That may well be because a considerable number of my ancestors, including my mother, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother and great grandfather came from Great Yarmouth.
As a seaside resort, it isn't what it used to be. I remember holidays there when the pavements were awash with people and the beach was overcrowded. I remember the penny slot arcades and the smell of chlorine in the beach side cafes where you sat on long benches whilst eating ham rolls.
I remember trains crammed with daytrippers from Norwich, the pleasure beach and crazy golf. Today it was much quieter on the sea front but we took our grandson Elliot who has just turned three and it was brilliant to see Great Yarmouth through his eyes.
There were two events of note that we wanted to catch - firstly the Maritime festival and secondly the Yarmouth Hippodrome circus. One was a great success and one a great let down. The maritime event was underwhelming and highly disappointing. Spread out along the South Quay, it was little more than a fete/craft fair. Entry was via a donation, suggesting that this was a free event. But that only extended to various stalls which were mainly attempting to sell things. There were separate fees to go on any of the boats. So it was all rather uninspiring.
Thankfully the same couldn't be said for the circus which was as delightful as ever. Raucous, noisy and colourful, it really is ideal entertainment for all the family. Elliot loved it until the excitement proved too much for him near the end and he fell asleep! We had seats about halfway up the auditorium in keeping with the rule of never sitting in the front row as that would hugely increase your chances of becoming part of the show. My previous visits to the circus came with Hethersett Middle School as a school governor helping to look after the children. Then we sat in the front row and I was subjected to a barrage of popcorn by one of the clowns. That was bad enough, but the school caretaker was dragged into the ring to take part in a boxing match.
It's a fast moving show full of fun and an ideal escape, with plenty of water being sprayed into the audience. Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Often this is obviously deliberate as the acts milk applause by failing and then succeeding. But on this occasion one of the trapeze artists failed to complete a manouevre three times before giving up and taking the applause as if he had been successful. Thank goodness trapeze artists now have safety nets, otherwise there would have been a real mess!
Before the circus we had a go on the slot machines and found a retro museum where £1 was converted into 15 old pennies - better known to older people as 1/3d or the equivalent today of about 6p. So inflation had turned £1 into 6p. But it was only for fun as any winnings couldn't be turned back into modern coins. So basically £1 gave 15 goes on the various machines which were real old time favourites - and yes they really were old style pennies.
I could never say today has been a highbrow one but it was wonderfully entertaining and brought back many memories of the days when I wasn't that much older that Elliot.