Map 102: The Blackpool Illuminations!

29 November 2022

One memory of childhood is of being told it was “like the Blackpool Illuminations” anytime that I had too many lights on in the house or left a room without switching off the light. The only problem was that I couldn’t know if this was true as I’ve never been to Blackpool previously, let alone to the illuminations.

My husband has bought a UK rail rover and gone away for a week riding on trains in the past. With limited annual leave, I had never wanted to spend one of my precious weeks off work doing this. However now I’m retired as well as possessing an over 60 railcard and so decided to join him. Best of all, he decided that we should travel first class!

We discussed the route. He explained that it was best to select interesting journeys rather than interesting places as the idea was to travel and look at the scenery rather than to arrive and look at the places. I suggested the north of Scotland but apparently that’s not a good plan as tickets there tend to be less expensive for a given length of time on the train – the lines are relatively slow. I suggested Carlisle to Newcastle – a positive suggestion but unfortunately the service is disrupted at the moment after a freight train carrying 400 tonnes of cement derailed and shed its load! Apparently it got wet and formed a huge block of cement so the repercussions are ongoing.

Eventually we had a preliminary plan which included travel on the trains with “the best first class experience”. At my request, it also included a night in Blackpool – selected as an interesting place and the fact that the illuminations are of course a spectacle in the evening rather than during our day time travel hours. My husband agreed as he said it would mean we could travel on two different lines – arriving at Blackpool North and departing from Blackpool South.

Accommodation was booked each evening for the following night, but, as Blackpool was our first overnight stop, I booked while we were still at home. My husband planned route details whilst I selected and booked accommodation. My choice of The Arthington Guest House https://arthingtonguesthouse.co.uk/about set us up for an amazing visit to Blackpool, exceeding all our expectations. We enjoyed a phenomenal welcome from Steve who sat us down with a welcome cup of coffee. In very little time he gave us valuable advice about how best to see the illuminations – given our extremely short visit this was extremely helpful.

We were shown our room. This was amazing – full of quirky ornaments including a penguin that sang “Winter Wonderland” as well as an electronic kettle where the desired temperature could be set. There was also a stick of Blackpool Rock and a pack of gingerbread men biscuits. I could have spent all evening looking at the room but my husband managed to drag me away reminding me that I would be disappointed if I missed my “adventure”.

Moments later we were on the promenade waiting for a tram. We bought a 24 hour ticket so we could spend the evening getting on and off the tram, making an unlimited number of journeys in between walking around what were hopefully the most interesting areas of lights. We would never have known to do this without Steve’s valuable advice. Initially we travelled north all the way to where the lights begin (or end) at Bispham. As we travelled we saw how the lights changed in different areas – some looking very modern and other illuminations more traditional in style. We also had our first sight of the famous and iconic tableaux.

Steve had recommended fish and chips at the north end. After our day of travels we were more than ready to do justice to a fish supper at Bispham Kitchen https://restaurantsnapshot.com/Bispham/. It was excellent and very good value. We were also tempted by the delicious and huge deserts on offer, sharing one between us.

Having satisfied our hunger, we headed off on foot to view the tableaux – including Sooty and Sweep, Alice in Wonderland, the Haunted Hotel, Teddy Bears Picnic (the oldest of the illuminations) and many more.

We walked to another tram stop and hopped on a tram further south to the Blackpool Tower area. Surprisingly it was the same friendly conductor – and despite there being several sets of trams running, we ended up being on his tram for every ride except one. The tower itself kept changing colour and the lights faded then lit up in patterns. It was too cold to spend long looking at the impressive hologram projections. We didn’t brave the chair swing roundabout – but those who did must have become frozen with cold as well as fear. We enjoyed looking at it from ground level – and hearing the screams.

After walking the “Golden Mile” alongside the Neo Neon displays, we hopped on the tram again down to the south end of the lights. Rather belatedly this was actually where we saw the “Welcome to Blackpool” arch. All that remained was to return to our start point passing the light displays again and then walk the few steps back to The Arthington Guest House.

Once back at the Arthington, I was able to explore our room more fully. Of course I had to do my ankle exercises too in between pressing the button on the singing penguin. It is only right to mention that the carpet was impeccably clean and free of dust the like of which I haven’t seen in any other hotel or guesthouse; incidentally I’ve only started noticing this because of doing my exercises on the floor. The bed was really comfortable and breakfast next morning was brilliant – including lots of fruit and a superb full English breakfast. Everything was served incredibly efficiently so we were able to leave in plenty of time for our train. The stunning guest house definitely enhanced our Blackpool experience.

By the way, I am sure that however many lights I left on as a child, it’s a far cry from the Blackpool Illuminations – but according to the website their electricity bill is a staggering £50,000 even with LEDs – maybe even more this year I guess.