A lot of students stayed in these places. The going rate was about £42 per week in 1997. To say the quality was variable was something of an understatement. One place I looked at had a flattened hamster underneath the bed that had clearly been dead for some months.
The landladies were happy to have you during the off season, but come April would often throw out the students in preference to hundreds of ballroom dancers from Japan who were apparently happy to pay the hugely inflated prices. One can only imagine what they thought when they encountered the accommodation which often hadn't seen a coat of paint since the 1970s and smelled of old vomit and detergent. I'm sure some thought it was a subtle revenge for Imperial Japanese Army's conduct during World War 2.
Despite what you might hear about the 'loveable' Blackpool landlady, in my experience it was often the choice of those close to desperation to take students in. One I briefly rented a room from was convinced of the benefits of drinking her own urine. Each morning I would be greeted with a pewter tureen of her micturition gently steaming on the cistern.
She had a breakdown when BBC2 stopped showing Star Trek and was carted off to hospital. I left shortly afterwards.
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