As Blackpool takes the ‘best seaside town’ crown, Travel Editor Lorna Cowan looks back on her childhood holidays there with great fondness. So are ‘nostalgia’ holidays becoming the next big British getaway?
Only last week, Which? Holiday announced that the nation’s all-time favourite seaside town was Blackpool. It beat 150 destinations – including Brighton, Whitby, Bournemouth and Scarborough – to take the winning crown.
Perhaps a surprising result for some, but the Lancashire resort is loved for its amusements, entertainment and nightlife, as well as the annual illuminations. To come to our conclusion, we spoke to 4,217 UK adults – 6.7% of them were fans of Blackpool, and many cited its special atmosphere as the reason why they think so fondly of it.
This got me thinking about my yearly childhood holidays in Blackpool. Regardless of where we’d been for the past week or so, I always persuaded my mum and dad to pitch up the caravan in Blackpool for a couple of nights en route home to Scotland.
Today, I’m not quite sure why the town held so much appeal, but it probably had something to do with the fact I’d spent the entire year saving up 1p pieces and desperately needed to find some slot machines (I’m revealing my age here!). And there was so much going on in the seaside resort – well, certainly compared to the mining village where I lived.
It was also the place where Dad would be happy to go on the log flume, Mum would allow us to have chips even though it wasn’t dinner time, and we’d all be treated to a show – be it on the pier, at the Winter Gardens or at the ice rink. It was one of the highlights of our fortnight away.
Reminiscing about it now, I can see why ‘nostalgia’ holidays have become increasingly more popular over the past year. People are returning to seaside towns up and down the British Isles, hoping to relive happy, nostalgic memories of their childhood breaks. But will they delight or disappoint?
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