Blackpool Favorites

Favorite thing: The trams are a much loved feature of Blackpool as they rattle along the promenade. There are so amny different ones - all advertising some kind of Blacpool entertainment venue or other product. Of course we rode one just for the fun of it as well as saving our legs walking all the way back to the north pier end from the south. Many are old style ones - some have been lovingly refurbished.

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Favorite thing: Donkeys are gifted animals & the Blackpool donkeys do a brilliant job for any children who wish to ride them, I think they should be given a medal for what they do during long hot summers. In the wild, donkeys don’t reside in such close herds as horses & ponies do, because they live in the desert they have very loud ‘voices’, which can carry just over three km. Donkeys have a very strong digestive system that can break down almost inedible vegetation, they like carrots all the same.

Donkeys vary in size from the Miniature Mediterranean (under 91cm) to bigger donkeys such as the rare French Poitou (up to 150cm) with its large head & ears & thick, shaggy coat. Breeds have been crossed &, as a result, there are not many pure breeds left. Donkeys often live for 25 years or more. Some have been known to live to the ripe old age of60! A forty-year-old donkey is considered to be elderly; perhaps they could invent a telegram from the Queen for donkeys (har har!).

Fondest memory: They have a strong sense of survival & if they think something is dangerous they simply won’t do it, thus they would not make steeplechasers or three-day eventers! many domestic donkeys tend to be overfed & as a result suffer from a disease called ‘Laminitis’ which is a nightmare! Donkeys do not have natural ‘waterproof’ coats like horses & so must have a shelter. Horses are flight animals, i.e. in times of panic or danger they will run away, donkeys, however, will simply freeze when frightened; ours bite when cornered.

The 200 Blackpool donkeys dinner break is 1hr, & they don’t like to be disturbed. They work from 10am to 7pm & have every Friday off. These animals have been working for donkey’s years since the Victorian era, & new laws have been brought in so officials don’t make an ‘ass’ of themselves! Vets check them on Fridays to make sure they are healthy, hooves; ears, protruding teeth & furry coats will be checked.

Donkeys have a brown stripe along their back & another across their shoulders, forming a cross. There are 2 stories of how this came about: - It is said that they were given this mark following the stories in the Holy Bible that a donkey carried Mary to Bethlehem before Jesus was born on the first Christmas, or a donkey carried Jesus to Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.

Favorite thing: Of course what attracts many people to Blackpool is the lights in the winter season. Its quite a colourful display by night and by day too...seeing all the charcaters on the "golden mile". There were several good ones but I liked the animals which were in halves as they flanked the road.

Favorite thing: The central pier is the "fun" pier of Blackpool with its Ferris wheel although in former years there were roller skating and shock horror outdoor dancing here!
The central platform was converted into an open-air auditorium, and the pier-head dance area made way for a new theatre back in the 1960's.

Favorite thing: The last of Blackpool's three piers - work began on Blackpool’s South pier in 1892. It has bungee jumps and sky dives for those brave enough - me ?, well I was just happy to watch others hand over lots off money for a few seconds thrill whilst I enjoyed a drink in the laughhing donkey bar here.

Favorite thing: The North Pier was the first of Blackpool's 3 piers - opened on 21st May 1863. It is 1,405 feet long, 27 feet wide and built from 12,000 tons of metal it claimed, in its day, to be 'the finest, strongest and most beautiful marine parade in Europe'. It has suffered damage over the years and resultant modifications. and today the pier has several bars, a beer garden, a 1500-seat theatre, and an amusement arcade - all the typical type of seaside pier attractions. Its probably the most traditional of the three piers and retains mor Victorian charm than the others.

Favorite thing: In this age when everyone is obsessed by 'image', Blackpool council has jumped on the bandwagon and is desperately trying to update Blackpool's somewhat old-fashioned image.

Their thought police (sorry council inspectors) are encouraging shop owners to tidy up their act and remove the tackiest of their stock of souveniers. This is daft, in most people's books Blackpool=Tackiness, it should be their U.S.P !

In another move they are trying to get rid of their stock of council owned deckchairs (renting out up to 8,000 a day) and replacing them with sun loungers (surely that presupposses the existence of sun ?)

This is madness. In the words of Brian Hunt (found on a website discussing the matter) :

I wonder which management consultancy gave them that advice?

"Deck chairs are a brilliant example of design. They are cheap to manufacture and take up little storage space. As low technolgy products they can easily be manufactured in the local area and provide local employment. The economic working life of a deckchair will be greater than that of the sunlounger.

'And what about consumer perception?:

Fish and chips, knotted hanky on the head and a deckchair - bloody luxury!!. Leave the sunbeds to the southern pansys! "

Favorite thing: Take a ride at the Pleasure Beach funfair!Admission is free to this constant carnival of candyfloss and roller coasters.

There are some wonderful antique thrill rides and plenty of the latest adrenalin inducers.

The first drop on the Big One is 235 feet practically straight down. From the top it looks like you're aimed straight for the sea. By the time you reach the bottom of the dive, the cars have reached a speed of 85mph!

You have to pay for each ride individually but you can purchase a multi-ride pass for about 20GBP.

Fondest memory: Sitting behind a bloke on the Big Dipper as he set a world record for riding a roller coaster. He was on board for a few weeks, as I recall.