54 Facts About Blackpool

Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism in England when a railway was built in the 1840s connecting it to the industrialised regions of northern England.

The railway made it much easier and cheaper for visitors to reach Blackpool, triggering an influx of settlers; in 1876, Blackpool was incorporated as a borough, governed by its own town council and aldermen.

Blackpool gets its name from a historic drainage channel that ran over a peat bog, discharging discoloured water into the Irish Sea, which formed a black pool .

People originating from Blackpool are called Sandgrownians or Sandgrown'uns it is sometimes used or Seasiders .

In medieval times Blackpool emerged as a few farmsteads on the coast within Layton-with-Warbreck, the name coming from "le pull", a stream that drained Marton Mere and Marton Moss into the sea close to what is Manchester Square.

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Each town's mills would close for a different week, allowing Blackpool to manage a steady and reliable stream of visitors over a prolonged period in the summer.

Documents have been found to suggest that the reason Blackpool escaped heavy damage in World War II was that Adolf Hitler had earmarked the town to remain a place of leisure after his planned invasion.

The famous No 303 Polish Fighter Squadron was formed in Blackpool, and became the most successful Fighter Command unit shooting down 126 German machines in only 42 days during the Battle of Britain.

Between 1904 and 1974, Blackpool formed a county borough independent of the administrative county of Lancashire.

On 1 April 1998 Blackpool was made a unitary authority and re-formed as an autonomous local government.

Population of Blackpool has been declining constantly since 2001 and is expected to decline even further in the future.

In 2017, Blackpool had the fourth highest rate of antidepressant prescription in England with the most common health problems being depression, stress and anxiety.

Blackpool was the original site of Swallow Sidecar Company, forerunner of Jaguar Cars.

Blackpool rests in the middle of the western edge of The Fylde, which is a coastal plain atop a peninsula.

Blackpool has, like all of the UK, a temperate maritime climate according to the Koppen climate classification system.

Blackpool is within a green belt region that extends into the wider surrounding counties, and is in place to reduce urban sprawl, prevent the towns in the Blackpool urban area and other nearby conurbations in Lancashire from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage brownfield reuse, and preserve nearby countryside.

In what is often regarded as its heyday, Blackpool thrived as the factory workers of Northern England took their annual holidays there en masse, known as wakes weeks.

Blackpool was a preferred destination of visitors from Glasgow and remains so to this day.

Similarly Pleasure Beach Blackpool was the country's most popular free attraction with 6 million visitors a year but has lost over a million visitors since 1998 and has recently introduced a £6 entrance fee.

Blackpool has now improved the seawall and promenade, and Blackpool Tower has been revamped.

In February 2012, a number of tourist attractions in Blackpool collaborated to produce the Blackpool Resort Pass which allows for discounted access in one ticket.

Blackpool has a pioneering publicly owned Municipal wireless network Wi-Fi, which covers the entire town centre, promenade and beach front.

In January 2011, Blackpool hosted the NEEC Conference, a key date in the education calendar.

Blackpool remains a summer entertainment venue but many local establishments now trade all year round.

In 2018 The Blackpool festival took place on the comedy carpet in front of the Blackpool Tower which over three days played host to world class DJs and entertainers.

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Blackpool contains several bars, pubs and nightclubs aimed at the LGBT community.

Blackpool Airport operated regular charter and scheduled flights throughout the UK and Europe.

Blackpool once had two railway terminals with a total of over 30 platforms, mainly used by excursion traffic in the summer.

The route of the former excursion line into Blackpool Central is used as a link road from the M55 motorway to the town centre.

Blackpool is the setting for Bhaji on the Beach directed by Gurinder Chadha.

Town features heavily in the BBC television serial Blackpool, starring David Morrissey, Sarah Parish and David Tennant and first broadcast in 2004, and the one-off follow-up Viva Blackpool, broadcast in June 2006.

Blackpool was featured in a Channel 5 documentary series from 26 October 2017, this time entitled Bargain Loving Brits in Blackpool.

Beatles had a long and varied association with Blackpool, including a significant event in John Lennon's early childhood and multiple gigs in the town between 1963 and 1965.

Blackpool was notorious for having imposed an indefinite ban on the Rolling Stones from performing in the town in 1964 after a riot broke out among the audience who had found their performance "suggestive" during their concert at the Empress Ballroom.

Each August since 2006, Blackpool has been the venue for the largest festival of punk rock in the world, the annual Rebellion Festival, which is held in the Winter Gardens over four days and features over 200 punk bands.

In 1937 George Formby's song "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock", was banned by BBC radio for having suggestive lyrics.

Newspapers that cover the Blackpool area include the Blackpool Gazette, the daily newspaper covering the Fylde Coast area, known locally as The Gazette.

Blackpool has a pioneering publicly owned Municipal wireless network, Wi-Fi that covers the entire town centre, promenade and beach front.

Blackpool falls in the coverage area of BBC Radio Lancashire, Rock FM, Greatest Hits Lancashire, Smooth North West and Heart North West.

Blackpool has a dedicated local TV news service, That's Lancashire, part of the That's TV network, broadcast from their studio in Preston.

Blackpool has two main venues for boxing fight nights, the Tower Circus Arena and the Winter Gardens, which both hold regular fight nights throughout the year.

Blackpool is home to many current and former professional boxers including Brian Rose was born on in Birmingham, and Jack Arnfield, Jeff Thomas was born on in Dordrecht, and Mathew Ellis was born on in Oldham, and Matty Askin was born on in Barnsley, and RP Davies and Scott Cardle.

Blackpool Borough were the first professional rugby league club in the town.

Blackpool Panthers were formed in 2004 and played in Co-operative Championship One.

Blackpool is currently home to the annual 'Summer Bash' rugby league tournament held at Bloomfield Road, where an entire round of Championship matches are played in the city to showcase the sport.

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Blackpool was reunited, on a 1979 edition of ITV's This Is Your Life, with a woman whose life he had saved in the course of his duties.

Blackpool has a number of Christian churches, including 18 Anglican and 10 Catholic churches.

Blackpool United Hebrew Congregation was an Orthodox synagogue located on Leamington Road with a synagogue hall and community centre.

Blackpool has small communities of Baha'is, Hindus, Jains, Mormons, and Sikhs.

Blackpool has experienced numerous high-profile crimes since the early 20th century.

In 2012, Blackpool was identified as a "crime hotspot", and in 2016 was revealed as having the fourth-highest murder rate in the UK.

Blackpool was due to be the beneficiary of a sizeable life insurance policy upon his wife's death.

Blackpool stabbed two nurses and other children sleeping on the ward.

Blackpool was detained at Broadmoor high security hospital for several years before being released and deported back to his native Jordan.