Every year in Norfolk and in other parts of the country we have HODS - Heritage Open Days. Over the past few years (apart from during lockdown) we have toured buildings, attended talks and gone on history walks - usually around Norwich.
This year we have cut down on the number of events. Last year we booked so many that we ended up feeling exhausted and some weren't quite as interesting as we had hoped. Unfortunately that's often down to the guide/presenter rather than the subject. Some people are very knowledgeable about their subject but just can't hold their audience or bring it to life.
This year we decided to fly the nest to have a look round the Pavilion Theatre in Gorleston. A visit to Norwich Magistrates Court has been cancelled and the only other thing we have scheduled is a look round the East Anglian Air Ambulance HQ and that will be it for this year.
So we set off early morning for Gorleston and had a cup of coffee in the Cliff Hotel before going to the Pavilion.
I remember the Cliff from many decades ago. I'm sure I used to go there with my parents and have a distinctive memory of hearing a certain piece of pop gold from The Kinks there. This was "You Really Got Me" with its thundering open guitar riff which Ray Davies once suggested came from wanting to make the loudest noise possible from a speaker the band owned.
"You Really Got Me" was released in 1964 and it must have been played on a juke box. Almost a decade later I was a young reporter on the Lowestoft Journal newspaper in Suffolk. Every Thursday we had shorthand classes. That's a class to learn how to use shorthand and not how to make your hand smaller. Young reporters from Yarmouth joined us. After the lesson we all went to Yarmouth and enjoyed ten pin bowling and then went to The Cliff for a couple of pints (apart from the designated driver of course).
On our latest visit we sat on the covered area of The Cliff Hotel overlooking Gorleston's very wide and magnificent sandy beach. Last time we went to the resort it was at the height of the school holidays and the place was buzzing. Today it was much quieter and the beach was empty. I always feel sad at the end of summer when (to quote another of my favourite artists Al Stewart) "all the tourists have gone."
Playing in the background as we drank our coffee was Piano Man by Billy Joel - again one of my favourite pieces of music and that brought back memories of an evening in Colorado many years ago. We went to a British style pub. Can't remember exactly where, but it could have been in Colorado Springs (and I can't say the name of that city without thinking of the song Colorado Springs Eternal by Matthews Southern Comfort - how vague is that)?
So there we were enjoying a drink in the bar when a Mexican pianist started playing and then gave out songbooks. He asked people to nominate a song from the book. I can't remember much of what was played. When he got to us he asked for a request. I had already thumbed through the book. "Can we have Piano Man" I enquired?
"Are you from England?"
"Yes we are."
So he started playing God Save The Queen and everyone stood up. Everyone that is apart from us who were for some reason very confused. Eventually we did drop off our stools and stood to attention. Then he told us that nobody had ever requested Piano Man before and it would take him sometime to work it out. He used no music but played everything from memory.
He took a number of requests and then had a break, after which he broke into an excellent version of Piano Man. Then for some reason a number of people there had a competition to see who could down a yard of ale in the quickest time. It was a good evening even without the yard of ale.
After coffee at the Cliff we spent an hour being shown round Gorleston Pavilion and what a remarkable and interesting building it was. One of the trustees Alex showed took us round. He was very knowledgeable and very enthusiastic about the planned renovation of the building.
It will cost something like £10 million to get everything done. That's a mind boggling amount of money and got me thinking how much easier it is today than in the past when people were expected to raise money through events. Can you imagine how many craft fairs you would have to hold to raise £10 million. So vast are the sums now involved that projects have to be financed by grants and/or loans. Our own new pavilion on Hethersett Playing Field is being met by both grants and loans.
Gorleston Pavilion is directly opposite the Ocean Rooms and it seems strange to have two similar places of entertainment within a few yards of each other.
Our tour included the stage and backstage and here I feel I must quote a Gene Pitney song.
A thousand hands applaud tonight
I sing my songs my star shines bright
I stop and smile, I take by bow
I leave the stage and then somehow
Backstage I'm lonely
Backstage I cry
You've gone away and each night I seem to die a little
Out on that stage I play the star
I'm famous now I've come so far
A famous fool I let love go
I didn't know I'd miss you so
Backstage I'm lonely
Backstage I cry
Hating myself since I let you say goodbye
On the surface the world of entertainment is a glamorous one. But backstage it's very different. The two dressing rooms at the Pavilion are basic to say the least. There are plans to upgrade but for now they are the kind of place you just want to get out of and go onstage. Our guild told us that Morecambe and Wise had a kip there whilst performing but it's not known whether that's a true story or not.
It was exactly the same backstage at Cromer Pier Pavilion. But back to Gorleston. We went out onto balconies for some excellent views of the beach and promenade. I was intrigued by all the posters, all the memorabilia, the collection of Toby jugs, beer steins and all the strange items some of which are featured in my photographs today.
The Pavilion Theatre was built in 1901 from plans of the Borough Engineer J. W Cockrill and has some beautiful stained glass windows that are currently covered up and awaiting restoration. The building was part of a plan to change Gorleston from a fishing village into a seaside resort.
Ralph Scott Cockrill designed several buildings in Great Yarmouth with a strong Art Nouveau flavour. You could even go as far as to call him the Norfolk Gaudi. Other buildings designed by Cockrill include Great Yarmouth Hippodrome which is another unique building.
Our tour of the Gorleston Pavilion Theatre included a disused area upstairs which again they are hoping to restore to previous glory. Downstairs it's very much a throwback to the past. The auditorium consists of small round tables with up to eight people sitting around each of them. During a performance you can order drinks by waving a flag to attract the attention of bar staff.
I have never attended a performance in the theatre but will make a point of doing so in the near future. And of course the place has a ghost which for some unknown reason has changed its name from Charlie to Humphrey. One of the people on the tour used to work in the box office and said it was customary for the person opening up each day to say:
"Good morning Charlie" in order to put him at ease and let him know people in the theatre were friendly. This lady said that each night she was the last person out of the building and often closed some curtains before locking up. Next morning the curtains had been opened overnight and she was the only person with a key. Spooky or what?
After grabbing a quick lunch we spent the afternoon at Great Yarmouth races and I will talk more about that tomorrow. In the meantime hope you enjoy my pics of Gorleston and the Pavilion Theatre.
* * *
Appropriate names (or maybe you will think this inappropriate). The President of the Royal Horticultural Society is Keith WEED.
* * *
We are now getting some in depth interviews with regards to coverage of the Queen. Radio Norfolk this afternoon asked somebody what time they had set their alarm in order to get up to get to London for the lying in state. I didn't bother to listen to the answer.
* * *
I try to avoid Eastenders at all cost. I think it's a dreadful programme. On Thursday when flicking through some channels I heard a snatch of dialogue from it that, for me, summed it all up.
"You hurt my sister and I'll hurt you." Mensa level dialogue that must have taken an awful lot of writing.
* * *
The present all day 24x7 coverage of the Queen lying in State is beginning to lose its power simply because so much coverage is diluting the situation. Just my view, but I know it's a view shared by many others. The coverage of people walking forwards in a queue has become plain dull. I think the question of why does the BBC do this when nothing much is happening is "Because we can."