Slotties' Day Out
Well, we could not have picked a better day for it; what a glorious September afternoon
and evening! Many thanks to those who came down to Brighton on the 23 rd, I think all
agreed it was 'a great day out. It would have been nice to see a few more, although
apologies were received from a few who had prior commitments. It was really good to
see Maurice and Pat Felce and Graham Millard, who all travelled a considerable
distance by train. Kevin Gowland asked me not to mention he came all the way down
from Whitley Bay, so I won't! (Actually, he needed to come down south for something
else, so made sure it coincided with slotties' day out. It was good to see you Kevin).
Having spent the afternoon playing the machines and rummaging about in the
storeroom at the back (we even did a bit of dealing), it was time to lock up and eat! A
few had to leave early, but about ten of us made it to the pier for fish and chips, and very
enjoyable it was too. When we departed from the fish and chip restaurant, we found the
pier swarming with police; coastguards and searchlights down below; the Royal Navy
standing by; sea king helicopters hovering above ..... (OK I'm exaggerating now).
Apparently, a couple of nutters (or drunks) had decided it would be fun to jump off the
side of the pier. I bet we had a better evening than they did!
Unfortunately, at this point Graham, Maurice and Pat had to depart in order to catch
their train. By now there were just half a dozen of us left. I had originally thought we
might have a few beers in one of the bars on the pier, but Tony Atkins found us a really
great little pub, 'The Cricketers' just a short distance from the seafront. Apparently, it
was once frequented by the London gangland fraternity, on their excursions to the
seaside. So the six of us spent a most enjoyable evening drinking good beer and talking
about, well among other things, slot machines!
Wish you'd been there?
Well, I shall definitely be repeating it next year, at about the same time in September. So
pencil in 22 nd September in your diaries. And if you don't believe what a great day it
was, here are a few emails I received the following day:
Hi Jerry and Sharron
Just a couple of lines to say thanks for a great day yesterday. Pity there wasn't more
people, but I'm sure word will get around and if you decide to do it again next year we
could see the numbers increase. It was good to see Kevin could make the journey from
Whitley Bay. Yesterday really had it all, good company, good food, drama on the pier
and a suntan as well ... .. ..... perfect day out. Oh! And let's not forget, without our friend
Charlie it was a lot quieter too! But we did miss you Charlie .... really we did!
All the best, Graham
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