Our archives are full of hot weather photos – we are Blackpool after all and where better to be to cool off in the heat? These photos are a selection of those images which tap into the most memorable heatwaves of 1976, 2003 and 2019 – the summers which broke records. They also feature the coast’s fabulous open air pools, which are all closed now, but back in the day provided the perfect alternative to a dip in the sea.
In case you missed them: 15 nostalgic pictures of popular Blackpool pubs that are no longer with us
1. Blackpool in the Heat
A scene of Blackpool beach in the middle of the most memorable heatwave on record in 1976 Photo: Submit
2. Scorching Blackpool
Four-year-old Connor Nelson and his brother Ciaran (7) from South Shore, cooling down with their ice creams in 2003. Blackpool basked in unusually hot temperatures in early August of that year. In fact nationally the highest recorded temperature was on August 10th in Kent when the mercury peaked at a record breaking 38.5C Photo: Bill Johnson
3. Scorching Blackpool
This looks like a work break with ice-cream. It was somewhere on Queen Street in June 1976 Photo: JP
5. Scorching Blackpool
High diving fun at Fleetwood Open Air Baths. It says on the back of this picture that a young John Lennon learned to swim at the baths as a regular childhood visitor to his cousin's home in Fleetwood Photo: Submit
6. Scorching Blackpool
They look dressed for winter but these guys worked in cold conditions at Lyons Maid to keep the ice-lollies flowing in Blackpool on 28 June 1976 Photo: JP