Penultimate Pier Review 'secret' blog post I wrote on September 22 2011 (crudely cut n pasted from a defunct Posterous archive.)
The Little Car That Couldn't
"Well this has actually all gone rather too easy"
I'm not sure who said this last night but I am sure that you know what's coming next. After bagging a very chatty Beaumaris Pier (you do know about the Piers right?) we get back in the car and turn the key, not to hear the roar of a 16 Valve engine but instead the clickety click sound of a dead battery. Cruel fate was no match for the combined weight of my kidnappers and we did manage to bump start the bastard but for the next 100 miles a heavy doomed silence pervaded the air, limping into a petrol station to fuel up the mood quickly cheered as we realised the dud cell had some charge and started with a key, at almost the same time the Sun made an appearance.
However at the campsite it seems our optimism was a bit previous as our desire to listen to the radio instead of silence or heaven forbid each other had zapped the juice and confirmed suspicions the battery is definitely on the fritz.
But with three Piers left WE WILL NOT BE THWARTED, the solution is simply to park the car on an incline and as we're in Wales the spiritual home of hills we're practically home and dry.
Tomorrow is the final day and I'm actually a little sad to be going home, Jon says he's glad to see the back of camping and Dannys a little love sick (on this trip I've realised his charm and natural ability to be the centre of attention is nothing subtler than shouting a lot at peope whilst pissed :).
Monday it's back to the grind but this trip IS going on my CV, I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed driving and regret not doing the Birmingham to Weston bit so I can say I did the whole loop, still I suppose there's always the 10 year Pier Review redux trip.
Mood: hesitantly jubilant, Mental stability: Jump leads
Saturday, 6 February 2016
Friday, 5 February 2016
Pier Coda Revisited
The blog post I wrote just after getting back from the Pier Review trip September 23 2011, (crudely cut n pasted from a defunct Posterous archive.)
Pier Coda
They laughed when we said we could visit 56 Piers in 11 days*, they laughed when we said people would donate money to the project, I laughed when I saw Jon's Pink 'Hello Kitty' carry mat. But now I'm sitting in my favorite armchair (yes, I have a favourite armchair) reflecting on the odyssey with a cup of proper tea and a biscuit slightly fuzzy headed after the looong drive home. It sounds bleedin' obvious when I type it out but the Eleven days basically consisted of getting up, packing up, drive to some Piers, drive to campsite, repeat till fade. But it still beats hands down Eleven days of getting up, walk aimlessly round Sheldon, spend a Saturday night in town, Job search, repeat till fade.
It's definitely the 'wackiest' stunt I've done since Gawd knows when and I hope over the next few days the memories will sort themselves out in my head and replace the blurry homogenous lump of stuff that's in there at the moment. Currently the vivid moments are....
The excellent weather we had nearly all the way round (especially on the South Coast).
The people who put us up for a night.
The Sunsets over the Sea on the West Coast.
The Moon light shining across the Sea in Ryde.
Hastily jumping on a train that went the wrong way on Ryde Pier and Jon waving us off with a smirk.
Jon and Danny completely misjudging the Postcard fundraiser ("could we have 392 stamps please").
The recurring theme of Piers suspiciously burning down.
The lovely Whitby lighthouse lady who met us in the pub and took us up the lighthouse at 11pm.
Danny trying to put up an unfamiliar tent in a gale in the dark while Jon 'helped' by reciting W H Auden Poetry.
The Students who actually live in Southport Pontins.(a temporary halls of residence)
There's a Christmas AND Halloween EVERY week at Southport Pontins.
The gushing boiler, room swaps and empty Electricity meter frustrating Danny's attempts to have a shower
People 'helpfully' pointing out Piers not on our list (I suspect one guy was making them up just to irk us).
The People who were indifferent to the project when we told them about it.
The People who were very interested in the project when we told them about it (especially Hastings Pier shop guy).
How awful Blackpool Central Pier was (Danny thought I was going to get jumped by some oiks on the North Pier).
Ordering a Curry to the tent and watching 'Point Break' on an iPad at Harwich.
How depressing the Amusement Arcades are at the end of the season.
The old people sitting on the sea front waiting for death at places like Torquay, and Eastbourne.
The Pussy Cats at Aberystwyths campsite (especially the one that crashed the tent).
I hate Sat Navs
The Car battery dying on the penultimate day and having to bump start it everytime we stopped.
I wouldn't have had any of these experiences or enjoyed them half as much without your generous donations so once again a big big thank you for digging deep.
Midge x
And what's with the video at top of the page you ask?. We mostly had 6 Music on in the car and this was the single of the week played on rotation, I think it's frickin' awesome and whenever I hear it I'll always think of Piers
* the original plan/blog says 10 days but on the road we realised some dufus had mistyped the dates in the spread sheet
Pier Coda
They laughed when we said we could visit 56 Piers in 11 days*, they laughed when we said people would donate money to the project, I laughed when I saw Jon's Pink 'Hello Kitty' carry mat. But now I'm sitting in my favorite armchair (yes, I have a favourite armchair) reflecting on the odyssey with a cup of proper tea and a biscuit slightly fuzzy headed after the looong drive home. It sounds bleedin' obvious when I type it out but the Eleven days basically consisted of getting up, packing up, drive to some Piers, drive to campsite, repeat till fade. But it still beats hands down Eleven days of getting up, walk aimlessly round Sheldon, spend a Saturday night in town, Job search, repeat till fade.
It's definitely the 'wackiest' stunt I've done since Gawd knows when and I hope over the next few days the memories will sort themselves out in my head and replace the blurry homogenous lump of stuff that's in there at the moment. Currently the vivid moments are....
The excellent weather we had nearly all the way round (especially on the South Coast).
The people who put us up for a night.
The Sunsets over the Sea on the West Coast.
The Moon light shining across the Sea in Ryde.
Hastily jumping on a train that went the wrong way on Ryde Pier and Jon waving us off with a smirk.
Jon and Danny completely misjudging the Postcard fundraiser ("could we have 392 stamps please").
The recurring theme of Piers suspiciously burning down.
The lovely Whitby lighthouse lady who met us in the pub and took us up the lighthouse at 11pm.
Danny trying to put up an unfamiliar tent in a gale in the dark while Jon 'helped' by reciting W H Auden Poetry.
The Students who actually live in Southport Pontins.(a temporary halls of residence)
There's a Christmas AND Halloween EVERY week at Southport Pontins.
The gushing boiler, room swaps and empty Electricity meter frustrating Danny's attempts to have a shower
People 'helpfully' pointing out Piers not on our list (I suspect one guy was making them up just to irk us).
The People who were indifferent to the project when we told them about it.
The People who were very interested in the project when we told them about it (especially Hastings Pier shop guy).
How awful Blackpool Central Pier was (Danny thought I was going to get jumped by some oiks on the North Pier).
Ordering a Curry to the tent and watching 'Point Break' on an iPad at Harwich.
How depressing the Amusement Arcades are at the end of the season.
The old people sitting on the sea front waiting for death at places like Torquay, and Eastbourne.
The Pussy Cats at Aberystwyths campsite (especially the one that crashed the tent).
I hate Sat Navs
The Car battery dying on the penultimate day and having to bump start it everytime we stopped.
I wouldn't have had any of these experiences or enjoyed them half as much without your generous donations so once again a big big thank you for digging deep.
Midge x
And what's with the video at top of the page you ask?. We mostly had 6 Music on in the car and this was the single of the week played on rotation, I think it's frickin' awesome and whenever I hear it I'll always think of Piers
* the original plan/blog says 10 days but on the road we realised some dufus had mistyped the dates in the spread sheet
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