HHmmmmmmBut as to visits to Blackpool, I spent a lot of time in and around that area. Preston, Lytham St Annes, Fleetwood - without a MAC, Pendle and a lot of surrounding villages.
My first brother-in-law, Rainer Keir from over the other valley, used to work at EMI.
He applied for and got a job at BAC Wharton - and worked on the TSR2 plane project.
He moved up there and lived on the outskirts of Preston - which was about a 10 minute drive to where he worked.
That gave me my introduction to that area - going up for (cheap) visits/ holidays.
Later on when I worked at Christie Tyler head office in Bridgend, I was a part of the team which set up new production factories.
I had the opportunity to spend a few months up at Pendle doing just that. Pendle is about 25 minutes from Preston.
All of this came flooding back to me whilst I was watching very, very early TV this morning - 4am our time. I was up getting ready for work ( I get a 5am train) and had Foxsports on.
It was showing the darts from the Winter Gardens on - I actually saw the 9-dart out, live, for the first time in the match between Steve Beaton and Michael VanGerwen -who hit it..
(Ihave seen recordings but it is not the same).
I had been watching the golf on previous days from Lytham St Annes and at one stage the commentators started talking, over a very long zoom shot that they did which panned back from Blackpool piers to Lytham.
They brought back the memories -they were talking about going to all of the summer shows at the various theatres that had stars like Arthur Askey - Hello Playmates, Max Bygraves -you need Hands, Morecombe and Wise - who remembers the joke when ARSENAL was the punchline, Cannon & Ball, The Two Ronnies - and its a goodnight from Him.
Then - I get on today and Brian is waxing lyrical about the place as well.
Small, smaal world we live in
Gary