Blackpool
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This article is about the town in England. For other uses of the name, see Blackpool (disambiguation).
| Borough of Blackpool | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Unitary, Borough |
| Region: | North West England |
| Ceremonial County: | Lancashire |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 330th 34.92 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Blackpool |
| Grid reference: | |
| ONS code: | 00EY |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total () - Density | Ranked {{EnglishDistrictRank / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.4% White |
| Politics | |
 Blackpool Borough Council http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | Joan Humble, Gordon Marsden |
-->Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England. It is traditionally part of Lancashire, but on April 1, 1998 the town 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 waters of the Irish Sea. (In Gaelic, Black Pool is Dubh Lihn, which in turn became Dublin.)
It is generally believed locally that people originating from Blackpool are called "Sand Grown" or "Sandgrown'uns," but these terms may be applied to natives of any littoral settlement.
The town boundaries are drawn very tightly, and exclude the nearby settlements of Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde and Lytham St Anne's. Blackpool Borough, unlike its neighbours, is almost completely urbanised.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Blackpool at current basic prices [published] (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.| Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,276 | 9 | 276 | 992 |
| 2000 | 1,444 | 1 | 210 | 1,234 |
| 2003 | 1,598 | 1 | 220 | 1,377 |
Note 1: includes hunting and forestry
Note 2: includes energy and construction
Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
Tourism
Blackpool is heavily dependent on tourism. Major attractions include:- The three piers: the North (built in 1863), Central (1868) and South (1893).
- Blackpool Tower, built in May 1894, is a 518-foot-tall copy of the Eiffel Tower.
- The Blackpool Pleasure Beach amusement park, near to the South Pier.
- Sandcastle Waterworld is the premier indoor uk waterpark opposite the Pleasure Beach.
A controversial aspect of Blackpool's night-life is its hen and stag parties. Brides or bridegrooms-to-be respectively, along with their friends, often dressed alike in absurd or risqué attire, roam the town's many bars and clubs getting increasingly drunk. Their rowdy behaviour is claimed to discourage family visitors and has led to complaints from hotel and guest house owners keen to attract a more upmarket clientele.
Blackpool has gained renown as a lesbian and gay destination, with clubs such as the Flamingo, Mardi Gras, the Flying Handbag pub, and many gay-only hotels and guest-houses. These tend to be inland, nearer to the North station than the sea front.
There is a transvestite show bar, Funny Girls, alongside the Flamingo in the building that was formerly the Odeon Cinema; the building retains many of its Art Deco features.
Blackpool remains a 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.
Blackpool Illuminations in September and October, consisting of a series of lighted displays and collages arranged along the entire length of the sea front (11 km/7 miles), attract many visitors at a time when some resorts' holiday seasons have begun to end.
Non-tourist industry
Major employers include:- The government-owned National Savings and Investments, based at Marton, together with their random number generating computer ERNIE which picks the Premium Bond numbers.
- Other Government Agencies based at Warbreck and Norcross.
- The sports car manufacturer TVR. (Blackpool was also the original site of Swallow Sidecar Company forerunner of Jaguar Cars.)
- Burtons Foods, producing biscuits and other bakery products.
- Arvin Meritor, which manufactures automotive components.
- The Glasdon Group, known for its plastic products including litter bins, park benches and reflective road signs.
Transport infrastructure
The town's tramway was for a long time Britain's only working tramway outside of museums. However, other cities, including Manchester have been rebuilding their networks since the late 20th century.
Blackpool had two railway termini 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. The route of the former excursion line into Blackpool Central is now used as a link road from the M55 motorway to the town centre. The original 'main line' into Blackpool via Lytham St Annes now has a station serving Blackpool Pleasure Beach but terminates at Blackpool South station. The line into North station is now the more important.
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.
The M55 motorway links the town to the national motorway network.
Blackpool in film
The resort is featured in the 1934 film Sing as We Go, starring Gracie Fields, as well as other cinema and TV productions, including Funny Bones (1995) starring Lee Evans and Oliver Platt and directed by St. Annes born Peter Chelsom, as well as 'The Parole Officer' (2001) starring Steve Coogan.
Blackpool was the locale for Laurence Olivier's film The Entertainer (1960) for which he received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination.
The Japanese film Shall We Dance (1996) closes with a scene at the World Ballroom Dancing Championships in Blackpool. All the hair styling for the film was completed by Blackpool born and bred hairstylist Eileen Clough, who has been in the trade since the 1960's. In the Hollywood remake of the film (2004) Blackpool is mentioned but not shown. The remake was also directed by Peter Chelsom.
Blackpool is the setting for Bhaji on the Beach (1993) directed by Gurinder Chadha.
The film Like It Is [(IMDB)] (1998) directed by Paul Oremland was also partly filmed in Blackpool. The opening scenes were filmed in the Flamingo.
The 2005 television comedy/thriller series Funland revolved around the fictionalized, seedier aspects of Blackpool.
The town of Blackpool also features heavily in the BBC television serial Blackpool starring David Morrissey and first broadcast in 2005 along with the one-off follow-up Viva Blackpool, broadcast in June 2006.
Local media
- [The Gazette] - daily evening paper
- [The Wave] - Blackpool-based commercial radio station
- [The Citizen] - free weekly newspaper
Local attractions, culture, and facilities
- Blackpool Football Club, winners of the FA Cup in 1953.
- Blackpool Panthers (founded in 2004) are a rugby league team competing in National league two.
- 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]
- The Great Promenade Show - Series of modern artwork installations along Blackpools south promenade. Includes the Blackpool High Tide Organ an unusual musical monument which uses the movements of the sea to make music.
- Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Theme park with lots of different attractions including the tallest rollercoaster in Europe.
- The Sandcastle - A indoor Swimming Pool with Slides and Waves. Next to the South Pier.
- 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.
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks - Similar to the famous Madame Tussauds, featuring wax models of celebrities, musicians, sports personalities and the famous Chamber of Horrors
Notable people from Blackpool
- David Ball - musician (Soft Cell)
- Zoë Ball - British television and radio presenter
- Roy Harper - musician
- Damian Eadie - Television Producer, (Countdown)
- Jethro Tull - (rock band)
- Chris Lowe - musician - (Pet Shop Boys) (attended Arnold School)
- John Mahoney - actor (Frasier)
- Graham Nash (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young))
- Maddy Prior - singer (Steeleye Span)
- Peter Purves - TV presenter
- William Regal - (World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler)
- John Robb - TV presenter - musician
- Michael Smith (chemist) - Nobel Prize-winning chemist
- Robert Smith - musician (The Cure)
- Andy Summers - musician - (The Police)
- David Thewlis - actor (Professor Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
- Ricky Tomlinson - actor (Jim Royle in The Royle Family)
External links
- [Official tourism]
- [Virtual tour of Blackpool]
- [Blackpool Football Club]
- [Blackpool group at Flickr.com]
- [Blackpool ghosts and paranormal goings on].
- [Sandcastle Waterworld]
- [Interactive Map of Hotels in Blackpool]
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