Oh! I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Today was the day for a day trip to Southport, plus a look at the iron men on Crosby beach.

We had 3 false starts ...

 1.  Elaine said, "Did I blow out the candle that was burning in the boat?"  We hadn't gone too far so I trotted off back and yes, it was out.

2.  We get about 1/2 a mile away on the way to the railway station and I said to Elaine, "Have you got the camera?"  "No" she replied.  Bugger - I had left it on the roof of the boat when I had gone back in again, so I quickly trotted back to the boat again ... and, yes, the camera was still there ... honest lot in Liverpool!

3.  I got back to Elaine and I said "Have you got the train tickets?"  "No" she replied ... back to the boat yet again!

(At this point we wondered whether we should be abandoning the trip completely!)

We decided to continue - so we headed off to  catch the train to Southport.  We didn't know really what to expect at Southport - we weren't interested in the shops, although it looked like a nice little town, so we headed off straight to the sea front and what to do apart from take a walk along the long pier ...


It even has a tram that runs down it if you don't fancy the walk.  It was pretty damn chilly so we took the brisk walk option!

Once we got back we went to a really funny cafe at the Southport end of the pier.  There was a 'turn' singing in the garden ... pity there was no one listening as it was so cold!  We were going to sit outside as we had the dogs with us, but the owner said we could sit inside in the conservatory.  Here is a pic of the counter ... classic !

It was lovely and warm in there.  For lunch I had home made steak pie, chips, mushy peas and lashings of gravy - I thought this could be a bit of a mistake as the place looked a bit run down but what a surprise!  I would have to say it was one of the best, if not THE best meals, I have had since being back in the UK!  Simple yet so tasty. 

If you look closely you can see 'Sooty' in the box in the background !

We had a good chat with Kevin, the owner of the cafe, and Chris, the singer, after our lunch - they were really friendly and welcoming !  Turns out they are good friends with Hermans Hermits (who are currently touring Australia and who often play gigs are his cafe!)  As we left, the singer interrupted his song to say, "Bye Aussies .. what's your favourite colour, Blue"   (By this time a few more people had arrived, so he did have a little audience!)

We walked back to the train station, past the multitude of seaside shops !  Rock anybody?

We got the train to Crosby as we wanted to see the 100 iron man sculptures on the beach ... we took our wellies as although it was mostly sand there are some very muddy patches.

Bombo was off - he just loves the beach!  Sam hates it, so we have to keep him on the lead in case he does a runner!

Bombo soon found one of the muddy spots and sank in it!

 

It is such lovely thick mud!

Needless to say he has had a big bath tonight !

The iron statues all face the Irish Sea and are covered in barnacles as the high tide completely covers them.  The only part that has no barnacles are their willies.....funny that!

Washing the mud off Bombo ...

 

The 100 hundred men are spread out along 3 km of beach.  We are not 'arty farty' people but they are just fascinating.

You can read about them here 

Meanwhile Bombo just ran around like a dog possessed !

or just a nutty, happy dog !

Elaine refused to grab his appendage!

So went for a pat on his bum.....Bombo just pissed on him!

And carried on running around ...

This one is closer to shore and is half buried - both the dogs decided to give this one a quick squirt ...



We got back to the boat in the early evening and had an impromptu drink on the dock with our Antipodean neighbours ...

Paul, Ray, Ray, Diane, Leonie and El

Yet another great day in Liverpool.

Oh nearly forgot............................