Sunshine and Lights

What a lovely weekend that was.  The sun was shining, the temperature steadily rising.  After a morning of chores, we packed the car and headed up the M6.

First stop St Annes.  It really is a lovely part of the world, with Victorian architecture resplendant along the front.  The old pier-head still manages to convey a thought of yesteryear (although that could be down to overdue redecorating!!)


The beach is the main reason most people go to St Annes.  The miles and miles of sandy beach (albeit with a few pebbles dotted around) just stretched as far as the eye can see.

In our case, since the tide was out, it was an awfully long way, as the photo shows.

The kids had fun building sandcastles, digging holes and enjoying the fresh sea air.  At 21 degrees, it was a perfect, balmy, late summer afternoon.

Whilst there, I noticed the statue, shown here.  It's a memorial to the Crew of the St Annes Lifeboat, who lost their lives whilst trying to rescue the crew of the German barqe "Mexico".  It was in December 1886.  Read the story, it's extremely moving, and the memorial is a fitting tribute.

At around 5pm we bought some fish and chips before heading to Blackpool to see the 'lights'.

I have never seen the illuminations.  Oh, I've seen pictures, and heard about them; but I have never seen them in the flesh, so to speak.

So, at 8pm, when the lights were switched on, the kids were all "ooh" and "aaarr".  I was impressed, as we slowly (and I mean S L O W L Y) made our way through the display.

An hour later, we had progressed not far (but the boys did see the Doctor Who display) so we decided to head home.

It was a good day, and whilst I hope there are more days like it before Autumn and Winter set in, I somehow think that was it for this year.