I was born in 1983 and back then, Blackpool was still in its golden glory days, or at least that's what it seemed to be. We still had a thriving town centre with department stores such as Lewis', a great shopping centre (the Hounds Hill - which is still there but without the variety and class of shops which it previously had), lots of attractions orientated towards families and to be honest, there was a much nicer atmosphere that surrounded Blackpool compared to now.
I might be being negative but has anyone else, who's lived here as long or longer than me, noticed that all we have left now are empty shops or pound stores, thrift shops and cash traders, even most of the rock and souvenir shops have disappeared and been replaced with new bars and clubs. At which point did Blackpool loose is morality and self-respect? When did Blackpool forsake family for debauchery.
Drinking has always been here in Blackpool, as a seaside resort it has attracted holiday makers to its once golden and clean sands for many years. These days, the drinking has moved from the privacy of the bars onto the streets. Gone are the days you could walk down the promenade with your family during the evening for a leisurely walk without hassle, nowadays you can hardly walk two steps in the summer evenings without running into a group of half dressed and scantly clad hen parties with their eyes rolling into the back of their heads from intoxication as they stagger across the pavement wearing shoes somewhat akin to hooves. The stag parties aren't any better, these are certainly no gentlemen with their foul mouths, leering eyes and lack of control to keep themselves from getting into a fight at the drop of a hat.
I would not recommend anyone to venture out into the town centre at night unless they had to; the end nearest to the sea front, near the Cenotaph is the worst. Queen street is home to bars such as Walkabout, Roxys, Tapas Bar, The Litten Tree and FY1 to name but a few. Not far from here you have Rumours (now closed for business), Flares and Sanuk. Regularly you will see fights, arguments and domestics happening, accompanied by the usual paraletic souls left to fend for themselves while their 'friends' leave then behind and carry on having a good time. Lovely. This end of town is for the 'clubbers', well, I say clubbers but usually these people just come out to drink themselves into oblivion and sleep with the next person to catch their beer goggled eyes on the dance floor. Also watch out for the 'beggars' sat by the cash machines asking for a spare couple of quid, they all live together shooting up regularly with the money they make from their scam business in the town centre playing on the soft of heart or more likely, inebriated of brain. (click link below to view article)
Queen Street Epicentre of Violent Crime
Going out has become a race to the first shag or most paraletic these days, there's simply no socialising in it. Instead of going out to a pub or bar where you can actually hear the other person speak and properly converse, society is happy to wake up with tinnitus next to someone they met for half an hour last night wondering what happened and later discovering they're pregnant or have a venerial disease or even waking up in a hospital bed after they've had their stomach pumped.
I am no saint at all, I admit, I've fallen prey to the this type of 'socialising' too over the years, I've been out without having any tea, drank as much as possible and ended up in some right states, I'm definitely not proud of this at all. The thing is I've learnt my lesson and I won't go out doing it over and over again until I give myself liver disease whereas most of these people will, and why are they doing this...because Blackpool has removed every other form of entertainment for these people and left only the bars.
There's still attractions that have always been and always will be here, such as Blackpool Tower (please note Jungle Jim's has been reduced in size heavily and there is now no aquarium), the Waxworks (albeit a quarter of the size it was previously and without the chamber of horror or 'royal room' anymore), the Pleasure Beach (no longer free to walk around, now you must pay a base entry fee even before access to rides), The Sandcastle Waterpark (actually has improved with better slides etc. since I was little) and a few others such as: Superbowl, Laserquest, the arcades and the piers. The problem is that these attractions are very overpriced for the content that they now offer so most people give them a miss, and certainly the locals wouldn't choose to spend a day at one of these because they see them everyday.
It's a shame, I love Blackpool but sadly things are only due to get worse instead of better, as long as we continue to concentrate more on making a quick buck than spending the time and investing the money to get Blackpool out of the gutter then we will certainly see more empty shops fronts and visitors throwing up their guts from the watered down cheap booze from the tower lounge.
Blackpool, get your act together, we love you, don't let us locals down.
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