So much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone
I'm not so self-assured
Now I find I've changed my mind
And opened up the doors
Help me if you can; I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?
So there we were walking along the prom prom prom tiddly om pom pom of a very underrated Norfolk seaside resort when the above words came into my mind.
Now we all know they are the lyrics to the Beatles' song Help and we were in Gorleston where the finale to the film Yesterday was shot. Now for those that haven't seen Yesterday - it's about a young singer songwriter of little talent who wakes up after an accident and finds that nobody remembers or knows the Beatles. He then passes all their songs off as his own compositions. It's a light-hearted and enjoyable film. The ending finds the main character rocking out a wonderful version of Help from the balcony of the Pier Hotel at Gorleston with hundreds of adoring fans on the beach below.
If you've seen the film you might recognise some of the areas from the ending. Gorleston is just a couple of hundred yards from Great Yarmouth. The problem is they never built a sensible bridge to link the two resorts. So you can stand on the harbour at Gorleston and look across to Yarmouth but in the realisation it will take you the best part of four miles by road to bridge the hundred or so yards between the two and get across the River Yare.
It's only the last couple of years we have bothered with Gorleston, always in the past sticking to its big brother at Yarmouth. But now we go there a few times a year because it is a good place. Why is it a good place. Well:
1/ It's much easier to get to than Yarmouth
2/ It's much less crowded
3/ If you get there at a reasonable time there is plenty of free parking. We were saddened to see that a large free car park was full and a few people had parked on the grass and had received tickets. Not sure these are enforceable as we didn't see any signs telling motorists that they had to park in dedicated areas although we may have missed these.
Oh and you don't have to pay to use the public conveniences unlike some parts of the UK I could mention (Cornwall).
There's plenty to do in Gorleston and the most wonderful expanse of golden sandy beach with so much space.
It was nice on our visit to find some slightly cooler weather as well. In Norwich it climbed up to 30 degrees yet again but at Gorleston it was around 25 and that five degree drop certainly made things slightly more bearable.
So we walked about four miles, had lunch at a cafe and proved once again that the beach is nowhere near the High Street. In fact for the second time we failed to find the High Street. Maybe it doesn't exist and it's a figment of my imagination. I did find Bells Road where my Great Aunt and Uncle used to live and I remember visiting as a boy, although I have no recollection of how I got there, with whom I went and also no memory of going to the beach.
Gorleston is one of those underrated resorts and it also has street art by Banksy which is now covered with perspex. Hope you enjoy a few of the pictures of our day there.
* * *
Before we set off we tuned into BBC One which connected to Radio Two to announce the shortlisted places to hold the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. This year's contest was won by Ukraine but they can't host for obvious reasons. The UK came second (yes really) and so will host.
But of course we had to have drama surrounding the announcement. They couldn't just open the envelope and announce the shortlist, we had to have minutes of banal conversation between Zoe Ball and Scott Mills and Zoe told us numerous times that she was a great fan of Eurovision and Scott tried to big up the opening of the envelope swearing that he didn't know what was inside it.
And when the cities were announced it was a case of levelling up gone mad. The furthest south was Birmingham. The other six were decidedly Northern including Glasgow. No London, no South of England and Hethersett's application must have got lost in the post.
Apparently competing cities had to prove their love of Eurovision, their love of diversity, their heritage and a few other things. Above all I suspect they had to prove that they were in the North.
Zoe - Well Scott this is amazing
Scott - Yes Zoe it's amazing
Zoe- It really is amazing Scott. I'm such a fan of Eurovision.
Scott - Well that's amazing Zoe because so am I.
Zoe - That's amazing Scott. I understand you have the envelope containing the names of the shortlisted cities. That's truly amazing.
Scott - Yes its is amazing Zoe. I'm so nervous. It's amazing how nervous I am.
Zoe - That's Amazing Scott
Scott - Yes it's amazing Zoe.
Scott carefully tears the envelope open and announces the northern cities in alphabetical order.
Scott - Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield.
Zoe - That's amazing Scott. Thank you so much for opening the envelope for us.
Scott - It was amazing Zoe.
We then cut to Liverpool Quayside where they had the Mayor, a councillor, two Eurovision Fans, a former Eurovision singer (Sonia) and the statue of the four Beatles. I have to say that the four Beatles made more sense than the others who seemed to want to tell us how amazing it was that Liverpool were on the shortlist and how it would be one giant party in Scouseland if the city is chosen. And of course it should be. I'm probably biased as Liverpool is my favourite city in the UK but where else has the musical heritage of this city (and no Manchester doesn't before you all shout about Stone Roses and the likes).
The thing is the shortlist still contains seven and six of them are still going to be disappointed. Six of them will be spending an awful lot of money putting together bids that will be unsuccessful. Holding an excellent Commonwealth Games could work for or against Birmingham getting Eurovision. It will tell the decision-makers that Brum are more than capable of putting on a spectacular show but it might also make them think that someone else deserves a turn at a high profile event.
I love setting mythical odds on various things and my odds on this one would be.
5/6 Liverpool
3/1 Birmingham
5/1 Glasgow
13/2 Manchester
10/1 Newcastle
20/1 Sheffield
25/1 Leeds
10 million/1 Hethersett who are likely to appeal the decision not to shortlist them in the light of the new pavilion which is being built on the Memorial Playing Field.
* * *
So here is my conundrum for today. With this blog you will see two photographs (on the same sheet) of a wooden object. Knowing me like you do from my blogs and interests. Who knows what this is and where it can be found?
No prizes just the glory of knowing you have outwitted me.