Great Yarmouth - March 25th - 28th 2005
The weather was kind to us on the ride up and we didn't get any of the forecasted rain. At my insistance, Lee downjetted his carb which meant we didn't have to stop for petrol every half hour! At the Dartford Tunnel I was surprised to see that it was free for motorbikes to go through, which shows how long it's been since I've gone that way on a scooter!
We got to Yarmouth at about 4pm and checked into our B & B. I was gutted to see that we'd only got a shower as I was desperate for a nice hot bath. In the evening we started at the Long Bar, as is traditional, where we met Terry & Angie. They'd had a near miss when Angie's hairdryer had caught alight, but luckily they managed to put the fire out and didn't burn their hotel down! We then headed to the Barking Smack and onto Bostons where there was some decent music playing. We could see the queues forming over the road at the Marina so drank up and decided to join them before they got even longer.
Friday's band were Spear Of Desiny and Terry was very excited to see them and had apparantly been snapping up their CD's on ebay during the preceding weeks. When they appeared on stage I was gobsmacked to see Kirk Brandon wearing a Midhurst Detours t-shirt!!! It turned out that Terry had been in contact with him and organised it - I can't believe he'd kept it a secret - it was amazing! They played a great set. I didn't know many of their songs but enjoyed them all the same. The ones I did know went down very well. Afterwards, Terry and I nipped backstage for some photos, to add to Jo's hall of fame at www.alcoholic-rats.com !! I also grabbed a setlist and got Kirk to sign it - another one for the collection. We stayed for a boogie and Lee amazed me with his dancing - he was so drunk that he danced 'properly' and was really good! However, we didn't last long as Lee was fading fast, luckily our hotel was only over the road so I didn't have to carry him far!
When Saturday dawned it was clear that Lee was very poorly, spending most of the morning in the toilet and the rest of it asleep. I breakfasted alone and spent some leisurely time reading the papers which was a treat! When we finally surfaced we went straight to the custom show back at the Marina. The Talismen had arrived, having left at 5am! We also caught up with some Pacemakers who had apparantly been in all the same bars as us the previous night, we'd just missed them completely.
We went for something to eat, and then onto the Pier with the Pacemakers for the football. Lee got a lot of stick for drinking orange juice - a very sad state of affairs. Terry had a bet that England would win 3-0, so when the third goal went in he was happy. However, he was gutted when Frank Lampard's shot was deflected in for a fourth..... There was a bizarre picture of Russ Abbot on the wall which was a great photo opportunity for me - although embarrassing as well. Maybe I should have stuck to the orange juice too....
We were somewhat jaded on Saturday evening. A guy was having his dreadlocks cut off for charity which was very entertaining. People were paying £20 each to cut one off, and the bucket which was passed around to collect donations was filling up quickly. Once all the dreads were cut off a helpful lady finished the job with some clippers and even cut off his straggly sideburns. The cash went to Dr Barnados, so fair play to him.... We didn't have the energy for dancing and even sat down to watch Ian Page and the Affair, who were very good although Ian Page had a bit of a moan about the music coming from the Northern Room. It didn't bother the crowd though! As soon as they left the stage we left too, desperate to get some sleep before the long ride home. It wouldn't have been so bad if the clocks hadn't gone forward, robbing us of a precious hour's sleep....
The weather wasn't so kind on the way home. When we left Yarmouth it was freezing cold and there was a mist that stayed with us til Ipswich. Then it rained, until the M25 when it returned to grey skies, but at least was dry. At Clackett Lane we bumped into my cousin who was out with the family to buy a greyhound! Which was an amazing coincidence. We then caught up with the Talismen at the petrol station, who'd been up til 3.30 drinking tequila slammers, they're mad! We got back at 3.30pm and I headed straight for the bath that I'd been dreaming of all weekend. It had been a great start to the year, but we must learn to pace ourselves - at our age we don't have the staying power that we used to!!