Sunday, June 15, 2003

 

Day 52. Monday 16 June 2003. Long Walk & Hest Bank.

I went for a longer walk this beautiful sunny morning before breakfast, an hour. More of a stroll really. I went up the Promenade to wards the centre and the long jetty. In fact I went down to the end of the jetty and watched a scruffy beachcomber or should it be "mudcomber" pull a child's 2-wheeled bike out of the mud far below the jetty with a rope and large hook. Under the coating of mud the bike was in bright shiny condition. I congratulated him on his catch and he proceeded to tell me of his other trophies.

I then strolled back to Stangate Court wishing other early morning walkers and the Council staff cleaning up and watering the plants "Good Morning" as I met them. My injured foot felt fine.

After another scrumptious breakfast we all went up to the shops and afterwards across the road to see Eric Morecambe's statue on the Promenade and have my photograph taken with him like thousands of others before me. I think the statue was in three quarter size or was Eric Morecambe a small man? The metal statue was in matte black and didn't seem to quite jell with me as I remembered this funny loud man.

For those maybe reading this in years to come Eric Morecambe made up a comedy duo with Ernie Wise. Eric was the lead funny man and Ernie the more sober one. Eric was naturally funny without really trying but Ernie had to work at it. Both were very popular with the British public and had a following overseas too.

Eric died relatively early in life and the public of his home town of Morecambe clamoured for a statue to be erected in remembrance. His partner Ernie continued on with a comedy act but of course without Eric it was not the same and popularity slowly waned.

In the afternoon we went to nearby Hest Bank, to a grassy area overlooking Morecambe Bay where we had a picnic. John put up a shade awning and we spent a lazy summer afternoon. A lot of other people were doing the same.

In the hot evening I walked across the road and Pat came too, to the Promenade and sat as the evening faded away. We quietly talked of this and that, and old times and the new. We watched in the distance, the ferries leaving for Ireland and the Isle of Man and the flashing beacons over the Bay to-wards Barrow. The evening cooled and in our thin clothes I felt chilled and we returned to John and Edith.

posted by OldEric 5:11 pm