But is there a circus ring that fills up with water in the Eiffel Tower? Is there ballroom dancing accompanied by a Wurlitzer organ that rises sedately from below the stage? Can you savour fish and chips, served with the mushiest of peas, in a restaurant with the noble name of Bickerstaffe’s? Indeed not. Only Blackpool offers these marvels.

When the Tower turned gold for its centenary in 1994, it was doing no more than it has always done – acting as the focal point for a town that has been making a show of itself since the early Victorian era. Take an illuminated tram along the Promenade, and be prepared to shoot up in a lift to the Tower top. On a clear day, you can see the Lake District. On a cloudy one, you can peer through the glass floor beneath you to the ground, all of 380ft away.