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The Pleasure Beach - scream for your life!

The Sandcastle - fun in the water

Stanley Park - a lake and nature

Blackpool Zoo - animals galore

The Grand Theatre - shows for all the family

Louis Tussaud's Waxworks - the stars not quite in the flesh!

The Grundy Art Gallery - enjoy some culture

The Sealife Centre  - shark alert!

North Pier - 3 piers to choose from

The Winter Gardens - it's got the lot!

The Promenade - miles of sand and sea

For centuries Blackpool was a tiny hamlet by the sea. Then during the 18th century it became fashionable for the well to do to travel to the seaside during the Summer - in those days people believed that bathing in sea water could cure diseases. However Blackpool remained a very small place until 1781, when two men built a private road to Blackpool, which made it much more accessible.

However Blackpool only really grew into a substantial town when a railway was built connecting it to the industrial towns of the north. The railway made it much easier and cheaper for visitors to reach Blackpool. The first railway in the area opened in 1840 but it only ran as far as Poulton-le- Fylde. In 1846 a branch line was built from Poulton to Blackpool and the boom started!

In the years 1856-1870 a Promenade was built along the sea front. In 1863 North Pier opened and Central Pier followed in 1868. The Winter Gardens opened ten years later in 1878.

Then in 1879 some electric lights were switched on in Blackpool. At that time electric light was very new and exciting and the event attracted many visitors. It could be said that this was the precursor to the Illuminations!

The famous tramway opened in Blackpool in 1885 and the last pier - South Pier - opened in 1893.

Blackpool is, of course most famous for its tower. Blackpool Tower was built between 1891 and 1894.