Brighton and Eastbourne

Wednesday, 5 June 2019. Having left Anne of Cleves (see previous entry) we headed towards Brighton where after swooning at the cost of parking, we went in search of some lunch.

We found a tiny sandwich shop that had a few tables for diners up a small arcade and had lunch there. Then we set about exploring the area known as The Lanes.

It was cold and breezy and somewhat overcast after the fine morning that we had had.

We had a stroll up the pier and had a coffee, sitting on an open air table with benches, huddled against the wind. After the parking rip-off I'm not going to remember this visit with a great deal of affection I'm afraid...

It was the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. When we got back to Eastbourne we saw massive crowds on the seafront. Expecting the event to happen tomorrow on the actual anniversary we all but missed out on the sight of several DC3 Dakotas with fighter escort flying in formation over the town (but not over the seafront). We heard the drone of engines and caught a glimpse of formations from the hotel window. My camera was in the car boot two streets away and by the time we got out with Fran's small camera I managed a very brief, i.e. one second, video of a single straggler...

That night directly opposite the hotel there was a Proms concert in the bandstand. Whilst we couldn't see, we heard bits of the music from the hotel's conservatory. As the time came for the advertised fireworks display we put on jackets and crossed the road for a closer look.

I'm sure Eastbourne had much more to show us than we allowed it to. We had spent all our time simply using it as a base to go elsewhere. But who knows, some time we may come back and do it a bit more justice!

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Fireworks and Street Lights

We'd been saying for weeks that we'd like to go to see the fireworks on a Friday night in Blackpool.

For three weeks they have been holding heats of a World Championship. This weekend saw the last of the the heats and the fireworks were created and displayed by an Australian team.

The North Pier was usd as a base which meant that you could watch from anywhere between the Central Pier and North Promenade stretching off towards Gynn Square. We found a spot between the North Pier and the Metropole Hotel and, along with a few thousand others enjoyed a spectacular display.

The finale was absolutely brilliant. A section of sky above the pier was just totally criss-crossed with white streaks as a score of bursting lights overlaid each other.

We had parked the car behind the old Post Office and set off to walk back up Birley Street with its new light and sound system.

Now why would a street need a sound and light system, I hear you say. Indeed I do know someone who lives in a flat above one of the many shops and he absolutely hates it...

But the effect of these massive archway gantries with their projection systems floating circular designs of colour up and down the street is spectacular.

Birley Street comes out onto Abingdon Street, opposite the Yorkshire Bank on the corner of St John's Square.

Which open space we see in this view, looking back down towards the coast. Blackpool Tower's new light show is currently confined to the tower top but is very good, ever-changing colours and swirling designs. The legs of the Tower are still being painted but apparently the light show will extend up and down them once the work is complete. I suspect it will be worth waiting for.

Also we can see the dome of the Winter Gardens. This hasn't been seen at night for many years, but the recent refurbishment opened up the ceiling of the foyer so you can look up to the dome and it means that at night the light escapes that way and it looks wonderful!

A new Pizza Express has opened on the site of the Next shop on the corner - we had our tea there at the beginning of the night and weren't disappointed.

Now, though, we have to cope with several thousand people returning to cars and dealing with Blackpool's one-way system, which funnels everywhere in the town centre to a very limited number of exit routes! An hour after setting off, we managed to escape the town centre to drop David and Miss Jeannie off at home!

Large versions of the photos can be found with many more in the Blackpool at Night set at my Flickr account.

Bonfire Night 1981

A bit of a wet washout for anyone hoping to get a bonfire in tonight. Last night wasn't too bad but this afternoon Blackpool's had rain, sleet, hail, thunder and lightning. On Wednesday night, which was the night - 5th November - I was on a train coming down to Blackpool from Glasgow. No, I'd not been to the Manchester United / Glasgow Celtic match, I'd been delivering a workshop there for work.

I saw a very few fireworks as the train sped south through Scotland and not very many through the Lake District but once I got off the Glasgow-Euston express at Preston to catch my local train to Blackpool, the sky was constantly lit up by the flashes of exploding fireworks.

The photos are from my collection. I took them on 5th November 1981 when a few folk gathered to light bonfires on the beach. It was a low tide that night...!

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