Cleethorpes was very lucky in June to hold the national 'Armed Forces Day'.
This had been spoken about for months and surely they could not pull it off. A huge national event with Prince Harry being rumoured to attend run by Cleethorpes ,who still can not seem to install correctly a bus station to satisfaction, would mess it up surely!
The weekend did not bode well when, on the Thursday, Brexit happened and David Cameron resigned. Nothing to do with Cleethorpes you may think, except he was going to be the guest of honour! He did still attend but very briefly! Sadly Prince Harry did not attend but Edward the Duke of Kent did.
Cleethorpes was heaving. I have never ever witnessed it so busy. Luckily it was a nice day and I wore my polka dot playsuit and red headscarf.
After parking the car at my parents who live in Cleethorpes, we all walked in and headed to Sea View Street. This is a lovely street to visit if you are in Cleethorpes. Many independent boutiques, stores, cafes and bars. There were stalls along the street and we stood at the end in front of the Armed Forces Memorial Arch at the top of High Cliff near the Bomber Command Memorial Statue which depicts a pilot looking out to sea.
This was a perfect place to watch the re-enactment of the D-Day landings and the 'Red Arrows'. What an amazing display! Flying since 1965, the red arrows act as ambassadors for the United Kingdom and promote the best of British.
It was then time to have a quick coffee in a lovey coffee shop down 'Sea View Street', 'Macy's'. Macy's is a New York themed restaurant and café.
http://macyscleethorpes.co.uk/
After browsing a few more stalls it was time to head to watch the parade. As we were having lunch at 'The Captain's Table' we worked our way along the path. Everybody seemed to be in a jovial mood which was lucky as you could not help stepping on toes or being stepped on. Being only five foot I do have the particular problem of being hit in the face with everybody's boobs!!
The parade was wonderful. I do not believe in war but I understand that without it our land would be totally different. I am patriotic. I always feel terribly inadequate when I think how brave those people were. Just because somebody fought in the war does not make them a good person but in my eyes it does make them a brave person. I also get tearful when I think of the animals that were used in wars and in current fighting and terrorist situations. They do not have a choice.
There is a monument in London, Hyde Park dedicated to all the animals that served and died alongside British and allied forces in wars and campaigns throughout time.
Many and various animals were employed to support British and Allied Forces in wars and campaigns over the centuries, and as a result millions died. No matter how small or large, all animals played a vital role in every region of the world in the cause of human freedom.
Their contribution must never be forgotten.
This year I will be wearing my usual poppy and a purple poppy. The purple poppy is a symbol of the animals in war.
https://www.facebook.com/PurplePoppysAnimalsInTheWar
After lunch Pirate Mick and I headed along to the boating lake. There seemed to be queues everywhere! I was unsure what they were queuing for but being English decided to join the shortest one. Every few minutes somebody came to check my bag! I do not know where they thought I would be able to conceal anything to then place it back in my bag!
When we got to near the front somebody came and placed a wristband around our wrists and after another check of my bag (!) we got though the barriers!! Wow!! It was amazing and free!! There were loads of stalls to look at and lots of games and fun for the children. I had some drink of some Navy Rum! That would keep me warm for the rest of the day!
There was a Vodafone photo booth, again free and Pirate Mick and I had a couple of photographs there! I was even given a rather fetching Royal Naval Association hat.
We enjoyed looking around all the tanks and I loved listening to the bands and watching their displays. There were large screens on what was happening down on the beach and if I had realised I would had watched all day from there!
As you may be aware something always seems to happen to me! I do not seek out disaster or comical situations but they seem to seek out me!!
Two situations on that day come to mind. The first was, after a lovely long busy day Pirate Mick and I decided to head towards the park and ride. Our car was not there but it stopped near my parents house, in fact outside my old secondary school, where the car was.
There did not seem many people around near the exit and the people at the stalls were lined up. It took me a little while to realise we had attached ourselves to the official presentation and handshakes of the Ministry of Defence! Awkward!! What to do?? Should we back out, should we apologise or do, as we did, ride it out and shake the hands of the Red Arrows and tell them how much we enjoyed their performance! Could see them thinking 'Who are they?'. We followed all the way to the other presentations and to the open car door, before managing to disappear!!
We then did get on the park and ride bus but that did not stop only at each end. People were waiting at normal service bus stops and were getting annoyed when buses seemed to just go past them. One elderly man must had waited a long time as he jumped into the road and started beating the bus with his walking stick, yelling very choice words! The bus swerved, he carried on beating the bus and running down the road waving his stick!
Could only happen on my bus!!
Looking forward to next years Armed Forces day and probably have more tales to tell.
"If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow, why, oh why, can't I?" ~ Harold Arlen
Images copyright: Lorna Liza
