Picture the scene...
It's Sunday morning 4th May 2003 and the North Pier at Blackpool is quiet....
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/themagiceye/beachstorypage25.html
To my far right the Venetian Carousel slowly comes to a stop. A little nearer to where I am standing a sweet shop displays fudge and nougat in all shapes and sizes. (How fresh is this? Who cares? Who buys it anyway?)
What is it about the Great British Seaside that makes me stop in my tracks and makes me want to contemplate and reminisce?
So there I am looking across The Irish Sea with The Pleasure Beach's very own Pepsi Max Big One in the distance..It looks so small from here and compared to Ohio's 420ft ride that opened this week I suppose you could say it is.
Where can roller coasters go from here?
Does Blackpool really need one of these?
To satisfy our never ending desire to go faster and higher Roller Coaster designers (in my mind anyway) have lost the plot somewhere along the way.
Maybe I'm just yearning for my lost youth when I crave a ride on the long gone Virginia Reel?..Perhaps the ride wasn't all that good after all but the days were always sunny then and everyone was smiling.
Am I getting old when I look towards The Wagon Wheels on the Central Pier and remember that in 1990 this 33m high, 216 passenger carrying amusement ride was cutting edge?
..I'm not sure what will become of this view from The North Pier in the years to come but I hope that at least the three piers stay and thrive.
But just listen to me!!..Here I am on one hand longing for the past but on the other knowing that to survive Blackpool has to look to the future.
And what am I doing about helping Blackpool in its present day struggles to survive I hear you ask??
..Well, nothing really.
I'm just as guilty as one of those millions of people who visit the resort for the day and then head off home.
Blackpool needs people to stay and spend.
What I do know is that, whether I like it or not, the beloved traditional Blackpool of my youth (if it ever existed) has long gone and only sad remnants remain.
Soon, these too will go.
Hi tech casinos and pyramid like hotels anyone...?
There is no doubting the fact that Blackpool is on the edge of change.