The Blackpool Diaries
Captain’s Log #001
Oh Blackpool! I’ve been warned of you and your naughty ways!
After years in Cornwall, I finally venture up North, to this suspicious sea side town. It looks amazing and alien but only gained criticism and serious words of warning when mentioned to my fellow Brits. Never one to trust other people’s judgement, I became stubborn and almost defensive of this unknown place and find myself travelling across England to prove everyone simultaneously wrong & right.
So here I am. With my will to explore strengthened with absurd stories, I was quickly rewarded right on my first day in Blackpool — on a trip to Lidl, the most adventurous of places.
Stocking up on supplies, I lift my card ready to pay — as another stranger deems this as unnecessary and jolts right past me, tightly clasping a yellow bag. The cashiers, equally unfazed / intrigued, make some comments: ‘someone should go check’ & ‘did he just steal something?’. But I’m out long before any action is taken.
My first day light robbery!
Over so quickly, I almost missed it. The man just a shadow in my peripheral vision but now forever in my memories as a warm welcome to Blackpool and an open-ended promise for more.
At the co-living space, the story is quickly retold, prompting my host to give me the reassuring advice “As long as you’re not partaking, you’ll be unharmed”. This is followed up by a story about a police raid that happened just down our street which shut down a major Marihuana operation. Overall this mentally prepares me for a time of hilarious, yet intriguing observations in which Blackpool plays both the protagonist and antagonist.
My short walk through town, also brought up some other feelings. The sight of Falmouth Road a bitter reminder of the differences between these sea towns in distance, era & prosperity. Cornwall has now a firm grasp of the domestic tourists that once ventured north and overshadows Blackpool’s amusement parks with idyllic views of white beaches and turquoise water.
Even the winded Cornish roads stand in contrast to Blackpool. The street laid out flat and wide like an American shopping strip. The Lidl sign wavering in the distance, I felt like walking in Green Days’ Boulevard of Broken Dreams on a journey through the desert. Only the desert was made of concrete and boarded up windows, emphasizing even further the vast emptiness this town seems to posses in April.
Maybe I judge too quickly, read into the broken cracks too much, too soon. During the summer months this town is supposedly brimming with life and the empty space finally filled with wandering tourists. I probably won’t be around to witness it, my stay as fleeting & insignificant as my opinion on this wonderfully wonky town.
Oh Blackpool! What an intriguing start!
Photo by Mark mc neill on Unsplash
