Place Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Blackpool Social Club

15 Sep

In Her Place: open water swimming

Stephanie Cottle0 CommentsColumns & Opinion, Sports & WellbeingBlackpool, Place

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In this instalment of In Her Place, Stephanie Cottle gets her feet wet trying open water swimming – an activity whose up take surged following the closing of swimming pools earlier this year. Sitting with the warm evening sun on my face, I stretch my toes out across the soft, crisp sand and dig my feet deeper into the ground, rooting myself to the beach. It helps with the butterflies, this sense of anchoring. I have a strong urge to keep my feet on the shore. With a dismissive shake of my head I slip off my hoody and stuff…

03 Sep

Fleetwood is in the market for creatives

Linda Hampton1 CommentLocal NewsArt, artist, community, Exhibition, heritage, photography, Place, studio

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Linda Hampton reveals news of the Market House Studios for arts practitioners, above Fleetwood Market. Last year Wyre Council invited local creative practitioners to view the mysterious upstairs rooms over Fleetwood Market. I went along with a posse of my peers to have a peek into spaces that hadn’t been touched for decades. Over two floors the rooms, dating back to 1891, were spacious, although filled with detritus from years of storage, with peeling walls and cracked windows. The exciting news was that major funding had been obtained from the Coastal Communities Fund to transform the building into versatile…

23 Aug

In Her Place: fragments of a day

Stephanie Cottle0 CommentsColumns & Opinionartist, Blackpool, lockdown, photography, Place

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] In this instalment of In Her Place Stephanie Cottle teams up with sound artist Liam Baugh. Together they spent a day in Blackpool collecting snippets of sound, images and thoughts. [/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval="3" images="29815,29816,29820,29817" img_size="large" onclick=""][vc_column_text]Following the announcement of government plans to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, Liam and I headed towards the seafront hoping to capture a sense of Blackpool as it tries to adopt the ‘new normal’ that is so often referred to in the media. Unsure of what to expect, our aim was to simply gather fragments from our town, historically a place dependent on tourism - an…

05 Aug

In Her Place: public transport

Stephanie Cottle0 CommentsColumns & OpinionBlackpool, In Her Place, Place, transport, Travel

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] In this instalment of her bi-weekly column Stephanie Cottle discusses the good, the bad and occasionally ugly realities of public transportation. Perceptions of public transport Cast your mind back, if you can, to life prior to coronavirus. When for most of us, homeworking was a pipe dream and the ritual of the daily commute was an unavoidable fact of life. Pre-corona, most news articles referring to making the commute via public transport were unflattering – often with good cause. As a frequent traveller upon public transport, I can tell you first-hand our British transportation systems can be infuriating at times. Crowded trains, bus…

17 Jul

In Her Place: green space in Blackpool

Stephanie Cottle0 CommentsColumns & OpinionBlackpool, Green Space, Place, Stanley Park, Wildlife

In this installment of her bi-weekly column, Stephanie Cottle discusses the importance of protecting Blackpool's open green spaces. The View from the Tower Standing atop Blackpool’s landmark tower, most eyes will find themselves immediately drawn to the spectacular views of The North West coastline. It’s not difficult to see why – with it’s whirling grey depths and dramatic, changeable skies it is a mesmerising sight to behold. Blackpool owes much of its success to the sea, having enchanted visitors to the town across the ages, and the birds eye view from the Tower only emphasises the exhilaration we feel in…

30 Jun

In Her Place: cycling on the promenade

Stephanie Cottle0 CommentsColumns & OpinionBlackpool, column, opinion, Place

Stephanie Cottle writes the first of her first bi-weekly columns that consider the forms, functions and possibilities of place. Prior to moving to the area, when I thought of Blackpool my mind would cast back to childhood visits. I’d imagine the muted colours of the Irish Sea, the screech of sea birds and the sharp, delicious taste of salt in the air (and on chips). I suspect these are images that occur to many, especially those who like myself, grew up elsewhere in the North West. For us children of the non-coastal north, the suggestion, ‘Shall we go to Blackpool?’…