School Prom Night

Monday night saw David and I playing at a junior school prom.

I think that an apt description of the audience would be "wildly enthusiastic"! In fact so loud we could hardly hear the music ourselves. We'd had to turn the speakers away to avoid feedback, it was cranked up louder than we'd ever had it before just to cut above the noise from the kids.

They weren't particularly running wild or anything, they were singing along, cheering, in fact giving us an amazing reception. Thank you to the kids and teachers at Blackpool's St John Vianney. We finished off an exuberant night with the Blackpool Football Team's anthem - the old Dave Clark Five hit, Glad All Over and I think everyone was!

As David said afterwards, "I can cope with 11,000 coming through the gate at Liverpool but that was scary!!!" An excellent night!

Sailing Into Livorno

The morning of 9 July 2008. The Island Star is making her way into Livorno harbour as we make our way up onto the deck.

We have been here before a couple of years ago but the only thing I could remember about it was that the harbour was as much an industrial port as a tourist port and that there were large piles of gravel waiting to be loaded onto cargo ships.

We sail past this pier with port authority buildings on it. Someone had taken the trouble to design a bit of landscaping and grass on it - a nice touch! It's always fascinating to watch other people work and in particular to see how other industries that you aren't familiar with go about their business.

In addition there's a strong design element to dockside cranes and floating pontoons, small islands and blue sea that a photographer can't ignore!

It must have been fascinating in the days before those huge containers that you see everywhere these days. Watching cargoes being swung up out of ships, wondering whether a car, or a piano, or a large unidentifiable piece of machinery would emerge from the hold, swinging on the end of a chain. There is a large marina attached to the harbour, which anyway, leads into a series of canals. More about those in a future posting.

We carried on along the deck and headed for the Island Star's Beachcomber Restaurant. The previous night we had dined in the Steak Restaurant and someone had a birthday. A group of waiters had come in to sing an elongated and exuberant Happy Birthday to her and afterwards (so Fran says) the waiters nodded the guitarist over to me. "I have a song for you, Sir," he said and started to sing Don MacLean's Vincent (Starry starry night). I knew it would surprise him so I joined in loudly to sing harmony with him. The room went dead silent and a lot of applause burst out as we finished. His eyes were twinkling - there is always a special bond that quickly forms whenever people sing or play music together. Now as we entered the restaurant, any waiters who had been in the Steak Restaurant at the time came forward to say hello and to point out empty tables or just to talk. My guitarist friend made a point of passing a couple of friendly words each time he saw us afterwards.

Breakfast over with, we came back out onto deck to find another cruise ship, the Royal Princess, on the opposite side of our pier. She seemed absolutely deserted. Was she at the start of a cruise, or had they made going on excursions compulsory?!?

I can't recall ever seeing something that lay quite so flat on the water as this green-decked curiosity that came by! Does anyone know what it is or what it does? Leave a comment and put us out of our misery! Ships and boats of all sizes come into Livorno. There are some excellent excursions from Livorno, including both Florence and Pisa. Again though, we had done both of these in the past and were looking forward to a boat trip along the canals of Livorno itself.

Will we be boarded by pirates? Will our canal trip end in disaster? Will I just make something up for dramatic effect? Hmmm... no somehow I never seem to have to do that... Life as a nutter is interesting enough!

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Fleetwood Tram Sunday 2008

Sunday 20 July 2008. The annual transport festival along Fleetwood's main street takes place so we go down for a mooch about and to drool over a few cars and other wheeled bits and bobs that jolt my memory.

Given the title of this entry, which is also the title of the event, I'd better have a photo of a tram here I suppose. However, seeing as I live in Blackpool, I can see the trams any day. What makes this day special for me are all the old cars, buses and lorries that make their way to Fleetwood for the event.

It's years since I've been to Fleetwood Tram Sunday. Usually it clashes with the band's gig at Croxteth in Liverpool, but this year for whatever reason Croxteth was a week earlier. The organisers at Fleetwood said their event is always the third Sunday in July so I've registered the band's interest in appearing next year if the two events don't coincide!

Three lorries from the same Kirkham firm, a 1937 ERF with three-way tipper, an early Ford dropside and a Thames Trader flatback. I love the added interest given on the two older lorries that the firm's telephone number was only two digits - "Kirkham 59"!

A 1955 AEC Mercury G4M flatback lorry. This could be either a MkI or a MKII as, unfortunately for me, AEC switched over from the MkI to the MkII in 1955. If anyone knows, please leave a comment. AEC were also bus manufacturers and the distinctive grill can be found on their buses from the same period.

A 1938 Bristol K5G with bodywork by Roe designed for working on low bridge routes and in the livery of the Keighley and West Yorkshire fleet. Was Ramsden's Yorkshire's most popular beer, I wonder?

An interior detail of the above Bristol K5G bus. The bell push at the rear platform was primarily for the conductor to operate, though if he or she was upstairs when you got up for your intended stop, it was usual for passengers to press the bell themselves. The customary signal was for one ding to stop the bus and the conductor would give two dings when it was safe for the driver to move away from the stop. On these buses, the driver was of course in a segregated cab and not in the same compartment as passengers. I found out recently that in certain parts of the country, the Isle of Man, the bell push is still the province of the conductor.

A 1964 Ford Consul Cortina MkI, first launched in 1962 and later during 1964 to have a slight facelift and drop the "Consul" part of its name. It was the first car to have front dashboard ventilation with vents in the rear window pillars allowing the air to leave the interior, drawing in fresh air at the front. My Dad had an early one and we gawped in wonder at the horn button which was on the end of the lights/indicators switch stalk from the steering column instead of the usual middle of the wheel placement.

A superb, if slightly garish, 1960s Vauxhall Velox. Alex Dyson's dad used to have one of these but I can't remember if it was this rather startling shade or not... Alex? Leave a comment? I always thought these were amongst the best looking of the UK's 1960s cars though, along with the MkIII Zephyr as used in TV's Z-Cars.

Wolseley 15/50. Grandad had a Wolseley just like this one but in two tone black/green with the colours separated by the chrome flash along the side of the car.

A Ford Cortina MkII on the left. It launched after a four-year run of the MkI in October 1966 and by 1967 was the most popular new car in Britain. Like its predecessor, it had a four year production run before the launch of the MkIII. It was the only one of the five Marks not to have been owned by my family, as Dad had a MkI and I had, in turn, a MkIV, MkIII, and MkV. My own favourite of them all would be the MkIII.

Another model that I had owned at one time - though my particular specimen was nowhere near as tidy looking as this one! The Triumph 1300 was what I considered a gentlemen's car, with walnut trim om the dashboard and a very smooth gear change that didn't want to be rushed! Launched in 1965 and in production until 1970 it replaced the earlier much-loved Triumph Herald.

The Humber Sceptre MKI was introduced in 1963 and had a relatively short production run with the MkII coming out in 1965. It was one of the top models within the Rootes range, competing with the likes of the Sunbeam Rapier.

In the days before the more convenient "Mk" or Mark system for Fords they had a much more unwieldy system of model numbers. This is a Ford Prefect - yes: not just a character in a radio seeries/book/TV series/film about interplanetary hitch-hikers... This is the Ford Prefect 100E which can be described as the equivalent of a MkIII, though variants were manufactured with slight differences in other countries such as Australia. This was the first more modern bonnet-interior-boot variant as the two previous designs had stagecoach boots with near-vertical hatches giving access to the luggage space. The Prefect had a stablemate as a cheaper option, known as the Ford Anglia which had the distinction of carrying on in its old form as the Ford Popular when its shape changed. Very strange idea...

A 1934 Wolseley Nine. It had a 1018cc engine and hydraulic brakes with wire-spoked wheels. It had a short production run, being upgraded as the Wolseley Wasp in 1935.

Ford's replacement for the Anglia was the Ford Escort. Launched in November 1967 it quickly became a very sought after car and by the time the MkII came out in 1975 it had sold over 2 million units. My Dad bought a black one in 1968, exasperated at his Zephyr 6 MKIV which had suffered a series of breakdowns. He bought the Escort brand new whilst on holiday and then on the way home it somehow dropped all of its gearbox oil and he sold it as quickly as possible when the dealer denied all responsibility.

A Seddon flatback wagon. The 1953 may be its year of manufacture or not... It looks reasonable but I stand ready to be corrected!

And finally, some good old-fashioned steam power! I've seen plenty of Sentinel steam wagons, but this is the first time I've seen a bus variant. It was kept busy giving bus rides along Fleetwood seafront during the day!

Fleetwood Tram Sundays Index

Naples

We'll move on from Taormina. The following day, Tuesday 8 July 2008, sees us docking in an overcast Naples. Excursions go off to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri.

We've never been to Naples itself and although we've heard warnings about how impoverished it is we decide to just get off the boat and explore a little bit on our own.

We are met out of the port by this impressive pile of a fortress. Built between 1279 and 1282 it became a royal residence with the accession of King Charles II of Naples. It was also a papal residence at times. At one time it was found that prisoners regularly vanished from a dungeon used for those who had been sentenced to particularly harsh treatment. This was found to be because a crocodile had managed to enter through a basement opening and was dragging off prisoners by the leg! The dungeon became known as the Pit of the Crocodile...

We started our walk, heading through a large park near the castle. As we get further into the park, we suddenly find that almost every tree has a tramp or vagrant wrapped in sleeping blankets or huddled together in twos and threes staring at us. "I don't like this - get us out of here!" said Fran. We changed direction slightly towards a fairground and out of the park. Definitely a bit dodgy! I don't want to take the old saying "See Naples and die" literally, ha ha!

Traffic is unbelievable. Cars, taxis, buses and, most of all, scooters are vying with each other for each bit of road space, not caring which side of the central line they are on or whether they are moving in the same direction as the road. Changing lanes here means two or three at once and horns are blaring continuously. I apologise to all Parisians - I thought you were terrible and inconsiderate drivers but these guys have you beat!

We ended up taking an open-topped bus tour which was interesting. This is a set of traffic lights and obviously one direction is showing red, yet every one of these vehicles is moving...

The bus tour went along the coast although for a while there were more back streets than anything else.

It took forever to move the first half mile as we were in the city traffic. We passed one bus, surrounded by cops, deserted by passengers, a huge dent in the front bumper and a shattered bulge in the windscreen glass suggesting that when it hit something some poor soul was standing and was thrown forward into the glass from inside.

The bus driver seemed oblivious to overhanging trees also. On the open top deck, we were all having to duck at the side of the bus as branches whipped into our faces! Not ducking was painful. Sometimes even ducking was painful...

The tour took us along the coast - though more than half of it was down uninspiring back streets with little of interest. It was almost a relief to see the Island Star again as we neared the end of the ride!

The better part of the day came later, on the pool deck with my James Herbert book, Nobody True. Brilliant read!

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Taormina

Monday 7 July 2008. As we came away from the amphitheatre we were starting to feel the effects of the sun and looking for a drink found something called a granite which was like a strawberry slush that was just right - as long as you didn't suck at the straw too much and get a brain-freeze!

We leave the amphitheatre and start to walk back along the shopping streets.

Every bit of shade is welcome but highly sought after as the temperatures are climbing steadily.

I reckoned it was time to apply more suntan cream. We sat on the stone steps to the right of the photo to put it on and, two scorched bums later, we got up rather quickly. Phew those steps were hot!

The main street had lots of shops and there were plenty of antiques shops amongst the more usual tourist knick-knack places. Some of the side alleys (on one side they went up and on the other side down, due to the town being on a hillside) had some delightfully narrow but quite colourful shops and displays.

Fran had seen these marzipan fruits and whilst wondering why people would eat the stuff rather than an actual fruit, it still made an interesting display!

Side streets and alleys going down to our left...

Side streets and alleys going up to our right...

Balconies everywhere. Stone balustraded ones, others with railings. This one with a face on the middle corbel!

It's always an uneasy feeling walking amongst so many shops... Luckily Miss Franny seemed ok with just looking...

We had been sauntering along and weren't sure how far we had gone, or how far it was to our meeting place.

But then we came to it with three quarters of an hour to spare. We met up with another couple from the boat that we had met at dinner the previous night. We agreed to go sit outside a local cafe bar and order a couple of beers! This is the life...

We walked through the archway and found the perfect place.

When it was turn for me to order I did so in Italian and gratifyingly the waiter immediately said "Si Signor!" and brought more beers which caused the guy we were with to cough and splutter in surprise! "Eh, the people we meet on holiday!" he said to his wife as though I were some sort of freak...

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