A better night at Yarmouth Marina and then I checked my answering machine at home whilst Di and the children used the adjacent play area. Unfortunately, The Hayling View alarm systems had been sounding constantly necessitating fire Service and Police intervention! Off by taxi to Joyland again on a very warm and sunny day with Diana on the snails and me on the spinning tubs etc before the girls enjoyed the pony rides before we took them to the ‘Windmill Theatre’ play centre opposite, once hosting entertainment stars but now just the children. On to Button’s Pleasurebeach for more grown up and scary rides before back to The Lady at the end of our last day in Yarmouth. The media is still reverberating, however, to the aftermath of the mass shooting with shock that these could soon become commonplace as in America.
We survived the night at the port of Yarmouth Marina without any damage or problems and woke quite early with Di making the morning tea. Quite smoothly through our morning routine and then let the girls go with Daniel to the adjacent children’s playground, whilst Di and I got ready. This is quite a good playing field, with three types of slides, which is one benefit of mooring at the very end of the marina. There is also a pitch ‘n’ putt course, which we have never had time to use. We have had quite a wasp problem here and had to secure the boat doors and windows, even though the weather was quite close and warm again this morning. We had 5/6 wasps in the centre cockpit that had to be removed before we could sit down to breakfast. Poor Debbie was wearing a yellow ‘T’ shirt and they made a ‘bee-line’ for that before we changed it for a blue one. I walked along to the telephone box and Di to the toilets/shower block to wash her hair. The first call I made was to interrogate my telephone answering system on my public number – 0480 215040 – to replay any messages. I then learnt of the problems that had been occurring with our home alarm system.
Evidently, the fire alarm had sounded at 1.00am on Monday morning last and had not reset, meaning that later on Monday the fire brigade had come looking for a fire and that the police had to mount a ladder and disconnect the bell, as it was driving the neighbours quite mad. Even now, they say, there is a buzzing noise and I left instructions when phoning my neighbour, Marilyn, for our gardener to disconnect the bell wire. Even so, the internal alarm siren is probably still causing a more muted disturbance and the strobe light would be prominent after dark! Quite a worry really, but I do not fancy trying to get home from here. Also telephoned Darlow’s Transport and Brooms of Brundall to arrange for my boat to be loaded up at midday next Wednesday, so that we can prepare it in the morning and watch it go. Once all this was over, we assembled for the taxi ride to Gt Yarmouth seafront and Daniel obliged by calling the taxi by phone. First stop was Joyland by the pier, but, because it opened at 10.00 and we had arrived earlier, we had our coffee and drinks at a cafe under the pier to bide time. A nice time in Joyland, where all rides are 15p. I went with Debbie on a number of rides, including some spinning tubs, ghost train, train ride etc and Di took Della on some others, whilst Daniel played Star Wars on the amusements. We waited a long time for the ‘snail’ miniature roller coaster to start up, but the two boy operatives were more interested in the attentions of two girl holiday makers than getting it cleaned and running. Eventually at 11.20 the snails began to roll and Di & Della and Dan & Deb made two full snails and enjoyed the ride. It was very warm and sunny this morning, with the sun’s rays very hot and, even wearing shorts, we were quite distressed. We took a slow walk along the promenade and, after some drinks and ice creams, our next port of call was the pony rides. Debbie rode all four and Della three and they were good value at 20p per time. Then the Jockey Scales revealed our holiday weight and eating habits at 25p per time. Though in our clothes, Di and I could lose ½ stone to advantage. We then crossed the road to ‘The Windmill’ children’s play centre. This old theatre that once had stars such as George Formby, Tommy Trinder and, latterly, Sooty, playing there, is now reduced to a children’s play centre. They have put some of the old theatre seats around the edge, filled ‘bounceabouts’, rope ladders and runs everywhere and secured the whole by internal padded scaffolding. The old stage is now a ‘Burger Cafe’ and the bar near the entrance is open all day. At £1.75 per child, at least the building is preserved and still in use, but it is a shame to see a famous old theatre in this state. We had a snack lunch (which was expedient, but far from healthy) and then walked on to Button’s large amusement park that Daniel had been waiting for. It is now called ‘Pleasurebeach’ . The rides are 25p, or one token, there and I bought £10 worth of which we received 46 as a bonus pack. Di, Della and I rode several times on Button’s traditional galloping horses roundabout, then the ghost train twice and the snails & train, whilst Daniel & Debbie kept coming back for 3 tokens each at a time to ride the big dipper, the magic carpet and other scary rides. We stopped a while in the shade with some drinks to cool off and Debbie tried to get her future told for £1 by the Gypsy Lee, but was told she had to be 18 years old. The stall holders worked hard to get custom, but the weather was too hot for many visitors, who were on the beach and swimming. Then we took another taxi to the market square and I went to the Abbey National building society and withdrew another £250 spending money. As the girls and Daniel had a Wimpy tea, I walked around the market and had a plate of cockles. It had been slow there too and I heard a stallholder complain that he had ‘only sold one cowboy hat in the last two hours’ which was his worst session ever at Yarmouth. Time after for a little shopping for essentials, then a taxi back to The Lady. The driver took us right down the access road to our moorings at the end and told us of his time fishing there as a boy when he came with his father to work allotments alongside. He said that they used to catch freshwater fish at low tide and sea fish at high tide! We booked the same taxi to collect us in an hour and got the girls to bed and ourselves ready to go out for a meal tonight. I took Daniel to get some more fuel for his boat from a local garage and still changed in time to be ready with Di for the taxi at 8.00pm. Our driver arrived on time and we were soon at the Imperial to enjoy another memorable meal. The service and food is both good and economical there and is second only to the Barton Angler in our estimation. After our meal on a warm and balmy evening, Di and I took a little walk to the beach centre and then had a romantic horse and Landeau ride along the front. Such a number of people now out in the evening’s cool in contrast to today. All of the bars and amusement arcades were jam packed. Then we had a nostalgic ride together on the Joyland snails before taking the taxi home at the end of our last day in Yarmouth. Straight to bed on our return and no chance to watch the TV news. The media is still reverberating, however, to the aftermath of the mass shooting with shock that these could soon become commonplace as in America.