69, and it’s 9 o’clock at night and 19C, in April. We go right out to the end, guided by the strings of lights that head out to the sea, then we turn around and get a view of the lights that head up to the sky, on the tower. It’s always been one of my favourite structures in the world; I have a model of it that sits on my desk by the laptop.
But you can’t be in Blackpool and only see the positives because there are problems too. The beach and the seafront look glorious – a lot of money has been spent there recently. There’s also been a lot of investment in the rollercoaster park, where we spend an entire day climbing and dropping and spinning and screaming. I finally get to try the newest........