Bangor, about 1980. It must've been the half day closing day because everywhere was shut, even the public loos. After that, the song 'Day Trip to Bangor' (didn't we have a lovely time...) was always met with a strong sense of irony.
We went, in the late 80s, it was closed that day too!
Once an extremely busy resort, known as 'Bradford by the Sea', as the population of Bradford descended on the town for the Yorkshire equivalant of 'wakes weeks'
Yes Bradford, the gift that keeps on giving, they burn cars out just to cheer the place up, Holmewood Estate makes the Donbas region look safe
Workington, once described as like Featherstone with docks,
Hartlepool, at least greedy London landlords lost an absolute shed load of money buying cheap houses to rent out,never dawned on them they were cheap for a reason.
Middlesbrough is bad, Seal Sands is utterly horrible
I remember, many years ago, going to see a friend (an Indian lad, that I worked with) at his parents shop, on one of the estates off Thornton Road, the estate was brutal (looking at mapping, it was possibly the Lower Grange?)
The shop had wire cages around the counter, & any alcohol was sold from behind the cage too
The doors were steel-shrouded, the back-yard wall was razor-wired, with a criss-cross, of bars over the top to help deter the persistant ferals
The family had been there years, from memory, & sadly were resigned to living like that
Featherstone; I pass through it semi-regularly now, but used to pass through a lot (& Purston), when daughter was at school in Ackworth
Like many towns/villages, it suffered very badly, when the coal industry was decimated
Hartlepool; and full of Monkey hangers, one of our receptionists (now gone to IT) was from there, she was surprised that a couple of us knew the origination of the name
Morecambe, apart from the statue to Eric, a rundown seaside dump with little to recommend it other than the roads out.
Again, it was a very busy resort, until the upstart neighbour to the south, got its act together
Till the late 60s/early 70s, it was probably the busiest resort in the north
I'll admit, that as a kid, I went there a lot, so still have an affection for it
I've watched the Midland Hotel with a mixture of emotions from seeing it barely functional, as a self-catering, a derelict shell
Now, it's an absolute marvel, we've had 'afternoon tea' in there, but sadly not stopped there
It was hoped that it would help to regenerate the town, likewise, the restoration of the 'Winter Gardens'
I do hope that the Eden-North (or whatever name is finally used) happens
It's going to be on the site of the Super Swimming Stadium, or thereabouts, which I remember in its final years
(also the Dolphinarium)
https://c20society.org.uk/lost-modern/super-swimming-stadium-morecambe
