Blackpool Social Club, Author at Blackpool Social Club

06 May

The Vocal Local: ID cards and boundary changes – views from a polling station

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsColumns & OpinionBlackpool Council elections, blackpool local election, local election

Dan Moore gets vocal about his time running a polling station in Blackpool Thursday was just a regular day for most people. For me, it started at 5am and ended at 11pm as I ran a polling station in Blackpool for the local elections. In a world of astonishing technology and mind-blowing artificial intelligence, there's nothing quite like writing on a good old piece of paper to exercise democracy at an unusual community landmark. My full-time job is communications and engagement for the NHS working to make improvements to our local hospitals – a role in which I am often encouraged to…

02 May

Interview: Dara Ó Briain: Spring for laughs

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceblackpool comedy, Dara Ó Briain, So… Where Were We?

After two years indoors and five years since he last toured Dara Ó Briain is returning to the live comedy circuit for a massive tour this Spring. With little material to draw on from the outside world, he tells James Rampton it will be an introspective set but one that won't scrimp on laughs It is five years since Dara Ó Briain last started a nationwide tour. It would have happened sooner, he says, “but there was a small matter that intervened and caused an interregnum... Cards on the table; I ate a bat and decided to take some time…

29 Apr

Interview: Henry Normal: rhyme and reason

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsLiterature & Spoken Word

He’s perhaps best known now for producing The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey but Henry Normal is returning to his first love, poetry, for his next venture. He performs Collected Poems and other landfill at Bootleg on 10th May. Richard Smirke writes When Henry Normal first moved to Manchester in the early 1980s, leaving behind the relative quiet of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, he found himself standing on a bustling Oxford Road, looking up at the imposing red brick buildings that surrounded him. “I was breathless for a second,” he recalls. “I remember thinking, this is too big. I can’t…

26 Apr

Creative callouts

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsOpportunities

Two Blackpool organisations are offering paid opportunities for artists and creators. Blackpool Heritage Action Zone is calling for artists to run creative workshops inspired by the town and Showtown is looking to commission a mount maker for artefacts in its new museum. HAZ about it: Handmade High Street creative workshops The Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) is a partnership between Blackpool Council and Historic England aimed at using Blackpool’s heritage as a catalyst for bringing new and diverse uses to the town centre and giving a new relevance for both local communities and visitors alike. The one extends throughout Topping Street,…

25 Apr

Exhibition Preview: 120 Years of Thames school

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsHeritage

Built in 1903 by Blackpool School Board, Thames school originally accommodated over 1,000 children in classes of 70. Current staff member Adele Royston writes about how delving into the archives to mark the 120th anniversary turned into an obsession that found her climbing into attics and delving into cellars and eventually bringing her findings together in an exhibition. I have always been fascinated by history and Thames Primary Academy has plenty of it. Little did I know, before I began researching it for its 120th anniversary, just how much. I have worked at Thames Primary Academy since September 2002. I…

24 Apr

Music Q&A: Gretchen Peters

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsMusic & Gigs

Gretchen Peters’ career was borne out of Nashville via New York, but her relentless touring career was forged in the UK where she’s been captivating crowds with her country and Americana. Now, after 25 years on British Stages she is retiring from full UK touring with a string of farewell dates that kick off in Lytham on 4th May. Peters promises an evening of reflective conversation and a retrospective performance including deep cuts from across from her expansive songbook. Support comes from long-time musical accomplice and special guest Kim Richey. Tell us about the decision to make this your final…

23 Apr

Interview: Rhian Blundell: Vampire state of mind

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performancelet the right one in, reclaim blackpool, Rhian Blundell, vampire academy, women in horror

Fleetwood-born Rhian Blundell has played vampires on both stage and screen. She chats to Kelly Mattison about female representation in the horror genre and how she broke into acting Rhian Blundell grew up in Fleetwood in a working-class family but has gone on to play Meredith in the TV adaptation of Vampire Academy, and the main part of Eli, a centuries old vampire, in the stage adaptation of Let The Right One In. This Friday she takes to a smaller stage in Blackpool as part of a panel discussion on female representation in horror. Reclaim Women in Horror, at Scream…

22 Apr

Take Part: Earth Day action for kids

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsEnvironment and Nature, Opportunities

Today is Earth Day and there are two great opportunities for kids in Blackpool to shout about why we need to protect our planet. As part of the National Literacy Trust’s Get Blackpool Reading campaign it is calling on school children to write a poem for Earth Day and Sea Life Blackpool is searching for its first ever Rockpool Ranger to champion sea creatures’ protection. Write a poem for Earth Day The Literacy Trust is asking kids to create their own haiku, limerick, sonnet, shape or freestyle poem to be in with a chance of winning a big book bundle…

19 Apr

Interview: Dave Haslam

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsLiterature & Spoken Word

DJ turned author Dave Haslam tells Carmen Heron about his new book based on Pablo Picasso’s nightlife before he opens up the conversation to audiences in Blackpool Dave Haslam was famous on Manchester’s club scene for his legendary DJ sets at Haçienda over 40 years ago. Now he regularly finds himself stepping down from the DJ booth and picking up a pen. Although his adventures can be seen more now in the pages of a book, the influence of night-time culture is evident in his writing too. Adventure Everywhere: Pablo Picasso’s Paris Nightlife is the seventh book in Haslam’s acclaimed…

19 Apr

Take Part: Creative workshops for women

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsOpportunities, Theatre, Dance & Performance

Women are being invited to connect with their creative selves by taking part in free creative movement workshops in Blackpool this April and May. Reclaim You is an opportunity for women to move, connect and express themselves, using a combination of engaging creative prompts. As well as thoughtful and expressive movement and wellbeing activities, the workshops are an opportunity for women to explore their creativity in a safe and supportive atmosphere. Hannah Dial is a local dance practitioner who will be leading the workshops along with Rosie Watt. She said: “If you’re interested in exploring your creative side, or you…