A Medley of Extemporanea

For the last few years, I had thought about repaying my Mum for all those trips to England we took when I was a kid with one of our own. This year, I finally went through with it! It was a birthday/Christmas present for her, so hopefully she isn’t cross when she realizes she’s only got a card (if that! oop!) under the tree this year. I also brought along my eldest (aka K1), so as not to saddle my sweet with three kids alone for two weeks. We spent 8 days in Bury, 4 in Blackpool and 2 in Portsmouth. We also spent a lot of tim on trains.

My family is originally from a town called Bury, near Manchester. I’ve been there several times as a kid, but not since 1987, the last time I went with my Mum. Many things have changed, obviously, but some things kept that familiar feeling. For example: we did a laundry run midway through at a laundrette near my auntie’s old house. I managed to walk to her street without missing a turn.  Go me. We actually did quite a bit in Bury, and had quite a good time. We:

• Visited the Fusiliers Museum. My Granddad was a Lancashire Fusilier, so this is somewhere we always went. It’s moved and expanded majorly. Very good place to go.
• Visited the East Lancashire Railway, a preserved line that runs steam engines daily during the summer. Awesome!

ELR: Ramsbottom Station

• Hiked up Holcolme Hill (just me and K1, as my Mum wouldn’t have made it). I always wanted to do this. There’s a tower dedicated to Sir Robert Peel near the summit, but alas, it was closed the day we went up. We also took the ELR to get to the trailhead, as it is in Ramsbottom.

Top of Holcolme Hill

• Visited relatives (natch).
• Went to Gigg Lane to get the kids matching Bury FC football kits, cuz, you gotta, you know.
• Took a day trip to York to visit the National Railway Museum and York Minster

York Minster (it’s huuuuge!)

Mallard at NRM getting a paint job for its 75th birthday

• Took a day trip to Manchester to visit the Museum of Science and Industry, and try to catch a glimpse of the Corrie set. And buy Lego…

Ye Olde Double-Decker Tram in Blackpool

View from the North Pier

Carousel on the North Pier. Play spot K1!

K1 proving he has no fear of heights. Slightly easier, as the scaffolding you can see on the photo above is actually right below the glass floor. Anticlimactic much?

Unilluminated illuminations. Exterminations, maybe?

We left Blackpool at 10am and spent the next 6 hours on various trains and/or platforms to get to Portsmouth. It was long, but it was worth it. I finally met my cousin Vic! He retired from the Royal Navy recently, so every time I was in England, he was on a boat somewhere. But not this time! K1 and I ended up leaving my Mum with my Auntie Rosalyn and Vic after a couple of hours so we could experience a bit of the fun of Portsmouth in the limited time we had. We made use of it though. We toured the HMS Victory (Nelson’s flagship during the battle of Trafalgar) and HMS Alliance (at the RN Submarine Museum). after that we fetched my Mum and went to Southsea. I’ve been here before, but at the height of summer. It had a very different feel. In 1987, it was hard to find a place to lay your towel, on Labour Day, not so much.

HMS Victory

Southsea’s South Parade Pier

In all, an awesome trip. Everyone was still happy at the end, so that’s good. K1 is still going on about it three weeks later, and has plans for taking the rest of the family too.