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economy killing our seasides

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By (user no longer on site) OP   
over a year ago

Last week I spent a few days in Blackpool, and had mixed emotions whilst there.

Blackpool held found memories for me and I decided to take my son there to go to nickolodian land.

I was impressed at the investment the local council have put in to changing the promenade to improve flood defences and make it look nice. I was sad that the dim. Economic climate has taken hold, and lots of places are closed and boarded up, due to lack of custom. Talking to a local he was saying it is really bad there, and custom is dropping off.

I have to say that for the cost of my 3 night stay, I could have gone abroad and had nice weather. It saddens me that our history is slipping away as more people seem to be going abroad.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I took my Grandson to Blackpool a while ago, I had to be careful which shops I took him into because of the amount of adult toys, hen and stag party and rude ornaments, I'm no killjoy but he's 8 years old so don't want him seeing that stuff

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Well ive just got back from the beach with my nearly 3yr old.. glorious sunshine and an icecream. happy days!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Margate has become the same, we no longer have Dreamland, there are 2 or 3 amusement arcades and a bingo hall, nothing for children to do at all and, approximately 65% of the shops have closed down, a couple of years ago a re generation project was started and work has begun slowly on the sea barriers and one very small area of the prom, a few million was (in my opinion) wasted on building the Turner centre art gallery, which looks like a giant greenhouse but not much else, the part of Margate I live in was once very popular with its guest houses and considered to be the posh part, now it is run down, dirty and mainly used for social housing and to place the influx of immigrants

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Sadly a lot of the N Wales coast has been in decline for years - there are a few gems though.

A lack of investment by the councils in the 70's and 80's saw a lot of the buildings fall into disrepair, the rise in poularity of foreign holidays, and then an influx of people on benefits were parachuted in (don't know why), and Rhyl West has ended up as the second most derpived ward in Wales

More recent developents have come and gone, and some seem to be working - initiatives like the Wales Coastal Path - the first complete national path in the world - no less - can only help to turn the corner

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By (user no longer on site) OP   
over a year ago


"I took my Grandson to Blackpool a while ago, I had to be careful which shops I took him into because of the amount of adult toys, hen and stag party and rude ornaments, I'm no killjoy but he's 8 years old so don't want him seeing that stuff "

I would agree with this. Shops selling what they can to remain in in business.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I remember as child we would make our own entertainment by interacting with the freely available coastal features that only a beach and the seaside can provide,,,,, whereas nowadays it seems many adults and kids forgo those simple pleasures and rely heavily on manufactured entertainment or at least entertainment that involves spending money….!.

Sigh,,,,, now where did I leave my bucket and spade!

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By *iss_tressWoman
over a year ago

London

OP you've explained why! Austere times means we seek value for money.

In July I spent a weekend in Cornwall for my daughters hen weekend. I've travelled the world, few places rival the view as you cross the Tamar into Cornwall...beautiful, and I loved Newquay.

However, I spent less time traveling to AND from Morocco than travelling TO Cornwall and spent less in food and drink in a week than in a weekend. The 40+ degree temperature also helped.

Bottom line is we want value for money and a weekend break in Barcelona say, is cheaper than a weekend break in Blackpool...and I'd choose Barcelona.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"I remember as child we would make our own entertainment by interacting with the freely available coastal features that only a beach and the seaside can provide,,,,, whereas nowadays it seems many adults and kids forgo those simple pleasures and rely heavily on manufactured entertainment or at least entertainment that involves spending money….!.

Sigh,,,,, now where did I leave my bucket and spade!

"

To cold in Blackpool this morning for a bucket and spade. But i understand what you are saying. Alas, we all want entertaining by someone else now, and most cannot be arsed making up their own fun (and i sadly include myself in that catagory)

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By *uckscouple2007Couple
over a year ago

Bucks

[Removed by poster at 14/10/12 16:16:58]

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By *uckscouple2007Couple
over a year ago

Bucks

are you sure it is the ECONOMIC climate that has effected our seasides and not the ATMOSHPERIC climate...

as surely if it was just economic then peeps would stay at home rather than jump on a cheap easyjet/ryanair flight to sunnier climbs??

then again ... hotels and B&B's in this country are quite expensive so why not head abroad

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

we went to blackpool earlier this year and its a shithole.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

kids when they are little love the seaside.

when they get to about 8-9 they love the playstation/xbox and only want to play video games.

things are different now, could only get these video games in the arcade near the seaside so you went.

now you dont need to.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

The thing with seaside places are all the shops, arcades etc have all the same things, there isn't any variety anymore.

A few weeks back we went to the east coast, it was dingy in places, nothing really appealed to us, everywhere seemed like glorified pound shops and just pure tackyness.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I have never been a fan of the seaside, except for taking the dog to the beaches as he loves digging himself into the sand.

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By *atisfy janeWoman
over a year ago

Torquay

Traditional seaside towns have been suffering from a downturn in visitor numbers well before the recession, in fact even during the boom years they were suffering this fate.....because they simply cannot compete with a week in the Costas for value for money and weather for the average family.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

We live by the seaside, the town is dead, I would say 70-80% of the shops are closed, and there are very few attractions to bring visitors here, a couple of run down arcades and a eye sore art gallery that cost us tax payers millions!!

It used to be a thriving seaside resort in it's hay day, it's sad to see a town go down hill, I think our council could do a lot more to attract visitors back to the town

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Did anyone see the Channel 4 programme last week on the emergency services in Blackpool ?

I can't believe that no one from the local council or tourism office didn't try and have that not aired or at least editted.

I have had a long held dislike for the place, even as a teen or a party going 20 something I've always thought of it as cheap and tacky and ugly and have been constantly surprised by just what a 'success' it has been as a traditional resort.

In 'Notes from a Small Island', Bill Bryson does make some interesting statements about the place however :

Blackpool - and I don't care how many time you hear this, it never stops being amazing - attracts more visitors every year than Greece and has more holiday beds than the whole of Portugal. It consumes more chips per capita than anywhere else on the planet. (It gets through forty acres of potatoes a day.) It has the largest concentration of roller-coasters in Europe. It has the continent's second most popular tourist attraction, the forty-two-acre Pleasure Beach, whose 6.5 million annual visitors are exceeded in number only by those going to the Vatican. It has the most famous illuminations. And on Friday and Saturday nights it has more public toilets than anywhere else in Britain; elsewhere they call them doorways.

Whatever you may think of the place, it does what it does very well - or if not very well at least very successfully. In the past twenty years, during a period in which the number of Britons taking traditional seaside holidays has declined by a fifth, Blackpool has increased its visitor numbers by 7 per cent and built tourism into a £250-million-a-year industry - no small achievement when you consider the British climate, the fact that Blackpool is ugly, dirty and a long way from anywhere, that its sea is an open toilet, and its attractions nearly all cheap, provincial and dire.

(please bear in mind, the book was first published in 1995 so the figures are likely to have changed in the intervening period)

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"Last week I spent a few days in Blackpool, and had mixed emotions whilst there.

Blackpool held found memories for me and I decided to take my son there to go to nickolodian land.

I was impressed at the investment the local council have put in to changing the promenade to improve flood defences and make it look nice. I was sad that the dim. Economic climate has taken hold, and lots of places are closed and boarded up, due to lack of custom. Talking to a local he was saying it is really bad there, and custom is dropping off.

I have to say that for the cost of my 3 night stay, I could have gone abroad and had nice weather. It saddens me that our history is slipping away as more people seem to be going abroad. "

Sad but true

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

For some inexplicable reason, the vast majority of people seem to associate the word 'holiday' with 'sitting in the sun developing carcenoma'.

Britons seem to crave the horrible tackyness of our seaside resorts combined with the cheapness and sunshine of the Costas. That's why our resorts are slowly decaying.

By switching to catering for stag/hen nights etc Blackpool is just doing what it needs to survive.

Great Yarmouth is the going the same way. There are a few other attractions there though aside from the bars, but they ain't cheap. They seem to think there that the answer is to build a huge casino and cinema complex. Can't see it working myself.

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By *upitersmileCouple
over a year ago

Manchester

If you want a good seaside holiday you need to go to the small towns and hidden gems only the locals know about. I was fortunate to grow up 10 minutes from the north Norfolk coast and went to school in one of the small seaside towns. I've noticed it tends to be the larger 'tourist' towns that are ugly, dirty and drab. I for one am not a fan of places like blackpool, skegness or gt yarmouth and it is very rare i take our children there. The little pockets dotted around our coastline are what make the English coast such a special place to visit. There is so much to do without spending an arm an a leg in arcades and funfairs! Sandcastles, paddling, crabbing, walks in pine woods and dunes and seal watching are just afew that my kids love and even my eldest still loves these carefree activities as much as she did as a 5 year old!

I think there's still an abundance of quaint seaside towns which are unspoiled.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Get to Scarborough and Whitby my family and I love it here

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By *almh5Couple
over a year ago

Manchester

Blackpool is awful, I wouldnt want to take my kids there with all the d*unken hen and stag parties. What would really improve it though is just a lick of paint. The shops that are open have tatty boardings and signs, perhaps the council should start giving out a few grants to put towards this.

And the pleasure beach must have suffered badly when they decided you had to pay to get into it. We'd have a wander round, maybe go on some of the rides, buy some snacks, etc. Now we dont go as we have no intention of spending that much and not wanting to go on anything when we get inside!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"Blackpool is awful, I wouldnt want to take my kids there with all the d*unken hen and stag parties. What would really improve it though is just a lick of paint. The shops that are open have tatty boardings and signs, perhaps the council should start giving out a few grants to put towards this.

And the pleasure beach must have suffered badly when they decided you had to pay to get into it. We'd have a wander round, maybe go on some of the rides, buy some snacks, etc. Now we dont go as we have no intention of spending that much and not wanting to go on anything when we get inside!"

Blackpool Council give out grants? That'll be the day!!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I am lucky to live in a beautiful part of the country. There are some lovely beaches and very pretty seaside towns. Some flourish and some are truly horrible. It seems to me that the worst ones are the ones that sold their souls years ago and had every shop selling rock, cheap tat or amusement arcades. This gets worse if the local councils give planning permission for clubs, bars and strip joints. They get the pissed up hen and stag do's, which destroy the towns. You only need to come down here and venture out in Torquay or Newquay to see this, you are in danger of suffocating under a chavalanche. Other towns that have suffered from shortsightedness are places like Paignton... absolute shit holes. On the flip side are places like Dartmouth, Sidmouth and dozens of other places that never sold out and have stayed very pretty and avoided the fronts being dominated by arcades and candy floss shops.

The other thing is cost. During the summer, we go camping in the South Hams every weekend and it is no longer cheap. Holidays in this country, do not offer the value of other countries. You get to experience a new culture, new foods, better weather and it still works out cheaper than a 'staycation'.

So its little wonder these 'traditional' seaside resorts suffer, which is a shame

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