Conor Graves

Funland

Funland is a project based on the Northern seaside town Blackpool. Blackpool used to be the hub for many families in the summer as it was easily accessible and provided many family activities such as the familiar please beach, arcades, beach and not forgetting ‘The Pepsi Max’ rollercoaster - which used to be the tallest and steepest roller coaster in the world.

I myself used to visit this town in the summer with my family as it was once one of the best seaside town to visit in the UK. However, like many seaside resorts in the UK, they suffered a huge decline in tourist numbers since 1960’s due to the popularity of foreign travel. Ever since this Blackpool has slowly been declining with less and less visitors each year, this having a huge impact on the local business and economy making it difficult for them to remain open.

I recently the visited the town and was shocked by how desolate and deprived this town had become from last visiting it as a child many years ago. This really saddening me as it carries such a nostalgic feel to it and provides many jocular memories, not only for me but to anyone who visited this town as a child. From witnessing this I decided to create a project based on the town, documenting aspects of the town, visiting the areas I used to visit years ago as a child.