An old fella dozes on the beach with a newspaper hat on his head and a finger up one nostril.
A drunk dressed in a Santa costume staggers home from the pub helped by a mate.
And in a sweet shop a heavily-tanned man flashes a beaming smile as he holds up a giant cig and a full English breakfast made out of rock.
They're just some of the brilliant pictures taken by photographer Barry Lewis that sum up the 'warmth, excess, fun and surreal humour' of Blackpool during the 1980s.
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In an illustrious career Barry, from London, travelled the world as a staff photographer for Vogue, saw his work exhibited at the V&A Museum and set up a highly-successful picture agency.
And he also found himself repeatedly drawn to the people and places of the Golden Mile.
Between 1984 and 1989 he returned to the seaside town time-and-time again, capturing its gaudy glamour in all its glory.
"Blackpool seemed so far away in the north that it became an exotic chimera when I saw it on TV.
"Miles of sandy beaches with donkey rides, not one but three piers, a huge fun-fair, a mile-long promenade full of fortune-tellers, pubs, fish-and-chip shops, plus of course the famous Illuminations along the Promenade," he said.
"These images stayed with me and when I became a photographer, like so many before, I headed north and have been photographing the insanity of this party town, both in summer and winter, for over 35 years."
Barry would often catch the train up from London, stashing his Honda moped in the guard's carriage, before riding up and down the promenade looking out for photo opportunities.
His days would start early when, if the tide was out, the circus horses would exercise on the beach, while bait diggers and metal detectorists hunted for worms and lost treasure.
Then the ice cream vans would arrive, followed by families staking out their place on the sands.
"The day seemed to stretch forever as did the warmth and light," said Barry.
"Individual memories are eclipsed by a kaleidoscope of action and colour, instant friends and burned bodies, cold beer and sandy sandwiches."
As night fell the Golden Mile would change again, as families went back to their digs and the pubs and theatres began to fill up.
"The night was our friend, everyone was both welcoming and scarily determined to party hard whatever the cost," said Barry.
"Again, many of my memories of those alcohol fuelled evenings, are only brought back into a warm, fuzzy focus, as I look back through the photos!"
Barry also spent several Christmases in Blackpool photographing the town in full festive mode.
That was a very different experience, he says, summed by one photograph of a man in a tiny boarding room watching the Queen's speech on TV.
"Sheltering in warm pubs and steamy cafes from the strong winds and cold rain outside; staying in a small friendly hotel, full-board, with nightly entertainment in its tiny bar.
"Christmas dinner with strangers, who became family and friends, even included a present!
"My room was so tiny the sink overhung my bed.
"Life over those days was a continuous pub and club crawl, full of dancing, singing and laughter as the rain whipped past outside.
"The daytime trips outside, fuelled by a Full English, seemed to be full of Christmas shoppers, Salvation Army bands and tipsy Santas."
But while Blackpool's heyday may have passed, Barry says photographers continue to be fascinated by the town.
"It is the epitome of the British at play, where everyone’s guard is down and pleasure is ruthlessly pursued," he said.
"There is the 'otherness' of the miles of sand and empty sky where everyone is a stranger and for that short time both photographers and marauding seagulls are accepted and even enjoyed, especially after a drink!
"All photographs are about the photographer as much as the place and those photographed.
"They show a cheeky young man’s view of a world 40 years ago as much as they document the town of Blackpool.
"They follow the holidaymaker’s optimism and energy along that golden mile in a time of economic turmoil as the mines and industries of the north were being systematically destroyed by Thatcher’s conservative vision.
"My favourite image from Blackpool is a beach scene at high tide, framed by the pier and crowded with people (plus a dog) of every age, letting go in their own way; paddling, splashing and swimming.
"It’s a late warm afternoon, and all the individual anxieties within the crowd are dissolved by the mix of sun, sea and the sand between their toes.
"The decision on colour or black and white film when shooting a photo essay was crucial before digital.
"In this essay, colour was essential to telling my story, with reliant light on the long warm days and the garish colours of the British seaside in summer contrasting with the cold light of winter.
"Shooting the town in black and white can be a powerful and bleak statement but it’s not my Blackpool, which is all about warmth, excess, fun and surreal humour."
A collection of Barry Lewis's Blackpool photographs are available to buy from Cafe Royal Books.
