Blackpool: rock of ages

The English tourist capital gets a boost as a rejuvenated Tower opens to the public.

It isn't the tallest tower in the world, as that title goes to Tokyo Sky Tree - when completed - at 634 meters. It's not even England's tallest structure, for that honour goes to Emily Moor TV Tower, near Huddersfield in Yorkshire, at 330 meters.Yet the 1894 Grade 1-listed Blackpool Tower in Lancashire is an iconic structure famed as Blackpool's response to the Eiffel in Paris.  At 158 meters, the Blackpool Tower provides panoramic views of the town and along the Lancashire coast. And it's just been renovated, upgraded and improved.

Since Blackpool Council bought the Tower in 2010 some of the twenty million pounds the local authority has spent on upgrades at the Tower complex and the Promenade has delivered what the BBC describes as a transformation into "the Blackpool Tower Eye (which) features a skywalk. It has floor-to-ceiling glass and overlooks the coastline. Other new features include a dungeon attraction, a new entrance and a "4D" cinema with a vibrating floor."

Duke Ellington, Cleo Lane and Busted have all performed here. For this is the centrepiece of a major tourist resort which has attracted visitors since the nineteenth century. The town of Blackpool has a population of 142,000 and was home to the English sportscar manufacturer TVR until its new youthful Russian owner decided to shift production elsewhere in Lancashire, to Wesham near Kirkham. Blackpool has historic links to carmaking: it was home to Swallow Sidecars, forerunners of Jaguar. Today, aside numerous services industries and government agencies, the town focusses on the tourist market. Ten million visitors a year enjoy the town's attractions, 60% per whom vist the Pleasure Beach resort and amusement park.

Conferences are big business here too, as are regeneration and development projects like Talbot Civic Centre and the Talbot Plaza when completed. Aspirations to compete with Macao, Atlanta or Las Vegas with the construction of a super Casino complex have yet to be realised, yet lobbying of central government continues.

But the world-class Tower stands as testimony to the durability of England's most popular tourist spot.  And remains the dominant feature of this bustling town. "It makes the back of your knees go, but on clear days you can see Cumbria and over to the Isle of Man" the Tower Manager told the BBC, which concluded its article with "the opening comes the day before the Blackpool Illuminations are switched on by Leigh Francis in the persona of his comic character Keith Lemon."

Tourism in Lanacashire: always guaranteed to make a big impression.  

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