It's a few years since we had a family trip to Scarborough.
There's been a lot of work done in the intervening period. We're staying 'oop north' in the resort, about a stone's throw from the delight's of Peasholme Park, five minutes from the beach (if the weather allows it) and just a little more than that from the cricket ground.
The south end is a little more run down than we remember it, the Futurist Theatre is closed down and there's the same collection of tat that you find in such resorts the length and breadth of the country. It still retains a lot of the quaintness of its heyday though and the Spa is still a pleasant place to visit, while the Grand Hotel sits above the cliff like a colossus, albeit one that has itself faded a little from former glories.
We popped in to the cricket ground today on the way up to the shops. Arrived safely, unpacked in a very nice guest house and hit the streets to see what it has to offer. The ground looked lovely, but then it always does. Wednesday just needs it to be blessed with enough decent weather for the players to get out there and all of us to see some cricket.
It would be a downer if the rain was incessant, or if the coastal fog came in and ruined things, but, as old Chuck Berry said in one of his most famous songs, c'est la vie - you never can tell.
Either way we will enjoy our stay here. The forecast suggests that only the foolhardy or the wildly optimistic will wander around without a rain jacket or brolly this week, while I suspect that my shorts will remain in the case for the duration. Maybe no bad idea, to be fair...the locals might think I was spearheading a campaign to bring back that staple of many a Butlins holiday of years gone by, the knobbly knees competition...
Tomorrow we will probably have a stroll around the park and watch the naval display. There was a time when this was a recreation of famous British naval victories, but political correctness now ensures that we're fighting an unnamed foe today. It's as if the Second World War never happened. Britain versus Mars on a lake - this time, it's personal.
Still, with an ice cream in my hand and a leisurely pedalo around the lake, the cares of the world will melt away, much like that ice cream and I will think about a win for our boys tomorrow.
Fact or fantasy? We'll find out soon enough and who knows? Maybe I might see one or two of the lads on an evening constitutional.
Must look out for those 'Kiss Me Quick' hats...
We did cut it rather thin. It,s a chance you take by playing Footitt in one day stuff.He does,however,have his uses and at least we got away with it on this occasion.
ReplyDeleteLovely knock from Durston who is bang in form. What a difference a few weeks can make. I feel we have a genuine chance of making the top 4. We could do with beating Yorkshire but more of the side will have to come to the party. I do believe Slater should play in that match,given Elstone,s lack of form. Welch obviously had little faith in him at Northampton.
Very pleasing to see the two bowlers have agreed to stay put. I wouldn,t like to think we were in a position of having to replace them in the near future. We can now plan on building the attack around them,though I do think we need to strengthen in the seam section.