Blackpool; Friday, 16 April, 2010

I was left with a couple of hours to kill in Blackpool before I needed to be on a train to Preston to get my booked train back to London, so I headed back into the town centre to take in the one key sight I had not yet done, the tower.

The tower complex models itself as a full day attraction, offering restaurants, an aquarium, a “Jurassic adventure” and more amusement arcades than anyone can have change for.

The main reasons for visiting, though, are to see the spectacular ballroom, and to take the lift to the top of the tower for the views out over the coast. I very quickly made my way through the other attractions and headed for the top of the tower. And it’s true, from the top the views are spectacular, looking up and down the coast. Unfortunately, it was starting to get a little hazy so you couldn’t see massively far (I could just about make out what I thought was Southport pier, and in the opposite direction what could have been the hills of the lake district, though it could also have been clouds!). Having taken in the views I caught the lift back down.

By the time I had taken in all the attractions of the tower it was only just midday, and I still had quite some time to kill, so I caught the bus south, past the south pier and beyond the pleasure beach. Where I got off was at Starr Gate, the end of the tram line, if it hadn’t been ripped up to be modernised.

Here I found an almost deserted beach, with beautiful sand dunes and relaxing sound of the sea gently lapping at the shore.

It had taken me nearly two days, but I had found a nice part of Blackpool, but now it was time to start the journey home.