We
had a big day’s driving ahead of us and were on the road soon after 09:00
following breakfast at the Black Bull. Jane stuck with her Eggs Benedict while
I went for a bacon and egg roll.
We
locked in a course for Mablethorpe, a seaside town in Lincolnshire, a place
where we took our family holidays at Easter and during summer in the early
1960s. It was no coincidence that my paternal grandmother lived there. I had
told Jane lots about the place from my mixed memories of cold grey Easters with
wind whipping in off an angry North Sea and summer days spent on the long sandy
beach.
It
took us 6 hours to get to Mablethorpe during which time Smarty more than held
her own on roads ranging from motorways to country lanes. Some drivers of large
cars seemed taken aback to be overtaken by a Smart Car and felt they simply had
to return the favour. At Consett, just south of Newcastle we passed The Angel of the North - a steel statue (Consett was a big steel town).
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| Angel Of The North |
I’m
not sure what I was expecting to find in Mablethorpe 50+ years on. The beach
was a pleasant surprise – a wide expanse of fine sand that reminded Jane of
Waikanae, although I did point out it was a much longer walk to the sea at low
tide in Mablethorpe. We walked along the beach to the spot where we spent our
summer days and then through a cutting that took us to the road to my
grandmother’s house. Retracing our
tracks along the beach we were passed by Mablethorpe’s “Famous Sand Train”.
There is a promenade near the centre of town that I don’t remember being there
(but it might have been).
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| Mablethorpe Beach |
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| Couple 'Enjoying' The Beach |
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| The 'Famous' Sand Train |
As
for Mablethorpe town, what can I say? Las Vegas is pleasantly tacky,
Mablethorpe is just tacky with wall to wall amusement arcades and souvenir
shops lining both sides of the main street. Like Las Vegas Mablethorpe has a
‘Mirage’ – an amusement arcade which is nothing like the casino in Las Vegas.
The main street was packed with holidaymakers, many of whom had brought their
dogs with them. Having sampled the delights of the main street we returned to
the beach. On the way we passed the amusement arcade where we would go on our
‘Daft Night’ (a Boam tradition where on the last night of our holiday we would
go daft and spend our remaining money, for us kids that meant a few pennies in
the slot machines in the arcade). On the beach we saw the uniquely British
donkey rides, one rider was so small, it had to be held on the saddle by its
father.
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| Mablethorpe's Mirage |
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| Our 'Daft Night' Amusement Arcade |
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| Donkey Rides |
After
walking back to Smarty we drove to see if we could find my grandmother’s prefab
(aluminium bungalows prefabricated after World War II). It was long gone, of
course, and replaced by modern housing. The railway line that ran at the bottom
of her garden was also gone although the remains of its formation were still
apparent.
From
Mablethorpe we headed south following the coast through the more up-market
Sutton-on-Sea to our overnight stop in Skegness. On the outskirts of Skegness I
was surprised to see another uniquely British institution of Butlin’s holiday
camp was still in business.
The
sea front in Skegness was similar to Mablethorpe, but even more gaudy. As we
drove along the front we passed lots of boarding houses branded as hotels and
Jane became more and more concerned about what we would find at the Royal
Hotel. It was a pleasant surprise, a large Victorian building on which a lot of
money had been spent refurbishing the interior.
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| Royal Hotel, Skegness |
We
ate dinner in the dining room that was full of aged and grey haired people,
mainly women. We opted for the £20 meal for two which included a bottle of
wine. We both selected steaks which were very good.
After
dinner we went to the bar for a quiet drink before an early night after driving
more than 460 km. It turned out to be anything but quiet. In the bar we met
Sue, an ex-flight attendant and her daughter Amy who had booked a cut-price
two-night stay on a whim. As we talked the ageing diners we had seen in the
restaurant passed through the bar picking up drinks and then making their way
into the ballroom next door. Some returned for more drinks and we noticed that
many of them walked with a limp. Sue speculated it was a hip replacement
reunion!
Jane’s
curiosity took her into the ballroom to see what was going on. The group was
part of a coach party using Skegness as a base for a week’s touring holiday.
Their evening’s entertainment started with a game of bingo following which an
ageing crooner sang covers and some of the women got up and started line
dancing to his singing. Jane just couldn’t miss the opportunity and joined in
with that and some more usual dancing that followed. I couldn't miss the opportunity of photographing Jane with her new found friends. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with me and the room was dark but here's what I got!
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| Jane and Her New Friends |
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| Jane Line Dancing |
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| Jane Dancing (my friend Sue on right) |
Sue
and Amy obviously liked a drink and were knocking them back with alacrity
becoming tipsy initially and then drunk. Sue was obviously hitting on me,
keeping touching my arm as she talked, but I pretended not to notice.
It
turned out to be a late night!
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