Information AboutBlackpool |
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Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire , England . Lying along the coast of the Irish Sea , it has a population of 142,900. Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism during the 19th century, particularly for the inhabitants of Northern Mill Town s. GEOGRAPHY AND ADMINISTRATION The town boundaries of Blackpool 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. Between 1894 and 1974, Blackpool was its own independent County Borough unit within the Administrative County of Lancashire . With the passage of the Local Government Act 1972 , Blackpool's independent status was abolished and it was made part of the Shire County of Lancashire. On April 1 , 1998 , however, Blackpool was made an independent Unitary Authority and reformed as an autonomous local government unit. It remains part of Lancashire for Ceremonial purposes however. HISTORY Etymology Blackpool is believed to get its name from a long gone drainage channel which ran over a and formed a "black pool" in waters of the Irish Sea . Locally people originating from Blackpool are called "Sand Grown" or "Sandgrown'uns". Early history A skeleton found with barbed arrowheads near Blackpool Sixth Form College in 1970 provided the first evidence of humans living on The Fylde , some 11,000 years ago. The Fylde was also home to a British tribe, The Brigantes , who from about 80AD were controlled by Romans from their fort at Dowbridge, Kirkham . Some of the earliest villages on The Fylde, which were later to become part of Blackpool, were named in the Domesday Book in 1086 . Many of them were Anglo-Saxon settlements. Some though were 9th and 10th century Viking place names. The Vikings and Anglo Saxons seem to have co-existed peacefully with some Anglo Saxon and Viking place names later being joined together - such as Layton-with-Warbreck and Bispham-with-Norbreck. Layton was controlled by the Butlers, Barons of Warrington from the 12th century. In medieval times ''Black Poole'' emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck. The name coming from "le pull" which was a stream that drained Marton Mere and Marton Moss into the sea close to what is now Manchester Square. The stream ran through peat lands which discoloured the water, and so the name for the area became ''Black Poole''. In the 15th century the area was just called ''Pul''. And a 1532 map calls the area "the pole howsys alias the north howsys”. In 1602 , entries in Bispham Parish Church baptismal register include both ''Poole'' and for the first time ''blackpoole''. The first house of any substance, Foxhall, was built toward the end of the 17th century by Edward Tyldesley, the Squire of Myerscough, and son of the Royalist , Sir Thomas Tyldesley. An Act Of Parliament in 1767 enclosed a Common , mostly Sand Hills on the coast, that stretched from Spen Dyke southward. And plots of the land were allocated to landowners in Bispham, Layton, Great Marton and Little Marton. The same Act also provided for the layout of a number of long straight roads that would be built such as Lytham Road, St.Annes Road and Highfield Road.1 ECONOMY This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Blackpool at current basic prices by the '' Office For National Statistics '' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling., pp.240-253. cars manufactured in Blackpool]] Major employers include:
Many Blackpool residents work in the retail sector, either in the town centre or the retail parks on the edge of town. TOURISM at Pleasure Beach .]] Blackpool is heavily dependent on tourism. In what is often regarded as its heyday (1900-1950), Blackpool thrived as the factory workers of northern England took their annual holidays there en masse. Any photograph from that era shows crowds of tourists on the beach and promenade. Blackpool was also a preferred destination of visitors from and B&B beds than the whole of Portugal . The town went into decline when cheap air travel arrived in the 1960s and the same workers decamped to the Mediterranean coast resorts due to competitive prices and the more reliable weather.Alan Cowell, [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/world/europe/12memo.html Postcard From Ailing British Coasts: Wish You Were Here , ''The New York Times'', April 12, 2007. Today Blackpool remains the most popular seaside resort in the UK, however the town has suffered a serious drop in numbers of visitors which has fallen from 17 million in 1992 to 10 million today.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6313439.stm Similarly Blackpool Pleasure Beach remains the country's most popular free attraction with 6 million visitors a year but has lost over a million visitors since 1998.http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/elt/d_t2.htm Today, many visitors stay for the weekend rather than for a week at a time. Conferences 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. Entertainment Blackpool remains a summer entertainment venue, specialising in variety shows featuring entertainers such as Ken Dodd and Roy 'Chubby' Brown Events & festivals
Gay Blackpool Blackpool has gained renown as a lesbian and gay destination, (see , (who have performed on television and for royalty), alongside the Flamingo in the building that was formerly the Odeon Cinema; the building retains many of its Art Deco features. {Link without Title} Nightlife A controversial aspect of Blackpool's night-life is its Hen and Stag Parties . Brides- or bridegrooms-to-be and 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. Future Blackpool is continually striving to improve its position within today's tourist industry. One controversial proposal, which had the involvement of the local council, was to transform Blackpool into a casino resort along the lines of , the town's representatives are still heavily lobbying parliament to award the casino to Blackpool. Other future projects include a £500m scheme to build ''Storm City'' a proposed multi-themed indoor entertainment complex on a 30 acre site between Rigby Road and Central Drive.http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=2044263http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=2050436 Storm City would house -
In March 2007 Blackpool Council signed up to a three month deal to work exclusively with the developers of Storm City.http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2146737&SectionID=62http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=2136029 A second scheme, which is primarily aimed at the local population, but will also benefit those holidaymakers travelling to the town by rail, named ''Talbot Gateway'' would be a £285m Civic Quarter, for which International project management specialist AMEC has been chosen to transform what is at present a rundown area around Blackpool North railway station into a what Blackpool Council hope will be a world class gateway with new office and retail space as well as a public square, dubbed the Talbot Plaza. The development would be 'wrapped' around Blackpool North railway station so that rail passengers arrive at street level into the new plaza with views down to the seafront, making their arrival at Blackpool a much more pleasant experience that at present. The regeneration company behind much of the towns current and future development, ''ReBlackpool'' are working with Blackpool Council and AMEC to sort out the planning application.http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=2217800 LANDMARKS & PLACES OF INTEREST Blackpool boasts some important landmarks, most of which appeared originally as part of the flourishing tourist industry., arguably the most iconic of Blackpool's landmarks.]] Major attractions
Other attractions
TRANSPORT Air Blackpool International Airport operates regular charter and scheduled flights throughout the UK and Europe. The airport is actually just over the borough boundary into Fylde Borough , although a proposal to reorganise Blackpool's borders would see the airport incorporated into Blackpool Borough. This airport which was formerly known as Blackpool Squires Gate Airport, is one of the oldest in the UK and has been in use as an airfield since 1909. Airlines serving Blackpool include Jet2 and Ryanair . Blackpool Stanley Park Airport was closed down after it was decided that two airports were not required to serve Blackpool. The airport hangars from the old airport are still in use, but now as the elephant enclosure for Blackpool Zoo . Bus and coach Busses and coaches are operated by:
Facilities include -
Railway Train operators serving Blackpool include: Stations in the town are:
† closed 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 Blackpool 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. Road The M55 Motorway links the town to the national Motorway network. Tram The town's Tramway was for a long time Britain's only working tramway outside of museums. It was also the UK's first electric system. However other locations, such as, Manchester , Croydon and Sheffield , have been rebuilding their tramways since the late 20th and early 21st century. FILMOGRAPHY For a comprehensive list of Blackpool in television and film, see here . 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 . 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 1960s. 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 '' 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 , Sarah Parish and David Tennant , first broadcast in 2005 along with the one-off follow-up '' Viva Blackpool '', broadcast in June 2006. The ''Jimi Hendrix - Experience'' video and DVD features concert footage of Hendrix 's performance at Blackpool's Opera House in 1967.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400421/locations MEDIA Newspapers that cover the Blackpool area include
Local radio is provided by Radio Wave , a commercial radio station based on Mowbray Drive, Blackpool covering the Fylde Coast area. The radio station broadcasts on 96.5FM and is owned by media company UTV . Blackpool also falls in the coverage area of: Television is provided by:
SPORT Cricket
Football Blackpool Football Club is the town's professional Football club. Their most notable achievement was winning the 1953 FA Cup Final . Also sometimes known affectionately as the ''Seasiders'' or the ''Tangerines'', the club's stadium is Bloomfield Road , which is currently being redeveloped and modernised in stages. Several professional footballers were either born in the town or have lived there. These include:
For other people associated with Blackpool, see Here . Other football clubs in the area:
Rugby League
Rugby Union
AREAS, DISTRICTS AND ESTATES NOTABLE PEOPLE Blackpool has been the birthplace and home to many famous people, including:
TWIN TOWN Blackpool is Twinned with: REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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