The pictorial history – Blackpool’s Holiday Heyday: Images of resort’s golden era – includes chapters on the Pleasure Beach, Tower, Golden Mile, three piers, theatres, dancehalls, accommodation, railways, the famous tramway and football. More than 130 illustrations in colour and black-and-white, ranging from rare postcards to high-quality photojournalism and memorabilia, spotlight the people and places that gave Blackpool its unique character. And these exclusive photos offer a snapshot of what to expect.
The book examines the dilemmas created by the town’s dual identity over the years. Should it be a genteel middle-class ‘watering place’ or a proletarian playground? Should it be a ‘family resort’ or a party town for night-clubbers? Should the interests of residents or tourism take priority?
A journalist and author for almost 50 years, Barry McLoughlin is a former parliamentary correspondent and has written or edited 17 books, including several on the railways and tramways of Blackpool.
Blackpool’s Holiday Heyday is published by YouCaxton Ltd at £11.99 (paperback, 160pp, ISBN 978-1914424724). It is available from bookshops or from the website: http://www.youcaxton.co.uk/blackpool
1. Holiday Heyday
What could be more emblematic of Blackpool? Straw-hatted holidaymakers Jean Clark and Mary Cuppler enjoy candyfloss on Central Pier in 1957. Photo: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo Photo: Alamy Stock Photo
2. Holiday Heyday
A wonderful wide-angle view that encapsulates so many of Blackpool’s attractions in the late 1950s/early 1960s. At Talbot Square, two ‘Balloon’ double-decker trams pass (one almost hidden by the other). The town’s War Memorial – one of the country’s finest – overshadows the long tram shelter, with Butlin’s Metropole Hotel behind them. Photo: Barry McLoughlin collection Photo: Barry McLoughlin Collection
3. Holiday Heyday
Beatles on stage in Blackpool for their appearance on the Blackpool Night Out TV show 19 July 1964. Left to right: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. Credit: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo Photo: Alamy Stock Photo
4. Holiday Heyday
This was the Pleasure Beach at its peak soon after the Second World War. Noah is on the left with his stylised animals entering the ark, and the Art Deco feel is unmistakable Photo: Photo: Saidman Bros
5. Holiday Heyday
Crowds flock to the Open-Air Boating Pool at North Shore in the 1950s. If they didn’t fancy the steep trek back up the cliffs, the brick-built Cabin Lift on the right would take them back to promenade level for a few pence paid to the attendant. Photo: Saidman Bros/Barry McLoughlin collection Photo: Saidman Bros/Barry McLoughlin collection
6. Holiday Heyday
Blackpool Tower celebrates its 130th anniversary next year. At a dizzying height, without a safety harness or hard hat in sight, intrepid painters are at work on the tie-rods that brace its huge girders in September 3 1958. Photo: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo Photo: Alamy Stock Photo