I stood in the cold, smelling the diesel but I only have happy thoughts about Blackpool Bus Station

It was cold and drafty, stunk of deisel and the engines echoed through the lofty opening.

When we had Saturday jobs (I worked at Boots) it was where our days began and ended. Sometimes legging it for the 6pm number 14 to get home, in all weathers. There was nothing worse than rounding the corner of Topping Street and Talbot Road only to see the back of it as it left the station.

We asked our readers what they remember about the bus station. It was known as being a bit seedy, dark and dismal but many of your memories were warm, heartening and full of nostalgia.

Christine Ralfs rememberd how you diced with death, 'that was if you didn't freeze to death first.' She said: "My bus went from the middle of the bus station. You stood there then suddenly your bus appeared at high speed, the place stunk of fumes. You would see some characters there, happy days though.

For Karen Hilton, she remembers meeting up with friends by the newspaper stand. She said: "Yes it was cold and drafty but always excited to be going out to Trader Jack's disco (lmperial Hotel). It was 1976-77 getting all dressed up. Those were the days!

There was a kiosk inside where you could buy sweets, drinks, newspapers and cigarettes, was there anywhere to sit? My memory evades me.

Karen Stringer used to catch the 14 back to Fleetwood after school and she recalled the milk machine (where was that?) being nicknamed the Iron Cow. She also remembered the downstairs toilets next to the station with the dreaful Izal toilet paper which was useless.

It was a meeting place for friends, it was where all the bus routes ended and so it was naturally the place to meet your mates, in the days before we had WhatsApp groups to organise it for us.

Sue Carrington said it was where her and her friends would meet up to go to 'youth club' but ended up in Jenks. She was 18 and said they were the good times.

For Elaine Valerie Rauhoft, she won't have a bad word to say about our old bus station. She said who cares whether it was seedy, damp and drafty? 'It provided the location for many a romantic adventure in the 70's.

She said: "You met your partner there off the bus and then you strode arm in arm into the Blackpool night.

"If you shivered and shook there for an hour waiting for the bus from Bispham to bring you your date, it could only possibly have been love! I have not a bad word to say about our bus station." Read more: 17 retro pictures of Blackpool's 'dark, dismal and seedy' Talbot Road Bus Station

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