Blackpool Hotels [ close window ] Blackpool Hotels, Hotels in Blackpool Heather Lea Hotel 34 Empress Drive, North Shore., Blackpool FY2 9SD BLACKPOOL NORTH PIER Attraction: BLACKPOOL NORTH PIER BLACKPOOL NORTH PIER  (1 km) North Pier, an elegant addition to the attraction of Blackpool, was opened in May 1863. At 1,405 feet long, 27 feet wide and built from 12,000 tons of metal it claimed, in its day, to be 'the finest, strongest and most beautiful marine parade in Europe'. It was advertised as a way of 'walking on water without getting seasick'! The original cost of the pier was £20,000 but another £30,000 was used as ideas developed - a fortune then.