Blackpool Blackpool owes its growth almost entirely to the seaside age. Until the middle of the 18th century, Blackpool was just a small fishing village. But in 1781, the craze of the well-to-do to go to the seaside to ‘take the waters’ and so get healthier meant that anywhere with a sandy beach was a place where money could be made. In 1781 a private road was built from Manchester to Blackpool so that stagecoaches could reach the coast. In 1819 Henry Banks, (the ‘Father of Blackpool’) bought land and built the first holiday cottages. But it all remained small and for the wealthy only until the 1840s.

During the 1840s a railway was built which connected Blackpool not just to Manchester, but to all the cities of the northwest. Now it was far cheaper to reach the seaside. For the wealthy, it was a place where they could buy seaside homes and stay in them for the summer or for weekends. For the lower classes, the cheap weekend tickets meant they could treat themselves to a day out.

The real growth of Blackpool was because the factories of the northwest closed for a week each year to repair the machines. These times were known as wakes weeks. Each town’s mills would close for a different week, and then this gave the chance for the workers to go to Blackpool. It gave a constant source of visitors all summer long. It also meant a boom for boarding houses, which were built just behind the ‘Golden Mile’ near the centre of the town.

In 1801 Blackpool had just 500 people. By 1881 there were 14,000 living there, and that did not include the tens of thousands who just came on trips. There were three piers and many attractions for the trippers and a long promenade for those taking the air (not many people bathed or sat on the beach in those days). 1901 47,000 lived in Blackpool (142,000 today).

But the people of Blackpool knew they had to make the place more attractive than elsewhere. So they kept adding new features. It was the first town in the world to have electric street lighting, and the huge length of lit promenade was an attraction not to be missed (later it was transformed into the Blackpool Illuminations).

In 1885 one of the world’s first electric tramways was installed and this is still a feature of the modern town. The tower was a direct copy of the Eiffel Tower in France. By 1920, there were eight million visitors per year. Of course, things have now changed, and many people now go abroad for their holidays, but Blackpool remains a popular seaside town.