English: Blackpool Beach Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire on the Irish Sea coast, lying some 40 miles (64 km) north-west of Manchester and 30 miles north of Liverpool. With the arrival of the railway in 1846, the Town rose to prominence as a major holiday destination particularly for the textile workers of the Lancashire mill towns. This sudden influx of visitors motivated entrepreneurs to build accommodation and holiday attractions. The growth of visitors continued, eventually seeing Blackpool attain pre-eminence as a holiday destination in the inter-war years. The post-war decline of the Lancashire textile industry and the arrival of cheap air fares and package holidays sent many of Blackpool's traditional visitors to more reliably warm and dry climates abroad. Today, Blackpool's many attractions coupled with its good road communications continue to make it a popular destination, but mainly for day-trippers.

Blackpool Tower - seen on the right of this picture - dates from 1894 and is a Grade I. listed building. It was commissioned by John Bickerstaff, the Town's famous Mayor, after he visited the Great Paris Exhibition in 1889 and was impressed by the Eiffel Tower. Blackpool Tower rises to 158m (518ft 9 inches) and can be seen from most places within a 30 mile radius. It houses a number of attractions not least of which is its famous ballroom in which dancers are accompanied by a magnificent Wurlitzer organ.

When this photograph was taken, Blackpool Promenade was undergoing major reconstruction (see crane jib, bottom left of the Tower) and was barred to pedestrians.