Blackpool’s cheap thrills

Whatever happened to poor old Blackpool? The last time I went it was alive, busy and reasonably full of life. The place today is a windswept vision of destitution and bleakness, home to roaming bands of stag and hen weekenders, fat people with limps and aimless geriatrics waiting to be mugged. A town once synonymous with aspiration and elegance struck me as a deeply seedy place, notable for its lovebites and sick.

It is, however, cheap. This presumably explains why, despite its dramatic decline, it’s still Britain’s most popular seaside resort. There are legions of beyond-parody hotels where you can stay for £20 a night or less — including all the grease you can eat for breakfast. Not that there’s much to do in town. Two of the three piers are horrible and all of them virtually deserted — and this was in July. The donkeys shuffle up and down the sands in search of kiddies to ride them.