Just been listening to the comedian Les Dawson on the radio and I’m instantly transported to Blackpool.
One of the facts of life at the BBC – especially when you start out in Manchester and later find yourself working on Radio 1 and light entertainment TV - is you get to spend a lot of time in Blackpool.
As a normal person, instead of a lady from the BBC, I recall seeing the fabulous Illuminations in the late 70s. Lights with wonderful muted colours; teacups and saucers, old style cartoon characters and even flowers. All reminiscent of a much gentler, less brazen time.
A few years later I was driving through them in a huge old gold Volvo with the sunroof open so some small friends could marvel. The boys kept slipping off the leather seats but nothing could dim their delight.
Goodness knows why I went to the Tower in the mid 80s, possibly for the Travel Show, which came from BBC Manchester. Up we went in a lift. Took a peak at the famous Ball Room – not quite so famous outside the North West in those days. It took Strictly Come Dancing to re-ignite that particular Tango.
I found myself blindly following the presenter, a cameraman and a man from the Tower up winding stairs, past the viewing deck and up more stairs and a ladder – this time outside. Then a “go careful” as I am treading on a thin plank of green painted wood loosely connecting two metal struts.
The wind whips around us and I look up for the first time to see I am way up in the air. I always thought I had a touch of vertigo and this confirmed it. No hard hats, no safety wires, and no real warning. Just a spectacular view I hadn’t expected to see and never want to see again. And I am in the way of the cameraman who is desperate to get the shots and go back indoors.
I must have jiggled out of the way and somehow re-traced my steps, but I think I have blotted it from my memory. Just another of my nine lives.
But back to Les. He and Barbara Windsor are the kind of characters you want to spend time with in Blackpool. Babs, pre EastEnders, was on the celebrity circuit and very bubbly with a big blond curly wig and that wonderful wicked giggle. We did a picture call at a famous chippy and Barbara grabs the bright red plastic lobsters and hangs them off her ears. She knows how to charm the locals.
I met Les way too early in the morning, not many years before he died. It was barn of a room with a stage and a piano. Acting grumpy, dressed in a black tracksuit he demanded coffee to start the day and as I brought him a cup he started bantering and playing the piano out of tune. Wow I loved that man!
