Culture grows on you . . . wherever you are, you cannot help but feel immersed in it, whether it is highbrow or popular, culture is everywhere. In Congleton, the focal point of culture can be found at the Daneside Theatre.
The theatre, in existence since 1984, was once home to the theatrical aspirations of one John Edward Kennedy. Eddie was a member of the local Amateur dramatic society, The Congleton Players (known to the natives as “The Players”, for eleven years during the years 1993-2004. Recently we took in a play, the opening one of the season. It was produced and directed by a friend of ours, Pam Mien. The title of the play will be familiar to many of you. “Keeping up Appearances”, part of PBS’s (Public Service Broadcasting – the equivalent over there to the BBC) Sunday night line-up and now a BBC classic was perfectly cast. The cast on the stage that night did the TV show proud. Onslow was a dead ringer for Onslow! “Rose” was as over the top as always, Hyacinth was her usual effervescent self and the rest of the cast was as good as you would have expected.
For those of you in the know and might remember, a trip to Blackpool was arranged by Eddie’s Mum before we left the States. The residents of the retirement home where she now lives, “Heath View” were excited to go. We whippersnappers were equally as excited!
Blackpool, that famous seaside resort that is “famous for fresh air and fun” really is homage to all things British. The coach trip was about two hours long, heading north up the coastline past the Liverpool area. Our schedule for the afternoon included entertainment from a gentleman who was an overweight 1970’s “Larry” from “The Three Stooges” look alike and played the keyboard with all the gadgets. His music managed to get the old folks dancing (a nice foxtrot always works – we would have marked them “7” (say that in a Len Goodman style for the best comic effect!) and when things really got going, the line-dancers hit the floor!)
After the dancing, the excitement refused to die down . . . it was bingo time! Unfortunately, there was no “Kamikaze Bingo” to witness, a shame as “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is so true to life! After we’d “eyes down” and “looky looky’d” (Fat 1970’s Three Stooges Larry’s words, not ours!) it was time for the meal. The formal dining room at The Park House Hotel was quite ornate and lovely. Our meal was soup to nuts, as Americans are prone to say! We both enjoyed what we had ordered; our plates were clean! No trip to Blackpool would be complete without a stroll along the promenade. Eddie and his Mum hadn’t been there for thirty years and it was Linda’s first time. Seeing the legendary tower and all the arcades, it was like time had stood still. It reminded Eddie and his Mum of their trips to Rhyl, an equally famous British holiday resort in North Wales. Nonetheless, it was fun to take in the sights and get a lung full of sea air.
Blackpool is definitely not short of hotels. They are literally one after another, as far as the eye can see. The names of these hotels were very exotic, as you’ll see from the pictures below.
The highlight of the trip was our drive along the sea front to see the famous Blackpool Illuminations. Before we set off, a gentleman got on our bus attempting to sell his wares – all of which lit up. How successful was he? See for yourself!
The trip back was quiet, everybody being tired after a long day out. We finally got back to Congleton at about 9.30pm. Everybody had had a good time and we were very pleased to have gone with Eddie’s Mum and we showed our appreciation by taking her out to Sunday lunch at a place that is quickly becoming a favourite of ours, a pub called “The Fool’s Nook”.
Uncle Ellis, Eddie’s Mum’s brother, invited us to join him and his lady friend Jane to a local club last Saturday night. It’s known as “The Band Club” and that night truly was a night to remember. We arrived early, the band “Nostalgia” was tuning up and people were slowly arriving for their Saturday night entertainment. For more details on this wonderful night out, check out www.thelateenglishbreakfast.blogspot.com . All we can say is that it was a wonderful night’s entertainment and it was gone midnight when we got home!
Today (Wednesday) we shopped at Asda. Asda is owned by Wal-Mart. It was a great shopping experience. There were bargains galore. For instance, we bought two portions of Salmon for our evening meal that cost us the equivalent of $5! Beat that Stop and Shop if you can!
Tomorrow, we plan a trip to Altrincham, a place not a million miles away from Manchester Airport, to watch Manchester United’s reserve team ( in the US, they would be known as the “farm team”). We are both excited to finally get to go to see members of our team play. Eddie’s talking about some of these players in his football blog www.motdusaway.blogspot.com Eddie took Linda to a couple of these games on previous visits.
In the midst of all these cultural experiences, Eddie has been offered a job as a Customer Service Advisor with the Automobile Association, based in a place called Cheadle here in Cheshire. We’re hoping that the job will start in mid-November.
We have begun looking for our new abode, and what we have seen so far has run the gambit from wonderful to what the . . . ???!!!! We’ve high hopes of looking at another property soon. Of all the places we’ve looked at so far, sadly only one allows pets.
The weather is turning decidedly autumnal. Winter is not far away. We know winter is looming ominously because the desire for carpet slippers is so great we bought some today at Asda! Very comfortable they are too!
Until next time,
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