Blackpool lights up the north of England | Letters

Julian Allitt backs the Lancashire resort, while Rev Ruth Cartwright stands up for Southend in Essex

How wonderful to read Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s panegyric on Blackpool illuminations (‘Where design gets to take its bra off’: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on his 20 years with the Blackpool Illuminations, 25 August). My mother was a Blackpool landlady, I grew up there, and – even after nearly 30 years living in Berlin – the resort still has a special place in my heart. Twenty million visitors a year can’t all be wrong.

Llewelyn-Bowen wonders why Blackpool’s unique appeal doesn’t seem to register with people living in the south of England. Look no further than the British Tourist Authority, whose budget is lavished on anywhere but Britain’s great seaside resorts, Blackpool included.