Vacation in Blackpool By Maria W.

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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