Blackpool expanded rapidly as a holiday centre for 'the workers,' before the days of mass tourism to Spain and the Algarve. Moderately cheap guesthouses and boarding houses sprang up eveywhere, as did centres of entertainment. 'Seaside Attractions' were prolific. The tower and the zoo formed the icing on the cake. Trains galore would leave for Blackpool in the respective 'wakes' [holiday] weeks in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Now most of the holiday boarders no longer come, as it has become cheaper to make for the sun in Spain and Portugal, leaving a massive - and not usually very clean - beach, and all the attractions. [As a matter of fact we found the zoo unexpectedly good.] Economically this has been pretty catastrophic and places to stay have become relatively cheaper, often without the intended effect. Day trippers and even weekenders still come in droves, usually groups of singles from work, and spend as though there is no tomorrow. Children in general still welcome 'a day on the sands' but the effects on parental purses prevent them from being a common occurence.
The illuminations are something else. There are still any number of coach trips to see the lights for all the season. I took a tram during the TUC and, as far as I am concerned, that is the only way to see them. If you cannot leave the car at home, leave it parked somewhere unless you love driving in traffic jams. To me it was a historic sight and I readily admit to having thoroughly enjoyed it - but as I passed the illuminated nursery rhymes with the cow plunging over the moon, the dog nearly wetting itself with laughter and a dish manically grasping a spoon in headlong flight, I did wish I had one of my [then] young grandchildren with me to make it magic.