I say unusually, as I have to admit, it hasn't been a main feature on my non-existent bucket list. But when someone special whisks you off for a weekend away, it doesn't really matter where it is. And this country mouse was rather surprised at what a fabulous time she had.
Perhaps it's my Brighton roots, maybe it's having lived on the Devon coast in my childhood, but I have a soft spot for the seaside and all the paraphernalia which goes with it. And what's not to like about Blackpool Tower?
We took a wander down the small but famous pier.
And went along the the sea front. Another secret pleasure of mine - the glitz and tack which goes with the British pleasure beach.
We hunted for a place to gorge on ice cream - and they had to be proper old-school Sundaes (or in my case, a Knickerbocker Glory). We found them at Cafe Palma, just off the sea front. And returned the next day for more.
Later, we returned to the sea front to watch the first round of the International fireworks competition - this night it was China putting on a fabulous display.
However, we weren't just here for the ice cream and sea views, we were here for the first Blackpool Comic Convention. Another thing I never envisaged myself writing about on this blog, but then, there have been a few of those.
Queuing for two hours round various blocks to get in was mitigated by some fabulous costumes on display and the genial atmosphere of the crowd. We were lucky to get in at all, as we found later, many people queued for longer and were turned away, even with pre-booked tickets.
The Winter Gardens is a spectacular pile, in typical grandiose Victorian style. Today it was rammed with comic fans.
Joe's the geek and comic hero fan, but I was happy just to enjoy a new experience and take numerous photos of Joe with his heroes and heroines.
I think he was particularly pleased with this one, alongside well known cos-play actress Kristen Hughey.
What you need after a day traipsing around a super hero event is a super hero meal. So we returned to Cafe Palma for tea. Fish and chips for me, second time in two days. And meat pie for Joe. And more ice cream.
It's been a long time - too long - since I had such simple, unalloyed fun - and I'm looking forward to a promised return trip. Because I haven't quite ploughed my way through the entire ice cream menu at Cafe Palma.
In Cockermouth the arrival of the torch coincided with the town’s midsummer festival. A picnic had been planned to celebrate it, but due to the poor weather it took place in the church and 200 people turned up.
Despite the rain, the torch relay was a success, according to Catherine Hetherington at the New Bookshop. ‘There were local school children singing, and a fair and lots of charity stalls.’
The torchbearer, Mike Park, who heads the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue team, is well known to everyone, including Catherine, who had a good view of the event from outside of her shop: ‘It’s amazing how commercial it all is,’ she said.
Catherine also felt that her shop benefited. ‘Afterwards the shop was full and we stayed open late. Every table was taken. Some customers bought books, but most were there for coffee and cake.’
Janet at Bookends in Keswick (sister shop to Bookeneds in Carlisle) reported that, ‘It was not a good day in terms of the weather. The schools had organised an athletics event to celebrate the arrival of the torch, and all the children were to be dressed in different colours and to stand in circles to form an aerial picture of the Olympic rings, but it was all cancelled because the weather forecast was poor.
‘It did rain in the morning, but by the afternoon, when the torch passed through, the weather had improved, and a LOT of people turned up – hundreds, in fact thousands – far more than I expected.
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| The torch in Keswick [Photo: www.keswick.org] |
‘I left the shop to pick up my grandchildren from school at 3.20pm and the people had already started to line up, although it was an hour before the torch was due. You couldn’t move on the pavement.
‘The shop was quiet when the torch passed by – everyone was outside on the street. The staff all stood on the shop steps, which are slightly raised above pavement level, so we had good view above everyone’s heads.
‘The shop ha
If you aren't tired of reading my tweets, blog, facebook (okay, I rarely post at the last one), then there's a short interview with me over at The Red Penny Papers website. I'd love it if you could check it out (and comment about my brilliance - oh wait, this is Katey's mag, she already knows how brilliant I am - in fact, she mailed me a bottled of Brasso so I could perfect my shine).
My story 'Postcard Wings above Blackpool Sands' appeared in the magazine earlier this month.
That be all.
I do believe the originator of the term 'lazy summer days' took a photo of a writer snoring in a garden chair, pen rolling about the paving, their story pages scattered across the grass.
My summer holidays (at least this portion - I have another week off at the end of July) are almost over - I'm now counting in hours. I haven't spent all of the time asleep though (just most of it - and I have the lobster skin and heat rash to prove it.) Pretty.
I finished a short story
Postcard Wings above Blackpool Sands which I sent off to a not-so-secret place, and I'm midway through the second-second draft of a time travel short,
A World of Cardboard Houses. Struggling with that one.
And that is it, back to snoreville.
Great! Gonna read your interview this afternoon, Cate. :D
Please don't shut up. I have a list of people who should shut up, you're not on it.
As I say, my life would be so much duller if you shut up. Please, I beg you, don't!
<3
That's crazy talk. Who would get tired of reading your tweets?
Thanks, Lee.
I didn't make the list, Ian!!!
Ha, I'll remind you of that one day at a con when I'm blathering on about nonsense and you're ears are collapsing in on themselves.
Andrea - me :D
You? Talk a lot? I hadn't noticed at all! I'll pop over to read the interview.
Pretty cool blog you've got here. Thanx for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to this matter. I would like to read more on that blog soon.
Hilary Kuree
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