Lytham living between the pools

Hi, here we are writing from sunny Lytham St Anne’s which is in-between Blackpool and Liverpool, hence the title. My old friend Steve is working here and has not had time to come and stay with us since he finished his contract in Japan. Unfortunately we never did get chance to stay with him while he was in Japan, the timing just didn’t work out. Either we were renovating, working or didn’t have the money because we couldn’t sell any houses for two years and had only recently bought the one at Giffard Park. Steve was hoping for a few months break between contracts but was seduced by the money again and came almost immediately here upon his return. We have just been talking about how long it was since we last met and think it’s over a year. Take the money while you can Steve.

We spent quite a long time trying to get a nice hotel with a pool nearby at a sensible price without success and ended up in the same hotel as Steve which is very convenient and also not so bad. The County Arms is right in the heart of Lytham which is a very upmarket British seaside resort; a mile away from our last venture to Margate. It’s all coffee bars, bistros, banks and little restaurants rather than Witherspoons and charity shops. We are very pleasantly surprised. There is a large green area between the coast and the first houses which leaves you with a wonderful sense of space.

We had a long walk along the beach to St Anne’s and came back inland a little by the roads while Steve was working. There doesn’t seem to be any bad areas so far, all huge houses well spread apart. I always thought that Lytham St Anne’s was one place but it’s not, its two, Lytham and St Anne’s. We managed to get on the wifi in our room and get stuck into a couple of bottles of wine while settling in. Earlier I had to sample a local lamb and mint pie from Phil’s Bakery as he sounds like a nice chap. We even have Harriet’s cloths shop and Harriet always wanted to start a shop called, “Harriet’s Hairy Hats” when she was little. We are still looking for Claire’s shop but I suppose that it’s not quite such an upmarket name as Phil and Harriet; maybe we will find one tomorrow in Blackpool?

Steve turned up from work and it was straight to the bar where we had a couple and ordered food while Steve caught a quick shower. Once Claire had finished about half her huge pie she was off to bed to watch Coro’ while Steve and I tried the well talked about pub called “Taps” where Tom and Steve were already having a drink and we joined them. We spent the rest of the evening talking about the good old days. This pub won best pub in Lancashire last year and is being entered for best pub in Britain this year. They have an unusual range of local brews. I was just getting this photo of the pumps when the flash went off and made the barman jump. I said that I was just getting a picture of the village idiot which the barmaids thought was hilarious. We know what his nickname will be from now on.