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| Blackpool Tower at night |
We
arrived at Judith and grandma’s house in Blackpool at about 4:30 in dry weather
after our very wet journey from Scotland, but with rain never far away and
making an appearance from time to time.
Judith is
the mother of Simon, who we met, along with his wife Cassie on our first ski
season trip to St Jean d’Aulps, near Avoriaz in France.
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| Judith, grandma and Jackie outside the Grand Theatre, Blackpool |
We now know Si and
Cassie well after two ski seasons of helping them on their chalet change-overs
and airport transfers and met Judith and her mother (Si’s grandma) on the few
occasions they visited while we were there. The name ‘grandma’ has stuck with
us since we only recently found out her name, but somehow, with her being 92
(or is it 96?), it seems appropriate. We had always promised to call in to
Blackpool to see them and all go to dance at the world famous Blackpool Tower
Ballroom and, as we were on our way down from Scotland to a housesit in London
it made a natural break on the way.
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| Illuminated trams on the front at Blackpool |
They were
both looking well, although grandma is not so mobile these days and getting a
little confused, causing Judith some exasperation. However they greeted us very
well with hugs from both and after a cup of tea we walked only 5 minutes from
their house to the promenade on the sea front and Blackpool Tower. It’s about 25
years since I’ve been there and Jackie didn’t think she’d ever been, so we were
keen to see the annual illuminations, billed as the ‘greatest free light show
on earth’ and covering 7 miles of seafront with an estimated one million lights,
after we learnt the big switch on was on 1st September.
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| Judith and Jackie outside Blackpool Tower |
I
remember being wowed by the lights as a child on a trip up with my family and I
have to confess I was a little disappointed. We only saw about a mile section
from the Tower up towards the north shore and maybe we walked the wrong way as
the Pleasure Beach amusement park and other major attractions were in the other
direction, but at least it wasn’t raining. The Tower was brightly lit and we
could see the lights snaking away in both directions and, in the darkness the
sea pounding in to the promenade as the tide was fully in.
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| Grandma, Judith and Jackie in the Tower Ballroom |
We booked
tickets on-line for the Tower Ballroom for the following day as it’s a bit
cheaper than on-the-door and caught a black cab as it was raining and we didn’t
want grandma getting wet in her wheelchair. The Tower complex is on three floors
with a copy of the upper part of the Eiffel tower on top and is a huge
entertainment building. It was built and opened in 1894 and still retains its
Victorian architecture. On the first floor (second if you’re American) is the
magnificent ballroom that is the most spectacular I have seen, very ornate and
very big. The sprung wooden dance floor measures 120 feet by 102 feet (36.5m x
31m) and here’s a few facts taken from their website: https://www.theblackpooltower.com/history-heritage/the-ballroom/
- Opened in
1894 as a much smaller ballroom, but upgraded to its present design in 1899
- Badly
damaged by fire in December 1956 during which the dance floor and restaurant below
were completely destroyed, rebuilding taking two years and a cost of £500,000
- Phil
Kelsall has played the famous Wurlitzer organ, that rises up from below the
stage several times each day, since 1975
- Reginald
Dixon is the most well-known Wurlitzer organ player in the ballroom, playing
from 1930 until his retirement in 1969 (excluding a period in the RAF in WWII),
plus one final performance in 1970 to mark 40 years at the Tower Ballroom
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| The Tower Ballroom |
Even on a
wet Tuesday morning there were quite a few other dancers warming up, we got a
table a couple of rows back from the many reserved tables at the front (they
remained empty for the two hours we were there), put on our dance shoes and hit
the floor. Although there were several rows on tables encroaching onto the
floor it is still huge and a circuit of dancing round it takes quite a while and
leaves you a little out of breath and quite hot. The organist played all the ballroom
dancing favourites I remember, plenty of modern Waltzes, Quicksteps, Foxtrots,
Tangos, Cha-cha-chas, Rumbas, Sambas and a Viennese waltz (but no Jives, Rock ‘n
roll or Paso Doble) and quite a sprinkling of the well-known sequence dances:
Mayfair Quickstep, Square Tango, Saunter Together, plus a few Old-Tyme such as
the Veleta and the Boston two step.
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| The Ballroom |
I danced
for a good portion of the time we were there, sometimes struggling to remember
some of the old sequence dances hidden away somewhere in my mind, but managing
to follow others on the floor, but always enjoying it. It all came flooding
back to Jackie too, struggling sometimes, but getting better all the time.
Judith had her dance shoes with her so I took her several times round the floor
too. She only had to say she learnt the Veleta at school and we were up, both
struggling to remember the steps, but actually doing pretty well.
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| That's Jackie and me on the floor |
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| Brian with grandma |
The Waltz and
a Foxtrot we did together also flowed well and were great fun. Grandma was
itching to get up as it obviously stirred some great memories in her mind, so I
walked her slowly onto the dance floor and we had a gentle sway to a rumba
rhythm for as long as she wanted, which turned out to be several minutes. The
huge smile on her face said all we wanted to know! All the people there were
very friendly and there were several quite good dancers among them, all of whom
were keen to chat about dancing.
For
people who watch the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing the Tower holds a special
place as it is the location of one of the shows each series, so we were dancing
in their footsteps. It’s not easy getting tickets to see the show though,
Judith who lives there has never succeeded in getting any and one couple we
spoke to who also live in Blackpool and have an annual pass to the Ballroom,
visiting two or three times every week also can’t get any. They told us that
they even asked the organist, who they know well, if he could get them any and
he told then that even he can’t get any!
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| Phil Kelsall playing the Wurlitzer |
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| Brian and Jackie with grandma |
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| Inside the Winter Gardens |
We left
the Tower at about 12:45 to get some local fish and chips at Judith’s favourite
chip shop, to take back to their house to eat. On the way we passed the
historic Grand Theatre and also the Winter Gardens, another huge entertainment
and theatre complex. Apparently every British Prime Minister since WWII has
addressed an audience here. We could walk inside the entrance area of the
Winter Gardens to see its marvellous Victorian architecture and, in the
entrance a bronze statue of the famous UK comedian duo Morecambe and Wise (did
you know Eric Morecambe was originally John Eric Bartholomew and changed his
name to Morecambe, after the seaside town just up the coast from Blackpool
where he was born).
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| The bronze statue of Morecambe and Wise |
So
finally we left Blackpool at about 2:30, hoping to see Judith again on the ski
slopes in France this coming winter. After another very wet journey down the M6
motorway we arrived in our home town of Alvechurch in Worcestershire to stay a
night with Jackie’s mum, Pauline, have an Indian curry dinner with her in the New Dilshad in town and swap a few things we didn’t need with things we
did need from our storage area in her loft.
On
Wednesday afternoon we left Alvechurch and drove to Hackney in London for the
latest of our UK housesits. This one is for a border-terrier dog called Kasper
and a free-flying cockatiel named Benjie and is for almost two weeks. Home
owner Fenella was here to meet us and show us the routine for the house, Kasper
and Benjie and the normal walking/exercise route for Kasper. She cooked for us,
and we had a good chat over wine and dinner and on Thursday morning she left
for her holiday in Athens, Greece for a bit of sunshine and to catch up with
her daughter. The only other person in the house was lodger Dawn, a very busy
person who rents a room while in London for work. We did meet her, but she
keeps herself to herself and spends most time in her room. Today (Friday) is
the start of her holiday and, this morning after finishing a few work emails
she said goodbye and has headed off to Turkey.
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| Jackie with Kasper on his walk |
So we are
now alone with Kasper and Benjie in a nice old house in this very interesting
neighbourhood, which has a heavy Turkish influence. We’ve already visited the
market and shops and, yesterday went to the afternoon showing of the film
Detroit (which was a bit depressing, but quite good) at the Rio Cinema, an old
Grade II listed Art-Deco cinema just round the corner from us. On Thursday next
we are going to the Hackney Empire for the recording of the BBC 50th anniversary show of ‘Friday Night is Music Night’, hosted by Ken Bruce. Jackie spotted that we could apply
for free tickets to the show and we got accepted. However they over allocate
seats as many people don’t turn up, so we have to be there early to ensure a
seat.
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| Running at top speed with his ball |
Kasper
likes his walk along the roads to the local park where he runs round like a mad
thing chasing his two balls. Fenella explained that he likes one thrown so it
bounces to allow him to leap and catch it in mid-air, dashes back with it,
drops it and immediately likes his other ball thrown in a similar way. This
goes on for 10 to 15 minutes or so until he can hardly keep up with his
panting, where he likes a bowl of water poured for him to slurp down. He is
such an energetic thing and, although Fenella only takes him for a road walk on
his second walk of the day we make take him more often to the park as he seems to
so enjoy it.From the first night here Kasper decided we were OK as he spent the night on our bed and, it looks like it will be a regular occurence.
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| Benjie on one of his pictures |
Benjie
spends most of his time either on top of the lounge door preening himself, or
on top of the fridge where his food is, often chirping loudly. He sleeps on top
of one of the pictures hanging on the wall in the lounge and we have to put a
cloth on the back of the chair under where he sleeps to catch his morning poo!
He apparently likes to sit on peoples shoulder, he did that a lot to Fenella
but, so far he hasn’t sat on our shoulders, except briefly on mine. I’m hoping
he gets used to us soon and I really want him to sit on mine.
It’s
really good to be finally relaxing here, although we’ve enjoyed catching up
with people, it has been frenetic and the chance to relax is lovely. Kasper is
asleep somewhere, Benjie is on top of the door preening himself and chirping,
Jackie’s reading and occasionally dozing, I’m writing this, domestic bliss.
Time for a cup of tea….
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| Will he catch it? |
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| Still trying... |
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| Yes, got it! |
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