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Blackpool Tower Shadow on the Beach with North Pier

Blackpool Tower Shadow on the Beach with North Pier

I had a fantastic day yesterday, exploring the town and taking photos, but I couldn’t come to Blackpool without going up the Tower. I had been up it before (more than once in fact) but this was when I was much younger. I was very put off by the price of a ticket – £15 each for an adult! To be fair this includes a look around their aquarium, ballroom and even a circus (but we didn’t have the time to go to the next showing). I just wish they had had a cheaper ticket for just going up the tower and that’s it. Still it was another beautiful day and the views from the top were fantastic. I couldn’t make out the Beetham Tower but I did get great views over the whole town. I took a lot of photos, but thought I would share this one as I thought it was a little different from the usual “tourist” images you see captured from the top of the tower. I really love the way the shadow leads the eye into the photograph and towards the North Pier.

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Blackpool’s Central Pier with donkeys on beach

Blackpool's Central Pier with donkeys on beach

Central Pier reminds me a lot of the fun fairs that used to travel around the country visiting different towns. There is a lot of “Here mate, win your girlfriend this huge teddy so big you could hardly carry it, but its only 50 pence a go!”. I found that the colours of the different attractions on this pier are very interesting both from a photographic and a graphics point of view. The tide had gone out at this point and there were children riding donkeys up and down the beach. Evidently I am now too old (or too heavy) to be riding a donkey on the beach!

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Blackpool Tower view from North Pier – High Tide

Blackpool Tower view from North Pier - High Tide

This afternoon, after a morning shopping around Blackpool, I decided to explore the piers. Blackpool has three piers, North Pier, Central Pier and South Pier. The view in the photograph below is of the famous Blackpool Tower taken from North Pier. North Pier is more of a traditional pier with a small train or tramway to the end of the pier, a theatre, and people fishing off the end of it. The other two piers are much more commercial and modernised. North Pier is a great place to relax and get away from all the crowds.

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Worlds Largest Mirrored Ball – Blackpool, England

Worlds Largest Mirrored Ball - Blackpool, England

This afternoon I set off for Blackpool. It was a lot later than I had expected to leave, but we arrived in good time and the traffic was clear for a Friday rush hour time. This evening it was raining but we drove into the centre of Blackpool to look at the sights. It was dark and wet so I couldn’t see the sea, but there were a lot of interesting things with lots of lights on them like amusement arcades, roller-coasters, casinos and bars – even the tower. I got completely soaking wet but it was worth it to get photos of the town at night. The photograph shows the World’s Largest Mirrored Ball. It was made by Michael Tranner and the Art Department in 2002. The quote below the ball says “They shoot horses don’t they?” Not exactly sure the relationship between a huge mirror ball and that quote but I liked the photograph and Claire standing underneath gives the image a sense of scale.