Bicycle to Blackpool...

Joan used to cycle to Blackpool and back in a day in the summer. A round trip of over 100 miles, leaving at dawn and getting back in the dark on the bike she bought with a tenner she borrowed from her dad. She paid it back at a two shillings a week and he wrote it in his book until it was paid. She was fifteen or so, it was 1945, it was her first job and she got paid eight bob a week (which was less than fifty pence) and her dad took half of it even before she'd paid her bike debt.

She was really proud of her bike, she'd worked hard for it. Sometimes it was just Southport that she cycled to and sometimes she'd stay in a youth hostel overnight, but just how she managed to cycle that far in a day is beyond my understanding.

Just goes to show.

Bicycle to Blackpool.

Is that where you are

Pedalling away,

Or are you riding

To Southport today?

Seventeen on your ten guinea bike,

Borrowed money, but you can go where you like.

To the tower and back

On a sunny Sunday,

Back then you had fun

And forgot about Monday.

An ice cream and a stroll on the prom,

Then back on your bike to where you came from.

I’m sure as I look

I can see you peddling,

And it’s not far now

So please stop trembling.

I don’t want to watch as you ride away,

But wherever you’re going it’s a summer's day.