Recommendations around Blackpool and a bit further
A few places that I've been to and enjoyed the experience. Maybe you will.
Grand Theatre - Blackpool
Old Matcham Theatre, recently restored to former glory, sponsored by 'friends' and local businesses. Evenings of artisticity and fun. In July 2007 the seats were replaced by ones using the original design and leg space increased except at the edge of the dress circle.
Monsieurs - Poulton Le Fylde
English/French take-away, Egon Roney recommended. Excellent food. Evening opening. Favourites; ratatouille pasta gratin with garlic sauteed potatoes and garlic bread, for those who like garlic. Chicken curry is good as well. Nicely looked after by friendly husband and wife.
Poulton Le Fylde Restaurants and Pubs
There are a lot of restaurants and eating places in Poulton centre most of which I 've not visited. If you enter Poulton from Blackpool down Garstang / Hardhorn Road and circle the one way system they are;
The Edge, Genaro's, Anon, China Red, Thai Mews, Cube, Papa's. Off the circle into Breck Road; Indian Take Away*, Philipino's, Saffron. Then back to the one way circle; Rico's, Thai*, Penny Grill, Balti*, Monsieurs, Garden Chinese, Cyprus Take Away, Grapevine.
Have been to the 2 Thai restaurants, Saffron, Papa's, Rico's, Monsieurs and been pleased with them all.
*Can't remember the name.
Pubs/Bars; Edge, Thatch, Cube, Red Lion, Town Hall, Bull.
Thatch is a Boddingtons type pub and sells locally made beer. Edge is sort of youngish to 30ish with live music, Cube is young and flash, Red Lion is a pub type pub, Town Hall and Bull are young but not flash.
Clubs; Residence, Peppermint Lounge.
Loads of cafes during the day, mainly very middle of the road. Grapevine coffee house with seating in the square is Poultons only attempt at modern cafe life.
Edge has outside seating, although council are complaining which is a good reason to visit.
Poulton is more a market town than the other places in the area. It has a nice centre with the pedestrianised Market Square containing church sitting raised above the square and surrounded by trees, war memorial, stocks and cross. Queens Square is quite nice but blighted by traffic and inadequate pedestrian consideration. Personally I like Poulton at dusk say around 8pm when the lights are coming on - not much traffic and some action but not the too-much-drink fuelled type.
There are plans to redevelop the centre which might be good but there is a reasonable risk that it will not be, based on recent placement of some everytown must have one, we've got 3, 'trendy shaped' orange notice boards in the Market Square.
There are 2 websites giving a local evening out flavour;
The Barista, Coffee House, Blackpool
Modern coffee house, outside street seating in Birley Street. Great coffee and really good cakes - Baklavi or Apple Strudel recommended. Does sandwiches etc and has laptop area.
Mustard Cafe, Blackpool
Nice cafe. Good bacon barmcake, nicer with egg. Cedar Square behind the main church.
Stanley Park Cafe
Nicely done Art Deco cafe with original features. Good bacon barmcake. Unusual Alf's coffee, think its Viennese blend but don't really know. Wholesome main courses with dessert and cakes, open nearly every day.
Helio Fitness Centre, Blackpool
Near Stanley Park in Blackpool. Best equipment of the gyms I visited. No special facilities such as swimming pool but everything is clean, high quality, staff are friendly and its small enough to feel a bit personal.
Twelve Restaurant, Thornton - Cleveleys
Restaurant in Thornton, next to Marsh Mill. Nice location next to the large old windmill. Modern style, everything themed on 12. Well tended by the owner and staff. Excellent food, traditional dishes served with a modern twist using local ingredients. Great for lunch as well in the new conservatory / outdoor bar and meals.
Cleveleys
Cleveleys is full of middle of the road cafes and restaurants. There is a Costa that's not bad although it's not got Costa furniture. There is also a new M&S food shop which is a destination in its own right. Not a bad little centre with a new modern promenade and cinema complex. Good to park free at the south end of the prom and walk the mile and half along the flat promenade to the centre, have a nosey and walk back.
Lytham
Portofino, Chicory restaurants, Zest and Hot Chicory smart cafes are worth a journey. Havn't tried anywhere else but Lytham is bursting with nice places and in its back streets has a Lytham look: Georgian with cobbled / mosaic walls and pavements, quite classy. Nice to park in Ansdell near the RSPB shop at the boating pool and do the riverside walk to Lytham, about a mile and a half each way. Lot of birdlife round here. Lytham has also got a nice very small museum that always has a special local art display - next to Hot Chicory, opposite the baths.
There is also an RNLI museum and windmill on the front.
St Annes
We havn't been anywhere to eat there. Tiggy's gets a lot of mention and looks impressive from the street. Recently re-decorated St Anne's Square with metalwork, not my taste. J.R.Taylors is a good department store and a destination in its own right.
Blackpool
Our main Blackpool recommended places are above. Restaurants we havn't been to are The White Tower, Venue, September Brasserie that get good mentions. There are also Kwizeen, Mama's Pizzeria around Topping Street and quite a few independant places along Clifton Street off Talbot Square. There are loads of clubs and bars for every type, except ours.
Blackpool is having a new shopping centre built and 'gateways' to central and north are being planned or built. The promenade is being extended out to sea creating lagoons.
Blackpool is primarily a place for people to have fun - children in the day, older ones at night. If you are looking to see behind that for some pleasantry then this is a suggestion.
Blackpool promenade is a man made wonder and having visited other resorts in the UK there is nothing to match it. I'd recommend walking from the Bispham area along North Shore promenade towards Blackpool noting the cliffs and 3 levels of prom, the Roman style pillars on the undercliff protected area that run for almost mile from Gynn Square. Also from Queens Promenade just before Gynn Square to just before the centre are a number of large well styled Edwardian hotel buildings, although if you don't walk along the top promenade you will not see them. I'm often in awe at the man-made aspect of this area and what it must have taken to build it in a relatively short period of time. Out at sea now are wind-powered generators and gas-rigs. You can see the Lake District clearly on a decent day. Looking the other way you can just see Snowdon on a clear day.
Also I'd recommend walking along the newly re-built promenade at South Shore looking at the biggest glitter ball and other street art and towards the Pleasure Beach. The old Solarium has been changed into an eco exhibition with its windmills outside.
The promenade is built high to protect from 30ft tides for 7 miles, with 3 piers, tower, pleasure beach, trams, illuminations and a lot of other interesting features if you take care to look around. Cliffs are at one end and its low at the other. Also the sand quality at Blackpool is very high with a very good tack for making beach sand-castles. There is also plenty of it as the sea goes out hundreds of yards and then comes back twice a day.
Other interesting buildings in Blackpool are the Winter Gardens. This is really a gem but it does seem to struggle to find a modern purpose, it has several large public rooms all expensively and elaborately decorated a long time ago, including the Opera House which is a very large and impressive theatre but needs money spent on it. The tower itself needs no explanation but the ballroom is an amazing room. The Grand Theatre as mentioned above is also very impressive inside. Blackpool has an art gallery called the Grundy, off Talbot Road, but it isn't up to much except it has some interesting old photos and memorabilia of Blackpool in its upstairs room. There are also 3 piers which are good to walk along, especially at illuminations time at night when you can see for miles along the prom. South Pier gives a good view of the Pleasure Beach and illuminations. The Pleasure Beach is a fantastic place packed with every kind of ride. It's hard to imagine how all this fits into that space, we don't usually go on any rides but I love watching others on them. Some rides are a 100years old and have great character, look appealing and are popular now, other rides are brand new and like the Big-One never cease to amaze.
Fleetwood
The main attraction nowadays is Freeport shopping outlet on the edge of town. Freeport has some reasonable harbour views. There is quite a good and largish Costa in Freeport otherwise you are struggling to find a decent cafe in Fleetwood. Unfortunately that's quite a walk from the prom which is where I'm going.
For me drive down the main street along the tram line and walk along the promenade past the statue of the fishermans wife waving goodbye and the Fishermens memorial. Then along the edge of the boating lake and round the sea side of it. Looking towards the Lake District and Pennines and spot what you can. Whether its Lancaster University or Heysham Nuclear Power Station.
Walking from Fleetwood to Cleveleys along the promenade is a good challenge about 5 miles passing the Coastguard and Rossall School, it's a bleak concrete prom mainly designed to protect the low lying land rather than as an amenity. I like to listen to the sea and the birds but you can get the tram instead.
Fleetwood has also got some interesting terraced streets, very flat, quite pleasant and unhurried. It's set on a narrow strip of land so you know you can't go far although you can get dis-orientated and go south. There is the old Lighthouse on the prom and another old one in the middle of town. The Mount is a small hill topped by a building next to the prom and can be used for orientation. When walking these streets, especially the narrow ones near the prom you think of the fishermen leaving home and family in winter to fish out in the North Atlantic in what appear rather small boats. The Euston Hotel brings a bit of amusement as for a brief time Fleetwood was the end of the railway to Scotland, so you got a boat.
There is a fisherman musuem in Fleetwood across from the container ship depot and it needs your custom or it might close. There is also a regular market that is quite popular. Also ships to the Isle of Man in summer.
I quite like Fleetwood but it needs money, go and give some of yours.
Ambleside, English Lake District, Cumbria.
Riverside Hotel. A B&B by the River Rothay. Very clean, comfortable and peaceful. Excellent range of breakfast choices including home made bread and potato cakes (at least when we visited) all nicely prepared. Nice lounge, licensed. Owners very caring for you to make the best of your stay.
Lucy's on a Plate, Delicatessen and cafe/restaurant plus Bistro across the road. Been twice, very good food, large menu, good sized portions, great staff, always busy. Deli good as well. Lucy4 Bistro and wine bar is good as well, tapas style eating.
Zeffirelli's, vegetarian cafe / restaurant and cinema. Newly decorated and now with 4 screens. Great food all day. Nice intimate cinema. A favourite.
Last stay May 2007.
Stratford on Avon and Cotswolds
Some time since we went but a night at the Shakespeare Theatre after a meal at Lambs in Sheep Street. Also tried the Indian and the Malaysian in Sheep Street, very good although none cheap. A guided Shakespeare walk round Stratford. Trip around the Cotswolds visiting Broadway, Hidcote Manor Gardens. Havn't really found a decent place to stay. Tried large hotels and highly recommended smaller establishments but they have all been a bit tired and had breakfast failings unlike the Scottish places we stayed in.
Stayed at the Balmoral Hotel, Harrogate several times, have read its being completely revamped and moving up-market.
Ambleside is our usual centre, as above.
Grasmere is another favourite. Baldry's Cafe in the square has good home made fare. Gingerbread shop is a good stop.
Kirkby Lonsdale can't decide if its Lake District or Yorkshire Dales. Bacon sandwich at Devils Bridge, walk to Castleton and further on narrow lanes, back along river to Ruskins view. Nice church and churchyard. All our favourite eating places closed. There are some nice places to eat although not what we think special.
Visited the festival in 2002 in 2003 and 2004 and 2006 and 2007 stayed about a mile and a half out in Murrayfield but good bus service and not a bad walk along the quiet back road. Festival, Tattoo, excellent. My own page is linked from the title above.
Spent 3 nights in the Thistle Hotel. Travelled by train, not bad only £30 return. Good weekend, weather good always helps. See my page by clicking on the title.
Visited in April 2005. Very busy stay but good despite the weather which suddenly turned on us.
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