Heritage Rides Again 5

I reached the sea at Lytham and then followed the prom all the way to Fleetwood. It is a great place to cycle. I passed a lot of memories. The windmill and jetty at Lytham, that seemed to be in a sea of mud when I was a kid, now plenty of marsh grass is around. The ornate gardens between the prom and the sea which I used to love to run around, you can see them behind Bracken and me, wearing a jumper knitted by my Granny, in this photo. The dunes where my sister ran her hand through the sand and came up with a jet of blood from a glass cut. The pier where I went with my Gran and found a machine that kept letting me win, and resulted in my leaving heavier than when I arrived.

The centre of Blackpool where we would come for underage drinking on Saturdays when I was at Rossall school. And then I felt it was time for a coffee. The espresso machines were still warming up near central pier, but once I had left north pier behind, I came to this cafe, the Hole in the Wall which appeared to be built into the cliff. 

"Can you do me a coffee?" I asked, fearing that the espresso machine would not be switched on. There was no espresso machine.

"I can, £1 a cup". The coffee was instant. I had slipped through a time warp. She didn't take credit cards, I doubt she did receipts.

I gratefully took my cup to drink the warm liquid on a chair looking across the sands. And then she put on music; not just any music but rare Northern Soul classics. So rare that I didn't know them, and Shazam had not a clue. I thanked the lady, complimented her on the sounds, and headed north.