I've been looking for a chance to take this photograph for a while.
This is Debenhams in Blackpool on the corner of Albert Road and Coronation Street - no not that one...! Yesterday morning was bright and sunny with a good sky and I nipped away from Miss Franny for a while to take a few photos. On taking photo number three, the camera acted dead apart from a message flashing "Batteries need replacing..." Grrr... Luckily I managed to find a shop that sold them!
On Friday we played at the Elgin Hotel, Blackpool for a luncheon gathering of ex British Gas staff.
This was the third time we have played for this group and they make a great audience and - so they tell us - we have increased the numbers of people attending since we started playing the after lunch spot.
Glad to be of service...
Large version of photo: available at my Flickr account
Friday 5 April 2013. We were booked to play at a surprise birthday party.
Surprise birthday parties can be a risky thing to accept bookings for as the last one we were booked to perform at was called off after the birthday boy - who knew nothing about it - booked a holiday instead! But here everything went according to plan.
We were at the Raikes Hotel in the centre of Blackpool - a nice change for us as although we live there, most of our gigs tend to be out of town! The birthday boy was a biker and there was a fine collection of tattoos in the room!
A great night all round!
If you would like live music at your party or event, please find our contact details in the left hand panel and give us a call!
A set of photographs from Saturday 30 March of the current construction on and adjacent to Talbot Road. This is the area being described as the Blackpool Gateway.
This is the soon-to-be Sainsburys store. This is going up over the site of Seed Street, recently cleared of housing and the only bomb site in Blackpool from World War II. The Luftwaffe managed to knock down several houses resulting in deaths and injuries to residents. The housing was never rebuilt and the site had been a car park for years.
This heap of steelwork will be new council offices. It replaces a number of buildings including a nightclub, shops and a car showroom. In the more recent past an indoor bowling establishment had been put up where a road (extreme left) now runs, but had not lasted long before being closed and now demolished.
This view looks from Talbot Road down Topping Street towards the junction with Church Street where the old Regent Cinema is just discernable as the white building with a tower visible (well it is on my larger version!) through the steel structure of the soon-to-be Council Buildings. The multi-storey car park over the old bus station has also been getting attention and new cladding is being added to the exterior.
Looking down Talbot Road towards the seafront, the open space of the passenger entrance and bus exit of the bus station is hidden from view from street level by a large fence. Whilst the work is done buses are terminating at different stopping places all around the town centre streets. Confusing for local as well as visiting passengers, although the bus station, whilst being home to most buses, entailed passengers standing in a large dark area, shaded by the ceiling and building above with buses passing either side of most stands which were not particularly well signposted anyway. At the time of expanding this article (ten years later in 2023) the situation is still the same with no bus station and buses operating from stops around the town centre.
The street and pavements are being laid with cobbles. Attractive once laid but a mess once dug up and patched. Roman roads were cobbled and long lasting, but they seldom had to lay new pipes or power cables under them...
The photos were taken from the top of the car park above Wilkinsons store.
Steve Reynolds got us going with a few numbers played with the distinctive Shadows sound - shudderingly good!
Tony Harte, lead singer with The Honeycombs gave us a great set including a blistering version of Friday on My Mind and of course the Honeycombs hit Have I The Right.
Dave Wilcox has appeared several times at Sunnyside events now and gets better every year.
Geoff Howlett had us crossing off a few songs from our playlist as he displayed an uncanny - or sinister - foreknowledge of our intended act!!! Hmmm.... We let him off as he played the Blackpool Football Club anthem Glad All Over!
Alan Wilcox (no relation to Dave Wilcox) is making a name for himself as a Billy Fury tribute artist. Billy's memory is assured for another generation!
Two old geezers took to the stage and did their best, bless them...
Apologies to all those who we didn't get photos of, but we'll finish with this shot of Michelle Gibson who brought a feminine touch to the proceedings with hits from Brenda Lee and Connie Francis amongst others. Apart from Shelagh joining us in our set to sing a three-part harmony version of The Rose, Michelle was the only female act of the night.
And then once all the acts were done and all the equipment had been cleared to make the room ready for a wedding fair the following morning, we retired to hold the now traditional post gig party with a bottle of bubbly and, thanks to Peter, a bottle of whisky! We were as quiet as we could...
Then goodbyes were said at breakfast the following morning and we loaded the car and headed home through a bit of a winter wonderland at least until we crossed over to the west side of the country.
