BLACKPOOL UK

Situated in the north of England, on the Irish Sea, Blackpool is one of the country’s most distinctive seaside towns. Its name is thought to derive from a medieval drainage stream that carried water darkened by peat to the sea. Known as “Le Pull”, the stream eventually gave the coastal area the name “Black Poole”.

Blackpool developed into a major seaside resort for the working classes during the second half of the nineteenth century and remained popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Without doubt, Blackpool’s main tourist attractions are its majestic tower, built between 1891 and 1894 by architects James Maxwell and Charles Tuke as Britain’s answer to the French Eiffel Tower, and the Illuminations festival, which has lit up the town’s seafront promenade every autumn and early winter since 1879.

As affordable holidays in Mediterranean destinations became increasingly popular, traditional British seaside resorts began to lose their appeal. Blackpool was no exception. Over the decades, the town has faced growing economic and social challenges, reflected in its deteriorating housing, persistent inequalities, and widespread deprivation. These changes have left a visible mark on its streets and neighbourhoods.

Photographer Quim Vilar (https://www.quimvilar.com) and I organised a trip to Blackpool to document the town’s visual character. From the moment we arrived, it exceeded our photographic expectations.

Blackpool offers a rich visual composition in which decadent Victorian charm mingles with signs of social and urban decline, sometimes within a single street. It is all magnificently framed by the famous Illuminations festival, which still attracts visitors from across the country.

At the same time, its seafront offers some of the most striking sunsets I have ever witnessed.

This series brings together photographs made at the end of September 2026.

Welcome to Blackpool.