The first day

We drove up to Birmingham to stay in an 'Express by Holiday inn that we had booked for a night. Of course we were a bit early so decided to drive into Birmingham centre to have a look at the German Market that was there.

It was quite a show with stalls containing German Christmas stuff right up the whole main street. We did not by anything but the whole thing was interesting and they were very busy. I have put in two photos taken on that day. Frankfurt Market

Then back to the hotel to book in and get to bed for the evening. To do that I had to drive through 'Brum' at peak hour and oh boy! Is it busy! I am used to driving in a city during peak hour as Cardiff gets heavily congested, but Birmingham is a whole different experience. Of course in Cardiff I know the short cuts and can often take a different route, and in Birmingham I really am a stranger, but even so that is one congested city.

To anyone looking to book one of these overnight type hotels I can recommend the 'Express by Holiday Inn'. The price for the two of us was £55 and that included breakfast and it was a very comfortable stay.

The second day

Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel so we stoked up on food and started the long haul across country to Skegness. I say long but is was only 130 miles. However a lot was not on Motorway so it took over four hours. Maybe not a lot to a truck driver but you need to drive long distances regularly to get used to them.

We booked into Butlins and went into Skegness to have a look around. Not a bad little town with a nice shopping centre. Then back to Butlins for our evening meal.

The meals in Butlins have improved a lot since the last time we stayed there that is for sure. We had a very nice selection and as we have paid for gold cabins a nice quiet dinning room as well.

Then on to the main event, the music. Ah the music of the 60's, still as good as it was all those years ago. The first one on was 'The Dakotas'. You might remember them better as 'Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas'. Without Billy of course they lost a bit but it was still a very good opening act.

And then onto Brian Poole and the electrics. It used to be the Tremeloes of course but hey! Things change. Brian Poole has been around now for 45 years and I am afraid it showed. He got a good reception but there is no doubt his voice is not what it was.

The last act was 'Hermans Hermits' and they were huge in the 60's with 24 hits in the charts. They were in fact very good but as Peter Noone was not there of course there was that voice of his missing and that was what made the group

However it was a good night and we have another two to go.

The third day

December 12th Saturday,

Today we drove into Lincoln for the day to have a look around. It is a very ancient city and you can still see the walls of the city in the shopping area. I like Lincoln but sometimes it is not easy get around with a wheelchair. There are some photos on-line here.

In the evening more sixties bands. The first one was 'Dave Berry and the Cruisers'. He had a massive hit with 'The crying game' and others and to be fair was very good last night. The voice that made that hit was still there and he had huge applause from the audience.

After that was 'The Fortunes' and they were good as well. One of there big hits was 'Here it comes again' and they sang a real variety of stuff as did all the bands this weekend.

The last and headline act was 'Gerry and the Pacemakers'. He of course was huge way back then and his hits 'Ferry across the Mersey' and 'You'll never walk alone' are still being sung today.

He is still the irrepressible Gerry from years ago and you can still hear that voice that made those huge hits, but 45 odd years of blasting out rock songs in smoky clubs have not done his voice any favours. However 45 years have not done any of us favours I guess and he was very good last night.

The last day

On Sunday we took a trip to Kings Lynn in Norfolk. We had never been there and it was supposed to be a pretty little place with a lot of history .Kings Kynn

In the unlikely event that anyone who knows the town reads this, they will no doubt say that I have missed all the real history of the place. We what we found was the biggest shopping centre that I have seen in such a small place! We parked up and wandered into town thinking that as it was a fairly small place there would not be a big shopping area.

The shops seemed to go on for ever and there must have been a couple of hundred of them. As it was near Christmas they were all doing good business as well. Mary loves to look around shops so we had to spend a bit in them!

In the evening we had our last night of sixties music. First we were treated if that is the right word to music by 'Gidea Park'. They specialise in music by The Hollies, the Beach Boys and The Everley brothers.

The music from all of these need incredibly tight harmonies and they just did not have them. They were not that bad I suppose and they even bought in one of the original Hollies to play with them. However I was not that impressed, but perhaps that is just me.

Next came the Tremeloes who's 'Silence is Golden' had a great reception. They were very good but by this time we were both knackered and a bit fed up with the loud music. The last group were ' Dozy,Beaky,Mick and Tich' but we just could not be bothered to wait for them and left.

And then on Monday the long trek back home. It is a 250 mile drive and as a lot of it is not on Motorway it took 5 ¼ hours including one stop. And then on Wednesday back to work!

People and life

>The people and the modern life.

As it was a 60's weekend you might have expected some unusual outfits and by the lord there was! Quite a lot of short dresses on women who were far to old to were them with the huge patterns of the time. There were guys dressed up like John Lennon and such and of course there were the stag and hen parties all with weird outfits.

There was quite a few outfits from the Beatles days and also two guys wearing outfits from 'Thunderbirds' the puppet program way back then. Also a couple of cowboys and quite a few 'teddy boys'. These no doubt would have had the hair all those years ago but these days they have to get it from a joke shop! There was even a guy dressed as Dracula for some unknown reason...

Girls wearing very sexy airline captains outfits that made my eyes pop out and Santa outfits that would have changed him into a naughty boy!

Does it seem ironic only to me that I am writing this on a laptop with my mobile phone nearby. I will upload photos taken on a digital camera to my Google Picasa account when I get home and am missing the always on broadband that I am used to. All of this while away for a weekend of music from nearly 50 years ago when even science fiction writers could not have even dreamed of the staff that we take for granted today........

Some time off

Well that is work done for the next six days. We are driving up to Birmingham today and will stay overnight and visit the Germand Christmas market in the town centre. Then off to Butlins in Skegness on Friday for a weekend of 60's type music. The best there has ever been!

We have not been away since May when we went to Ireland and we are really ready for this break. It is really a celebration as our 40th anniversary is a week later and this is a bit special for us.

And a little joke to finish off with...

An elderly woman went to her local doctor’s office and asked to speak with her doctor. When the receptionist asked why she was there, she replied, “I’d like to have some birth control pills.”

Taken back, the doctor thought for a minute and then said, “Excuse me, Mrs. Glenwood, but you’re 80 years old. What would you possibly need birth control pills for?”

The woman replied, “They help me sleep better.”

The doctor considered this for a second, and continued… “How in the world do birth control pills help you sleep?”

The woman said, “I put them in my granddaughter’s orange juice, and I sleep better at night.”

Sleep-whats the point?

Well I went to bed last night with the intention of getting a good nights sleep before getting up at 04.30. That was the intention at least, but at 3.00 I was wide awake and at 4.00 I gave up and put the kettle on. Like a lot of people getting a bit older I do not need to sleep so much these days. Perhaps it is the strange shifts that I have worked nearly all my life that has buggered up my sleeping pattern.

Work Yesterday was horrendous. I am not going to put the details here because if anyone does read this they will not care anyway but bloody hell it was busy. I never stopped all day. I just hope it is a lot quieter today.