Abingdon Street Market 2

Yesterday we met up with David and Jeannie for breakfast at Quilligan's in town and I took the camera down with me to get some shots of a group of buildings that are due for demolition any time.

Whilst we walked towards them I noticed that the front of Abingdon Street Market, mentioned a few entries ago, has now been revealed and what a nice job they have made of it. There was a local Radio Wave van parked outside and vaguely through the window of the market I could see the cheery form of Hayley Kay the DJ who with her partner Ged Mills wakes me up every morning.

I thought I'd nip in to tell her to stop waking me up every morning - sometimes I'm just not ready, you know... She seemed a bit busy so I grabbed a photo and swapped a grin and left her to it.

This was what I'd really wanted to photograph - it wasn't the best day for taking photos yesterday (and is even worse today) but it does look like the work to knock this row down is fairly imminent! If we get a sunny day I'll go and have another look.

This is Talbot Road opposite the railway station. The row has seen better days admittedly and is being demolished to pave the way for part of the town centre refurbishment. A large Sainsburys store is to be built in this area also utilising the space vacated by the indoor bowls arena which was demolished a while ago.

The row has been altered a couple of times in its history. Looking at the few surviving arched windows it must have looked quite spectacular when new. A lot of the brickwork has been covered by stucco towards the right and the car showroom looks like an addition as the flat roof certainly doesn't look "in keeping"!

A shame I didn't go down to take the photo a few months ago whilst shops were still open and before the barricades went around it. But better to take it now than not have a reminder of it at all!

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Blackpool's New Wedding Venue

An unexpected treat today. We went down into Blackpool to meet up with David and Jeannie for breakfast at Quilligan's. Sean provided us with the usual excellent breakfast and we took our time over it, interrupting our eating with plenty of chatter. Then we went down onto the Promenade. The fencing and scaffolding and machinery has now disappeared from the final part of the new Promenade in front of the Tower and up to the North Pier.

On this part of the Promenade is a new rather weirdly shaped building. This is the new Register Office for weddings. The tall narrow window of the upper floor has a wonderful view of the Tower. We hadn't realised but the building was open this weekend for the public to have a look around it. Someone came out to invite us to look round and we took them up on their offer.

Despite the rather odd appearance from outside, the interior is really well thought out. Wood panelling makes it look modern and won't require redecoration every two minutes and the wedding spaces are excellent.

Thanks go to David for the photos - he had his camera on him and I didn't! We couldn't get one with the Tower view as the sun was right behind it and extremely bright!

One room looks out over the beach and sea and from the staircase there are views up the Promenade and over the sea to Cumbria and Barrow where we could see plenty of snow on the Lakeland hills!

Return to Blackpool Promenade and Beach Index Page

I've Been for a Spin!

A beautiful day in Blackpool! And here's a view of St John's church tower from an angle you don't often get to see!

We set out early this morning to our favourite cafe, Quilligan's, for breakfast. As we walked in Sean told us we had just missed David and Jeannie by 5 minutes. So we met up to find David with his camera round his neck fancying a go on the Big Wheel that's appeared in St John's Square.

I didn't have my camera with me so the photos here have been taken on my mobile phone. The big wheel is there until May so hopefully I'll get a chance to take some better quality photos before it goes.

This is the view looking down Church Street. The Winter Gardens is first on the left and the new street lighting posts which have projectors so that designs float up and down the street at night. The green dome of the Grand Theatre can be seen further down the street and then the sea and Tower forming the backdrop. At the very top left of the photo can be seen the Central Pier with its own Big Wheel.

Looking north east over Cedar Square and Topping Street towards the bus station. Above it, sticking up on the horizon, is the water tower at the top of the last hill before the ground slopes down towards Bispham and Thornton and the River Wyre.

And then home to put up the kitchen blind I've been putting off for weeks... It was just as frustrating and fiddly as I expected...

Caroline Munro in Blackpool

Bond Girl and fantasy film actress Caroline Munro was in Blackpool yesterday for a signing at the Who shop on Victoria Street.

The event was arranged by Graham Groome and Caroline brought her good friend Jayne Crimmin along with their families for a good weekend in Blackpool.

We went along and at lunchtime whisked her and Jayne to Quilligan's which we consider to be the best cafe in Blackpool. Fran and I had already had breakfast in there with David and Jeannie but we were all ready for a spot of lunch. We introduced Jayne to the delights of proper northern chips and she was definitely impressed!

Then it was back to the Who shop where Caroline met up with more fans who came to see her and chat and have their photo taken with her.

There's a number of photos of the event at my Flickr account

I've been with Caroline at more signings than I can remember now and she always takes as much time as her fans want to take and makes sure they go away with great memories of meeting her. One little boy soon took to her and was starting to tell her who he did and didn't like at school before his Mum told him that perhaps he shouldn't tell!

The Who shop on Victoria Street is a treasure trove for anyone who like comics, cult TV or movies, science fiction or fantasy. There are toys, figures (some of them life-size!) and a wonderfully enthusiastic staff. "You have to be a fan yourself to manage a shop like this!" the manager said and his own and his staff's enthusiasm certainly makes the place a friendly and wonderful place to visit.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with Caroline, Jayne and Graham and then took our leave, having had a great day!