General Chat

As I am sure you know, Fred's mate has been a friend to us way beyond the call of duty and we are trying to pay him back in as many ways as we can.

He has had huge problems with confidence in the past and never really went anywhere.He first stayed in a B&B with us and we took him to Newcastle recently to do the stadium tour.

A couple of nights or so is all he has tried to date and we were looking at a David Urquhart coach trip to Blackpool. As it meant a day in Southport and a day in Bury market as well as having to get to Pompey for 6 a.m, meaning having to book a taxi I found a deal for a hotel in Fleetwood that would work out cheaper for the three of us and we could drive up and go where we wanted as well as having a ride on the tram.

He has been thinking about it, you can't force anything on him or he panics.Today he took Glad to the sausage sandwich emporium on the bus.

The woman who owns the cafe told him it would be prohibitively expensive(he did stay in a hotel for the wedding of his nephew and that cost him nearly £200 for a night) there was nothing to do in Blackpool during the day, in fact it is a soothole.

Well, thank you so much, I don't know what you were trying to achieve madam, but I hope it brings you much joy because he has decided he is not going!

Miserable woman! Can you not show him the cost of the hotel you chose so he can see it won't be extortionate? Such a shame she wasn't encouraging.

Lizxx

Why do people do that?
She may not have liked Blackpool, but different people see/like different things!
Until you go to a place - you never know.

...and the scenery from the coach would have been lovely.

The idea was o go in the car and do what we wanted, just like we did for Newcastle

Now, there's a place that didn't do much for me but I would not run it down to somebody who was looking forward to going there because they might not be going to sit in a bar for two hours while they went round the stadium.

It was just such pointless and hurtful negativity.

There's always one Sharron :-| :-| :-| :-|. I go to things with OH that bore the pants off me sometimes but it's something he likes so I put up with it and suffer in silence ;-)

When our train stopped at Newcastle, I saw some lovely buildings - I'd love to go there.
I always think - if all else fails, if a town has a museum, at least you can see what it used to look like.

When we were on holiday last year - in a village in the middle of nowhere, I really wanted to visit Bideford.
Unfortunately, I don't drive. :-(

When I suggested a visit to my sister, she said 'It's very boring -
'X' (her daughter in law) and I went to Tesco's there, it was all new houses, like an estate'

....that would be because Tesco's in Bideford is on the outskirts of town - where all the new houses have been built since the town expanded!! :-(

It's sad that someone would judge a place on it's shopping centre! I like exploring new towns, cities and villages. We are soon off to Frinton for a week, renting a house 5 mins from the sea and a few minutes from the shops. I discovered the other day that there are 13 charity shops in the town! I will be in my element lol! It's only a few years since a fish and chip shop was allowed to open, they are a bit posh in Frinton. My old German teacher from the 60s lives there too, if he's still around. I last saw him a few years back at a re-union, maybe I should look him up.

I hope you can persuade your pal to travel again Sharron, he's missing so much other wise, and you too.

Lizxx

It doesn't matter what you judge a place on or how much you like or dislike it, it is thoughtless and selfish to make unpleasant value judgements upon a place that somebody else is looking forward to visiting just for the sake of making yourself look knowledgeable and sophisticated.

I totally agree with that

So do I!!

Liz .............


my summer job between finishing high school and going to university was working in a private hotel in Frinton!!

There honestly wasn't much to do back then ........... as you said rather posh. But the receptionist at our hotel (a permanent position) had a boyfriend working at The Grand Hotel, so she introduced the few summer students to all the crowd from there. We used to have wonderful times at the beach.

It was also a time when there was a Jazz Festival at Clacton, which isn't that far away. We arranged to go to the late show about 3 times ....... I saw Humphrey Lyttleton, Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine (before she became the headliner!), and several others.

It was a magical summer!

I certainly wouldn't put anyone off gong there!

Sylvia, to be honest we don't need much to do. K's knees are really bad so he can't walk easily and a short wander to the front to take some photos or to the shops will suit him. As long as we can walk or drive somewhere for a good meal and just have a restful time, with a different view to our usual haunts on the N.Norfolk coast, we will be content.

As you say Clacton isn't far and we might meet up with grandkids snd family at Colchester Zoo one day.

Sounds as tho you had a great summer, much as I did in summer 68 as a holiday camp waitress near Chichester. Happy days lol!

Lizxx

Summer '59 was definitely happy days ........ followed by 5 mainly great years at university, with few or no cares :-D

A time made hard only by the sudden death of my mother in 1961

Why do people have to put their oar in and spoil things for others? It is just unnecessary. If the place isn't up to much, let them find out for themselves.

I had a little laugh at the mention of Frinton, which we do go to occasionally. When my daughter was about 15 she and a friend wanted to go on holiday together. We parents were a bit dubious about letting our 15 year olds loose but friend's grandmother owned a flat at Frinton and said the girls could use that. We didn't think they would come to much harm in Frinton ;-) Though they wouldn't admit it we think they were pretty bored and glad to come home at the end of a week.

Liz, if you like to go out for a meal there is a popular restaurant called Harbour Lights at Titchmarsh Marina which is only a short drive from Frinton. Enjoy your break.

Coach/hotel holidays are great..Been to Devon and Cornwall over the past few years..All your meals found..Entertainment in the evening if you don't want to go out..Good value for money I've found...Try it son...You won't regret it....
Harbour Lights is good but during the ""season"" you need to book a table usually....
LES.... :-) :-)

We would have needed to book a taxi to and from Pompey, which would have have increased the cost considerably. The package I found for the hotel would have been a better deal and left us free to go to places we chose.

It is the taxi that swung the decision really.

In the late '50s, my uncle decided to emigrate with the family to Australia as a "ten pound tourist" On the ship over, someone told him that he would hate it there. The minute he landed he started saving to come home.

Thanks Vera, I will put that on my list.

Les, have you been to Frinton?

Lizxx

I just looked on trip advisor for Harbour Lights and they aren't doing very well with food reviews. It's a shame as ir's so close to where we are staying but I will check reviews nearer the time.

Lizxx

So, Fred's mate has been back to the sausage sandwich emporium and he told the stupid woman that we would not now be going to Blackpool (really it was going to be Fleetwood) because she said it was a salthole and I was wondering if she could recommend somewhere else we might go.

Oddly enough, she coudn't really think of anywhere but said the hotel would have been very expensive anyway, so he told her the price of the deal I had found, which was not expensive.

She didn't say anymore.