Blackpool

BLACKPOOL

 

Blackpool is dying

Seasonally and less gracefully perhaps

Than a cancer victim

While derelict and otherwise decaying B and B’s

Ache no less   

Than the far too numerous

Tat and tattoo parlours

For the eventual return of the near extinct

Sea-food vendors cry

 

Yes, Blackpool is essentially dying

Less spectacularly perhaps

Than you’re common or garden murder victim

Un-yet its guts have been drawn and exposed, for the taking

Blackpool is most definitely dying

Where else in my 43^rd year might I search indefinitely    

For those sunny candy floss and vinegar scented days

Where frustrated parents, once tore their hair

And swapped first gentle nudges

And then, full blown kidney punches

For a towel sized portion of the Golden Mile?

Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

Oh yes, the memories of going up the pool. To eat our mum's jam sarnies and to see our Auntie Flo. See Jethro Tull.
Been there, done that so often and bought the tee shirt so many times. Not been for a while though but even in my day the rot had set in. Such an evocative piece.

[Neville]

I was there so often during the turn of the century, the Imperial Hotel gave me a platinum card .. I used to facilitate workshops on the subject of clinical risk assessment & positive risk taking .. at the end of the day I would stroll about trying to clear my head and it was during that free time my childhood recollections were shattered .. Jethro Tull's Up the Pool kinda speaks for itself .. one of my fave bands and still going strong ... cheers sir Ken ... Neville

[Ken Simm.]

Perhaps you might then be interested in my latest post. He said cheekily. Except this is not Blackpoo as it use to called in Lancashire. This was Southport.

[R J Askew]

Ach, they used to be such proud places too. Regimented geraniums and docile donkeys. And the memorable noises of those slot arcades. And then came the DHSS dispossessedand depressed - and the drugs. Great write! You captured how it is.

[Neville]

I rarely blow my own trumpet, but sadly, oh so very sadly, on this occasion I fear that I am indeed write...cheers Ron... N

[Chris Shaw]

Bloomin Blackpool. Only ever been there once, back in 1981.Stayed in one of those b and b's. Never again. Not my cup of tea. Your observational skills razor sharp. Some great lines here Neville. You are on a creative roll today.

Chris

[Neville]

I was once seconded to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health which entailed travelling up and down the country facilitating workshops for mental health workers from all disciplines and stayed at the Imperial Hotel that often they gave me a platinum badge.... the place nearly drove me mad... N x

[Chris Shaw]

Yeah, a bit different from where you live now chuck innit? John took me there in our early days. I asked him to because I wanted to find out what the popular Blackpool seaside resort was like :))

[Neville]

aye tis indeed... I am truly blessed, as are thee.. x

[Alistair (Ali)]

"And swapped first gentle nudges

And then, full blown kidney punches"

Genius!...First class observations here!...This is what Morrissey wishes he had written!

[Neville]

it could once be mistaken for a war zone.. now apparently tis only the odd sandpiper or whimbrel that gets a look in.....many thank you's sir.. N

[Alistair (Ali)]

I have never really understood the way us Brits treat Seaside towns- I mean, there we are on the edges of our World subject to the elements in all their fickle moods, and we pause for a moment and ponder until that light-bulb moment of realisation comes popping to the fore " What this place needs is amusement arcades and tiny little go-karts "...everywhere!!
Bizarre !!

[Neville]

maybe we should form a cult...