Where is it?
Blackpool is in Lancashire
The address for Blackpool Tower is:-
Promenade
Blackpool
FY1 4BJ
Blackpool is a busy, lively and subsequently noisy town. It is a favourite with Stags and Hens and the fun never stops with partying continuing into the early hours. Blackpool is truly an all year round, 24/7 resort.
It’s a big town with 3 piers, North, South and Central, large amusement arcades, and more fast food stalls than can be imagined. There are the usual shops and pubs and a huge variety of cafes and restaurants.
There is the enormous Pleasure Beach at the south of the town and at the central area is the famous Blackpool Tower containing ballroom, circus, cinema and a variety of shows. At the top of the tower is the glass floored viewing area.
Trams run on the promenade from Fleetwood in the North to the Sandcastle near the Pleasure Beach in the South. There is also a good bus service and 3 train stations. Large car parks ensure that no matter how busy it is there is always ample parking.
Between the end of August and the start of November the Blackpool Illuminations are switched on and the streets and buildings are lit with a spectacular and dazzling display of brightly coloured lights, lasers and picture boards. The old heritage trams are brought out and dressed up in lights to become transformed into trains and boats.
The illuminations began in 1879 with 8 arc lamps lit up part of the promenade.
In 1912, in honour of the first royal visit to Blackpool by Princess Louise, lights were erected on Princess Parade. A year later they were switched on again and thousands of people travelled to Blackpool to see them. The council, realising the potential to be made from this new attraction, decided to continue with the display every year.
The first world war brought a end to the lights for 11 years from 1914 but in 1925 they were back on again – bigger and better. Now they ran from Squires Gate to Red Bank Road, a distance of 6 miles.
1939 and the lights were off again, plunged into darkness by the second world war and the wartime blackout policy.
In 1949 the lights returned and they have been on every year since, usually switched on by a celebrity guest.
Today the lights are switched on at the end of August and are turned off again at the start of November. Each year sees different events and displays one of the newest being the lightpool display, a projection of pictures and colour onto the front of the Tower building.
The lights now cover a distance of 10 kilometres and use over one million bulbs.
