Blackpool - Economy, Blackpool in film, Local media, Notable people from Blackpool

53°50N 3°03W, pop (2001e) 142 300. Town in NW Lancashire, NW England, UK; on the Irish Sea coast, 25 km/15 mi W of Preston; unitary authority from 1998; the largest holiday resort in N England, with an estimated 8·5 million visitors annually; railway; tourism, electronics, engineering, transport equipment; conference centre; Tower (1894, based on Eiffel Tower), Grundy Art Gallery; ballroom dancing championships (summer); musical festival (summer); agricultural show (summer); football league team, Blackpool (Tangerines); illuminations (autumn).

Borough of Blackpool
Geography
Status:	Unitary, Borough
Region:	North West England
Ceremonial County:	Lancashire
Area: - Total	Ranked 330th 34.92 km²
Admin. HQ:	Blackpool
Grid reference:	SD305365
ONS code:	00EY
Demographics
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 119th 142,900 4,092 / km²
Ethnicity:	98.4% White
Politics
Blackpool Council www.blackpool.gov.uk
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Joan Humble, Gordon Marsden

Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Blackpool at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	1,276	9	276	992
2000	1,444	1	210	1,234
2003	1,598	1	220	1,377

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Blackpool has gained renown as a lesbian and gay destination, with clubs such as the Flamingo, Mardi Gras, the Flying Handbag pub, and many gay-only hotels and guest-houses.

Blackpool remains a summer entertainment venue, specialising in variety shows featuring entertainers such as Ken Dodd.

Blackpool Illuminations in September and October, consisting of a series of lighted displays and collages arranged along the entire length of the sea front (11 km/7 miles), attract many visitors at a time when some resorts' holiday seasons have begun to end.

Many Blackpool residents work in the retail sector, either in the town centre or the retail parks on the edge of town.

Blackpool had two railway termini with a total of over 30 platforms, mainly used by excursion traffic in the summer. Blackpool Central, close to the Blackpool Tower, was closed in 1964, whilst Blackpool North was largely demolished and rebuilt as a smaller facility. The original 'main line' into Blackpool via Lytham St Annes now has a station serving Blackpool Pleasure Beach but terminates at Blackpool South station. The airport is actually in St Annes although a proposal to reorganise Blackpool's borders would see the airport incorporated into Blackpool Borough.

Blackpool in film

The resort is featured in the 1934 film Sing as We Go, starring Gracie Fields, as well as other cinema and TV productions, including Funny Bones (1995) starring Lee Evans and Oliver Platt and directed by St. Annes born Peter Chelsom, as well as The Parole Officer (2001) starring Steve Coogan.

The Japanese film Shall We Dance (1996) closes with a scene at the World Ballroom Dancing Championships in Blackpool.

The film Like It Is (IMDB) (1998) directed by Paul Oremland was also partly filmed in Blackpool.

The town of Blackpool also features heavily in the BBC television serial Blackpool starring David Morrissey and first broadcast in 2005 along with the one-off follow-up Viva Blackpool, broadcast in June 2006.

Local media

The Gazette - daily evening paper Radio Wave 96.5 - Blackpool-based commercial radio station The Citizen - free weekly newspaper

In addition Blackpool falls in the coverage area of Rock FM, Magic 999, 105.4 Century FM and Smooth FM 100.4 as well as ITV Granada. Blackpool Zoo - provides a home to over 1500 animals from all over the world. Blackpool Dance Festival - World famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance: home page The Great Promenade Show - Series of modern artwork installations along Blackpools south promenade. Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Theme park with lots of different attractions including the second tallest rollercoaster in Europe. North Pier - The northernmost of Blackpool's three piers. Louis Tussaud's Waxworks - Similar to the famous Madame Tussauds, featuring wax models of celebrities, musicians, sports personalities and the famous Chamber of Horrors The beach - Stretching from the North Pier to the South Pier.

Notable people from Blackpool

Ian Anderson - musician (Jethro Tull) David Ball - musician (Soft Cell) Zoë Ball - British TV and radio presenter Roy Harper - musician Matty Kay - The youngest player to make Blackpool F.C.'s first team. Jethro Tull - rock band Chris Lowe - musician - (Pet Shop Boys) (attended Arnold School) John Mahoney - actor (Frasier) Graham Nash (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)) Coleen Nolan - singer and TV presenter Chris Patten - politician and former Hong Kong governor Maddy Prior - singer (Steeleye Span) Peter Purves - TV presenter Alistair Cooke - journalist and commentator (educated at Blackpool Grammar School) William Regal - (World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler) John Robb - TV presenter, musician Michael Smith - Nobel Prize-winning chemist Robert Smith - musician (The Cure) Andy Summers - musician - (The Police) David Thewlis - actor (Professor Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) Ricky Tomlinson - actor (Jim Royle in The Royle Family) Shelly Woods - elite wheelchair athlete