Blackpool was the traditional pleasure garden of the factory workers who took to the resort en masse for the annual holiday, alongside a strong gay history and hen/stag party culture. In its heyday millions promenaded the Golden Mile and for many their visit would not be complete without a consultation with one of the many fortune tellers dotted along the pier in their colourful booths.
In more recent years, the resort has suffered a protracted decline with the rise of cheap air travel luring the holiday maker away from the area with the promise of warmer climes on the Continent. The pier and its fortune booths are now a little the worse for wear and imbued with an air of melancholy, their vibrancy long faded, especially out of season.
These women are perhaps the last of their kind, guardians of ‘the gift’ or 'second sight', invariably portrayed as true descendants of the authentic Romany travellers who plied their trade from their gypsy caravans at numerous resorts and fairgrounds across the country.
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