It won’t be a title to shout about from the rooftops, but Blackpool has been named one of the worst seaside towns in the UK.
In what is grim reading for the North, The Telegraph has this week published a list of what it considers to be the top 20 best and worst seaside towns in the UK, giving each place on the list a ranking out of 100 – and Blackpool has, unfortunately, found itself quite close to the bottom.
The much-loved Lancashire resort has come in at number 17.
With a pretty brutal ranking of 22/100, claiming number 17 on The Telegraph’s list effectively means Blackpool has been named the fourth worst seaside town in the UK.
Sharing a top five spot with fellow Lancashire town Morecambe, and a place in the top 10 alongside Southport in the North West, Tyneside’s South Shields, Lincolnshire’s Cleethorpes, and North Yorkshire’s Scarborough, Blackpool is not only the most populous town in Lancashire, but according to The Telegraph, is also “one of the most storied in the UK”.
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Blackpool has been named one of the top five worst seaside towns in the UK / Credit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Described as having “pavements littered with tales of hedonism and high jinks, as much as poverty and neglect”, Blackpool is credited by the publication for having invented the “working-class weekend break” and serving as a “laughter lab” for generations of famous comedians.
The paper, surprisingly, even called the town “sort of sophisticated” – but only if you “ignore” the Pleasure Beach’s iconic Big One rollercoaster that looms over it.
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Giving a run-down of why Blackpool has been named in the top five worst seaside town’s in the UK, The Telegraph explains that it’s “too big to fail”, adding: “With the Illuminations, the Tower, Strictly glitz, a branch of Madame Tussauds, heavily made-up gay and trans scenes and stag and hen groups, Blackpool isn’t a sedate escape.
“A walk along its long prom in summer is like featuring in a documentary called Mad, Bad, Sad, Glad Modern Britain.”
The Lancashire resort is described as having “pavements littered with tales of hedonism and high jinks” / Credit: FreeImages | Geograph
The publication claims the town is “too idiosyncratic, too well-loved (and loathed), too generous to fit one style or market”, and rounded out the review claiming that even if you spent “£10 billion gentrifying” the place, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
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“All you’d get is Miami with rain and donkeys,” the description concludes.
On the other end of the spectrum, St Ives in Cornwall took the number one spot on the list with a rating of 98/100, while Southwold, Whitstable, Lyme Regis, and North Berwick completed the rest of the top five.
Stockport County defender Brad Hills ruled out for the rest of the season
Danny Jones
In a big blow to their promotion push, Stockport County have been hit with a major injury and loss to their first-team squad, as defender Brad Hills has been ruled out for what looks to be the remainder of the season and then some.
Not what Hatters will want to hear with crunch-time in and around the playoffs now well underway.
Having emerged as even more of a starring centre-back this year, following his initial loan spell with the club during the previous campaign, Brad Hills has arguably been one of Stockport’s best and most reliable players in 2025/26 thus far – but not County will have to do without him.
Although the exact severity is yet to be fully revealed, the former Norwich City youth academy graduate is said to have hurt his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Confirming the news on social media, the Greater Manchester side stated: “We regret to inform supporters that Brad Hills sustained an ACL injury in Saturday’s draw at Luton Town that will rule him out for the foreseeable future.
“Our full focus is on supporting Brad throughout his recovery – we know he’ll come back stronger”
For anyone unaware, ACL tears/ruptures are among some of the worst injuries in football, and depending on the extent of the damage, it can take anywhere between six months and a full year to bounce back.
Safe to say, therefore, that supporters have been left gutted by the update, with one commenting, “Awful, awful news”; another simply wrote, “FFS”.
After typing a very long expletive following the show news, fan podcast The Scarf Bergara Wore wrote: “Wishing Bradley Hills a speedy recovery – come back stronger!
Since becoming a permanent signing back in August, he’s earned multiple man-of-the-match awards in blue and white, not to mention contributed to a decent number of clean sheets. He’ll be a big miss in their backline.
While it’s no doubt a big setback as the League One team looks to get promoted into the Championship, the absence could see manager Dave Challinor reshuffle the pack and perhaps even the formation for the remaining fixtures.
One option is Louie Barry, who – depending on the setup – could finally be set for a return to the pitch after he was signed on a third loan deal this past January, but is still continuing his own rehab following a knee operation.
Put it this way, with not many games left, lots of County fans are probably wishing that the pending and potential further changes in the EFL could have come sooner…
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Emily Sergeant -
21st March 2023 
