Quietly and determinedly, the Times Comment writer Libby Purves has been ‘lobbying’ through the pages of her newspapers to change perceptions of what Blackpool has to offer. She was inspired by attending “Showzam!” last year, and sees the potential for Blackpool to capitalise on its unique heritage assets.

That potential has taken a massive leap forward, as she pointed out in her most recent column, with the Council’s attempt to purchase the Tower and Winter Gardens. It would be easy to mock this as a sort of ‘nationalisation’ but I would rather see it in the spirit of a ‘community asset transfer’ of sorts. In much the way the Grand Theatre is run in trust for the people of Blackpool, I hope some sort of similar community involvement and/or trust can be established in time to run the Tower and Winter Gardens in a similar way.

The Winter Gardens, in particular, desperately needs both investment and a clear sense of direction. I, personally, don’t think its future lies as a major conference centre any more. What it needs is to capitalise on the hidden treats that so often get overlooked, as there is far more to the Gardens than just the Ballroom, with some wonderful 1930s nooks and crannies. These are all covered in a book Libby highlighted (“The Most Magnificent Palace of Amusement in the World”) just published by Professor Vanessa Toulmin of the National Fairground Archive. It is a timely reminder of the glories of the Winter Gardens for those who would happily just see the site flattened! It is available from Central Library for those who are interested.

It is also a wonderful example of the wealth of pictorial archives we can draw on in this town to better improve understanding of our local heritage. I spent a wonderful morning last month at Central Library with the libarians and the Head of Heritage discussing a wide range of issues: the future of libraries, the range of exhibitions at the Grundy, World Heritage Status (key project if I am fortunate enough to be elected), the possibility of a Museum of Seaside Life and most importantly, how to make more people aware of what there is, whether tourists or locals.

I had no idea what a treasure trove the Council possessed – and no idea either what a massive task they had in trying to catalogue and preserve everything they had. There was a wealth of historic material from the tourism promotion office alone – wonderful Art Deco leaflets promoting the wonders of Blackpool – not to mention the enormous amount of material from the Illuminations Department. A tiny team of volunteer archivists is doing a sterling job of trying to catalogue and then preserve to professional standards a startling array of material. It is a herculean task which seems to have no end.  Have a look at the catalogue for the Cyril Critchlow collection on the Council website (http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Services/G-L/LibrariesArchives/Home.htm) and you will see what I mean. One entry for Volume 34, page 51 reads

“Complimentary ticket for “All Laughter Show” North Pier 1985. featuring Les Dennis and Dustin Gee”.

Not everyone’s idea of a great night out, I’m sure – but just one item in over 300 pages (and that’s just  the catalogue) of items which give a proper flavour of all Blackpool has stood for down the years. In 50 years time, historians will be properly able to assess Blackpool’s contribution to our national life because of the work currently going on in the library. And I hope local people will benefit too in a better understanding of the town they live in.

For a “semi-historian” like me, it was like being locked in Santa’s grotto – I had to tear myself away. If I didn’t have a campaign to fight, I’d be volunteering to catalogue it all myself!