Making the best of our holiday in Blackpool dodging the gale force winds and heavy rain, which was lashing against our hotel windows and covering our car with salt. We found a modern shopping centre linked to a multi-storey car park and, after coffee at the Winter Gardens, Daniel and I visited the Lego exhibition as the girls found a play place. To the Sand Castle swimming pool and recreation centre this afternoon as the weather closed the Blackpool Tower and then an evening in our hotel. The government is still fighting the IRA and the postal workers as their dispute escalates. Crew aboard the Karen B chemical waste ship, anchored off France, need a doctor by helicopter to examine their chest and back pains
It was a short night for me as I was awoken in the early hours by gale force winds and rain lashing against our hotel bedroom windows so that I had to get up and close them more securely. What weather Blackpool can have – most unsuitable for holidays really – with the beaches open to the Irish Sea gales that drive the rain before them. We had breakfast and then stayed in the hotel for as long as we could, me reading the paper and keeping the girls happy in the playroom whilst Di and Daniel got impatient and want to leave. We dashed to the car and then drove along the seafront and parked at the multi-storey car park that is linked by lift with the modern shopping centre. Coffee at the Winter Gardens and then Daniel and I went to look at the Lego building block exhibition while the girls went off to ‘Prof Peabody’s Play Place’. The Lego exhibition was quite fascinating and represented so much work in modelling and patient construction.
Before we met for food back at the café for lunch, I wandered round and saw the old traditional ‘Tea Dance’ taking place in the ballroom. An organist played away as old couples danced with some skill and dedication. Quite sad to watch! These northerners are so different – actually smaller, obviously worst off and clinging to their traditional image of Blackpool and its folklore. All these middle-age people seem to be in a world of their own and take these gales and rain with stoic spirit. Certain of the shops have revolving doors with the swing doors carrying a legend that they should ‘not be used during high winds’. These shops have every type of cheap gift to take back to friends at home with Christian-named rock the main draw. The prices on all these things and the meals are for less than in the south-east of England. In view of the weather, this afternoon we went to the ‘Sand Castle’, a massive inside swimming pool, water recreation and leisure centre. There were many pools, fountains, water chutes as well as open café’s and tables/chairs all at 84deg°F so that families could sit and paddle under cover. It was packed, as many of the other holidaymakers also sheltered from the inclement weather. This weather had also closed the operation of the lifts on the Blackpool Tower. The car was covered in salt when we return to it and so we used a pressure hose at the local garage for 80p to clean off, which is a common move for the locals here. Back to the hotel for the children’s tea and then, this evening, I took Di to the Admiral’s Room for dinner and we had another superb meal. We did, however, have to wait a while to start it. The lights of the Blackpool Illuminations were switched on at 9:15 PM tonight and looked very good from the hotel windows with lit trams going past. We decided, however, to wait until tomorrow before making the trip out to see them in earnest. The weather had continued very windy but with less rain. News tonight continues in its recent vein with the British Government’s fight with the IRA still prominent. The Postal Strike is escalating. Initially, it was a 24-hour dispute over London recruitment bonus payments, then management tried to break traditional restraints on work in the wake of clearing the backlog and the domino effect is following on as other sorting offices are refusing to handle diverted mail. Management then suspend the sorter’s concerned and that office goes out on strike etcetera. The weather in this month of September is certainly starting out quite stormy after August, which was an historically dry month. The chemical waste ship, Karen B, is now anchored off France and helicoptered medical assistance was needed for a doctor to examine many of the crew with chest and back pains, but they were not evacuated to hospital.