Greetings from Easter weekend in sunny March 1956
Sat ,13/03/2010North-West roads have been busy during the first part of the sunny Easter weekend. Motoring organisations report traffic is a third heavier than last year.
The weather in Manchester is wonderful and according to forecasters it is going to remain so. Rain is unlikely and temperatures will remain in the mid-50’s. Manchester Airport forecasters report for the North is: “Dry, warm and sunny”
There have been traffic jams on roads to all the resorts, including Blackpool, Morecambe, Southport, New Brighton, Llandudno, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay. Jam-spotting aircraft have been in the air looking for bottlenecks.
Manchester Transport’s ‘see-your-city’ tours have been booked out, with extra buses laid on. There have been crowds at Manchester’s Lower Mosley-street bus station waiting to ‘get away from it all’.
Those not part of the rush appear to have headed for Market-street Manchester, which has seen a shopping rush as heavy as Christmas.
Meanwhile in London and the south of England, it has been cold, dull and drizzly.
Saturday 30 March 1956
Footnote from 50 years hence: Stereotypes about Manchester persist, despite reality:
People still think that in the 50’s, Manchester was a dull, dreary and depressing place. Actually, it wasn’t! Manchester was frequently sunny, and had plenty of positive aspects. It wasn’t all smog, slums and smoky factories. That’s not nostalgia, that’s fact.
Few people flew to the Med in those days. Most took the bus or train to the Lancashire and North Wales resorts.
Interesting that one of those resorts – New Brighton – actually in Cheshire – is no longer a major resort. Morecambe has also seen a decline from its ‘golden days’ but still has plenty to offer. And interesting to note that Easter 1956 was two weeks sooner in the year than Easter 2006.
The weekend after Easter 2006, EOM will be spending family holidays in… guess where…? Blackpool. EOM says: Support local tourism!
Here are some photographs of Blackpool from the Francis Frith collectionl, all dated around 1955. You can order a print by clicking on the image and placing an order on the Francis Frith site. Remember all photo purchases help to support the Eye On Manchester site!
