Advertisement

'Being by the sea is a balm for the soul' – AJ Odudu on her love for Blackpool

AJ Odudu
AJ Odudu

When TV presenter A J Odudu was a child, her annual ‘Blackpool Day’ outing couldn’t come soon enough

Ever since I was seven years old, there was one day of the year where we as a family would go to Blackpool. We’d never know when, but every year, one Saturday morning we would wake up to our parents saying “We’re going to Blackpool!” We would be so excited. My parents worked really hard – my mum was a cleaner and my dad a joiner – so holidays were rare for us.

One of the best things about the day was being able to set off in my dad’s car. It was a bright orange Toyota, so old it sometimes needed a push to start, but we loved it. We seldom got to go in it unless we were visiting my auntie. But this would be a journey where we knew at the end of the hour-long car ride was just a day of pure fun.

Getting ready to leave was absolute chaos. There are eight of us kids – I’m one of the youngest, with four older brothers and an older sister. Mum would be busy making her special popcorn – always salted, never sweet, with peanuts added for extra crunch – while my older sister would be running around grabbing our buckets and spades from last year, as well as loo roll.

When we were finally ready, eight of us would pile into the back of the Toyota and my auntie and uncle’s car. We brothers and sisters all had our fights growing up, but on Blackpool Day there would be no bickering between us at all, which was weird. I suppose we were all just really happy to be going to Blackpool

blackpool - iStock
blackpool - iStock

When we arrived, the first thing we’d do was go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and go on all the rides. Of course, I wanted to go on a ride called the Big Dipper, but I was too small. That day each year soon came to mark how much I’d grown from the previous year. But on the day when I was finally tall enough – a whole 4ft – to go on the Big Dipper, I was so nervous. My brothers told me “You’ll be fine!” but I really wasn’t sure.

It’s funny, when I finally got on the ride I had wanted to go on for the past two years, I suddenly realised I didn’t want to be on it. My youngest sister, on the other hand – who, despite being 18 months my junior, was just as tall as me – sat right up at the front.

Mum wasn’t a big fan of the rides – in fact, she panicked when I eventually went on the Big Dipper, because she had vertigo – so she would park herself on a bench by the carousel and tell me: “You can find me here. Be sure to stay close to your older brothers.” She’d give us each a certain amount of coins and tell us that was all we were getting, and not to come looking for any more! My brothers would look after me, and make sure I got to go on the rides I wanted to try out.

Blackpool - Getty
Blackpool - Getty

Afterwards, we’d go to the chippy for fish and chips and stroll along the beach. Then came part two – the slot machines. I loved the slot machines. They were so exciting. Mum had a different budget set for that, and gave us bags of 1p and 2p coins, keeping the 5p and 10p bags for herself and my dad. We did everything short of swimming. There’s only so much cold a Nigerian family can take. And on the way home, we’d get a KFC and a Viennetta. It was the only day of the year that we’d get fast food, otherwise everything was home-cooked.

I stopped going to Blackpool when I was 13; when you’re a teenager, your parents just aren’t cool anymore. Then when I went to university, my boyfriend, who knew how much I loved Blackpool, blindfolded me and surprised me with a weekend visit to my old childhood haunt. We went on the rides, did the slots and bought candyfloss just like old times (for me anyway).

While I don’t go to Blackpool so often now, I do go there every Christmas for the Blackpool Illuminations, when the resort is all aglow for the holidays. I’ll drive through the town with some of my siblings and marvel at the lights.

I also got to relive my childhood when I took my niece and nephew there. They were too small for the rides, but we built sandcastles and went up Blackpool Tower, something I never managed to do with my family in all our years of going there.

My trips to Blackpool have created a lifelong love of the seaside. Being by the sea is a balm for the soul. Now when I book holidays, I always look for something coastal. And of course, I can’t go to the seaside now without stopping at a chippy.

A J Odudu is supporting the Escape the Everyday campaign, promoting autumn breaks in Britain. For inspiration, see visitengland.com/escape