We never had a honeynoon

 Scarborough

Happy Anniversary

Where would I choose?

Our plan fort the honeymoon was to treat my stepson to some trips during the first week of the holiday, then we would have the second week to ourselves in Scarborough.

However, things didn't go to plan. On the Monday after we were married, we took him to Bristol Zoo, the day started drizzly, but we hoped it would clear. By 1:00, it was clear the rain was not going to go, so we returned home to Easton.

I was soaked throgh, and sneezing, that night, I went down with pneumonia, and pleurisy. I was so bad the doctor wanted me to go to hospital, but my wife looked after me. 

When I was in the Royal Air Force, I was on a course with a young lady of 29, who was a widow. I thought how awful to be a widow so young. Years later, that was almost the case for my wife, as I was at death's door for two weeks.

Where would I choose?

 Svitlana asked for a romantic date

Where you I take a loved one?

A Complex Question

The question my friend, Svitlana asked is where would I take her for a romantic date?

That may not seem a complex question, I have many places I have been that I would love to revisit, not counting Scarborough. I can return to Scarborough each year, and be a happy man, I love the city.

Did Svitlana mean anywhere as a place, or as a variation, like any seaside, or woodland area?

There are few places in the UK I dislike, the main one being Blackpool. The city she lives in, Didcot, interests me as there are many museums there, and palaces we could go for a romantic walk.

My dislike of Blackpool

 Scarborough

Overrated

What I am about to write has nothing to do with Blackpool being in Lancashire, and Scarborough being in Yorkshire.

I have been to Blackool twice, and it does NOTHING for me, after all it is what it is, the UK's versiion of Coney Island.

The first time I recall going there, my father had a motorcycle and sidecar, coming across the Yorkshire moors, he was so wet, the dye from his scarf had bled onto his skin. A little over a decade later, I went on a trip organised by a college, it took longer to get along the seafront, than it did to get from Blackpool to Bristol.

I prefer the family atmosphere of Scarborough, to the flashy image of Blackpool. I dare say the city has something going for it, but most people go for the illuminations, as a bye-line, my late father was stationed at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool's old stadium, prior to being posted to India, in 1946. en-route, the ship got bombed in Alexandria harbour, Egypt

Visiting Exeter

I don't know why

Visiting Devon

For decades, I have the wish to visit Exeter in Devon, I can't think why, unless it is beacuse I have not seen much of the county other than a few building sites, which I was dragged to by my late father when he worked for George Wimpey & co, in the 70's.

I can't recall the man's name, but he is correct, when he says "there is nothing to see along the North Somerset coast, I should know I lived there for over 20 years. The area is a series of small villages distant from each other.

The image on the post is NOT Exeter, it is Scarborough. I went back a few years ago, and I'd happily go again

Places I would NOT visit

 There are cities other than York

Bath

There are not many places in the UK I would not wish to visit, some I have been to, and have no desire to revisit, others are over-publisicised, or have little history to see.

Bath - Roman history, Georgian history, greatly over-rated in my opinion, I would rather visit Bristol which has a fascinating, and continuous history to see.

York - Viking history, Roman history, little else to see, again over-rated, and overpriced. This may appear odd as I was born in Yorkshire, but there are many cities with an interesting history which never get mentioned, such as the steel industry of Sheffield, the historic horse races at Doncaster.

Stonehenge - too touristy now, and was vandalised recently by members of Just Stop Oil, who covered the stones in paint.

Blackpool - I have been twice, and left unimpressed both times, I prefer Scarborough, not because I am from Yorkshire, I prefer the family atmosphere at Scarborough.

Liverpool - bad memories of my last week in the Royal Air Force. That aside, the city never impressed me, it is, what it is, a dockland.

I have nothing against Lancashire, there are some places I would liked to have seen.

I can't vouch for Birmingham, I only went once, that was to watch Middlesbrough play Aston Villa, at Villa Park. Aparently Astonn Villa has an interesting history, but the Aston area was a dump when I went there

The Curse of the white lady

 Scarborough

Yorkshire Ghosts

Among sea captains in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, there is a story that if three men see the ghost of a white lady on the same night, one of the men will die that night.

That story is the base of my eBook short story, The Rocking Lantern.

Many of my stories feature the Yorkshire coast, though I left, with my parents in 1963, I still consider myself a Yorkshireman.

One of my wishes when I was a writer, was to have a ghost story published in The Dalesman magazine

I am in SHOCK

 Will I be paid by my 70th Birthday?

Draft2Digital

I sold an eBook on Draft2Digital today, while that may not appear odd as I have been writing for over a decade, this is the first sale this year.

The image on the cover does not relate directly to the story, but it does relate indirectly. The story is about a flood which occured while I was living in Clevedon, North Somerset.

The cover is a photograph I took in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 2010, five years earlier Scarborough suffered a severe storm similiar to the one in my short story which tore the sea front open.

Though I have many ebook on the site, I doubt I shall be paid by my 70th birthday, in two years time.