When you think of a good day out in the North West of England, Blackburn Town Centre might not be top of your list, but it's well worth a visit. Often overshadowed because we have so much to see and do locally, Blackburn has a huge pedestrianised town centre, lots of shops, a really vibrant, airy indoor market, and some gorgeous buildings.
And if you arrive by car, you can always find somewhere to park right in the heart of the town, at a really reasonable rate...
We were in Blackburn last week to have a go at the Brickburn LEGO Model Trail, and this year the theme was dinosaurs, or 'Brickosaurs'. 15 models were placed around the town centre, and although we didn't catch them all, we genuinely did have a 'roarsome' time.
Sadly the Dinosaur Trail won't be there now, but The Mall and town centre business groups organise free events fairly regularly, we've been to a few ourselves, including the last Brickburn LEGO Trail - Paw Patrol.
We started at the Ask Me point in The Mall, which is where we collected our map and quiz sheet. The Mall is incredibly easy to find, bang in the centre of town, and there is parking nearby either at ground level or multi-storey. If you can't locate the Ask Me point - staff and locals are super friendly.
Dinosaurs immediately caught the attention of my pre-teenage boys, and you get your first photo opportunity right there...
There were several other dinosaurs to be spotted in shops inside The Mall, and I can report that most people were still wearing masks, being polite about distancing, and you could feel the air filtration system at work. For someone who has barely been out in 18 months, that's reassuring.
Obviously you aren't allowed to climb on, or mishandle, the models, but in Trespass we were told it would be fine to sit on the base next to Molly the Mochlodon. My 11 year old certainly wore the perfect hat!
I loved the dinosaurs. They were gorgeous. Some were immense, including the gigantic Vigo The Velociraptor in the Rhode Island coffee shop. The way the LEGO showed his skin as he turned his neck was incredibly impressive technically.
The Diplocaulus was incredibly cute. Each of the models has lots of information nearby, so that you can see how many bricks it took, and how long the builders worked to put it together. Personally I'm always more interested in how long it took to design and how many times they scrapped it and started again.
While you wander around, you learn all of the important landmarks - including the library, where Logan Lystrosaurus was checking out the science fiction section... the most ferocious beasts stayed outside.
We went back through The Mall on the way to the car, and collected another 3 dinosaurs on the way. There was a second Velociraptor in Primark, an Vigo was something else - as was my 11 year old. He's not shy.
Every parent has to have a favourite Dinosaur (it's the law), and one of mine is the Pteranodon. Luckily one was included. This was our last stop before we left - the very colourful and potentially nippy, Patricia.
Full marks for a really excellent morning. We spent around 3 hours in Blackburn, and we're getting to know our way around quite well now. It is a beautiful place to spend some time. The town centre, like all town centres, has some less pretty spots, but it hasn't suffered as badly as many have under COVID. The mix of old and new in the centre works really well, and I love all of the space. You don't feel you are somewhere that is struggling, you feel like you are in a town centre which will always manage to thrive.
You can find out all about about what's currently happening in Blackburn Town Centre by checking out the Blackburn BID website, or downloading the Experience Blackburn app. on Android or IOS.
The boys were given gift bags with Dinosaur themed toys - and they were epic. (Thank you.) We'll be given a voucher towards our parking and lunch.
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