OH we do like to be beside the seaside! I’m a firm believer in the British tradition of heading to the coast if you want to make the most of a weekend.

As the rain fell unabated last weekend, I packed up the car and myself and my family headed off to Blackpool.

I’ve not been to the land of Kiss Me Quick Hats for a couple of years so I thought all would be as was – a slightly down-at-heel resort, content to appeal to stag parties and feckless Mancunian families on their annual week’s holiday from the Jeremy Kyle couch.

But there’s a change going on in the land of the tower... and I for one think it’s fantastic.

The seafront has been completely renovated, cleaned up and now has bits and bobs of interest along its length.

I say bits and bobs rather than art or sculptures as, to be honest, I’m not sure what some of it is.

One of the main items of interest are what appears to be the shafts and flights of four huge black darts which stand proud over the front.

They sway in the wind and when I say darts, you may well think they look like something else completely.

But you’ll be talking about whatever they are for sure.

The other feature I spotted was a huge ‘rink’ of comedy quotations, mostly from acts who have appeared down the years in Blackpool.

On the ‘Comedy Carpet’, as it is apparently known, there are 160,000 words – that’s plenty of gags.

It was created by artist Gordon Young and according to some blurb discovered on the internet ‘Young was inspired by Viennese Ballroom, Arabesque Circus and Art Nouveau foyers inside Blackpool Tower, the stunning interior of the tower.’

And here’s me thinking he just copied the old bills and posters.

Either way it’s a fantastic way to spend an hour – and we did.

There were lots of people, heads bowed poring over myriad jokes, one-liners and catchphrases under our feet from artists who’ve appeared in the town over the past 100 years.

Blackpool seems to be making an effort to shrug off the fug of fags and booze which shrouds its reputation and that’s no bad thing for a resort in the 21 century which has to be all things to all people in order to survive.

I’ve a suggestion for a future project too: I’ve got this idea for a really big tower...