Tracks of Carole’s Years: part 2

03 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

My third song is Get into the groove my Madonna. I started my nurse training in 1985 initially in Weston Super Mare. Our nurse’s home was at Uphill that was just on the outskirts of the town. Being student nurses, going out on the town on a regular basis was an absolute must. Our very first weekend away from home my friend Julie and I decided to do just that. So after a few drinks in the local pubs; The Dolphin and The Ship, we made the decision to walk into town rather than waste money on a taxi. We thought it was a brilliant idea to walk in the dark along the beach, not even thinking about checking the tide times. Luckily there was no sea to contend with, but we spotted the golf course on the way and felt that would be a much quicker route. It probably would have been if it wasn’t pitch black and we could have seen the bunkers before we fell in them, but we emerged mostly unscathed and made it to the bars and nightclub to dance the night away to this tune and many other 80’s beauties.

Song number 4 is a David Bowie song, I’ve found it really hard to choose just one, but have narrowed it down to 2; Life on Mars and Star man. I’ve been a Bowie fan for a very long time and was lucky enough to see him at Wembley Stadium in 1987 on his Glass Spider tour. This of course was the old Wembley stadium and in those days you weren’t allocated seats. You had a gate number on your ticket, once you got inside you made a run for it to get you where you considered the best place to be.

We ran to the seats on stage left, we didn’t have a master plan we just thought it would be a good vantage point. Once settled in our seats we discovered that we were just a few rows away from the press and VIP section. I didn’t see them but apparently Elton John and George Michael were sat up there. But I did see, sitting just 2 or 3 rows away from me was Diana Princess of Wales, she looked relaxed, radiant and beautiful. I must admit I turn around a few times during Bowie’s performance to see her up and dancing with everyone else around her, but the chap in front me couldn’t take his eyes off her for most of the night, I think he was truly smitten.

I didn’t take this photo, but from where I sat and a smidgen of zoom I could have captured this image myself.

June 20 1987 Diana attends a David Bowie Concert at Wembley Stadium with Viscount Linley and Major David Waterhouse | Princess diana, Princess diana rare, Diana

Walk the walk

08 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Yesterday I went on a blustery and at times, soggy trip down memory lane. When I first started my nurse training in 1985 I lived in the then new nurse’s accommodation tucked behind the general hospital at Uphill in Weston Super Mare.

In those days student nurses were the slaves of the workforce. Sometimes I needed to let off steam after being bullied by the nursing assistants who believed they were in charge, being made to clean the sluice with a toothbrush or just having survived long stretches of very busy shifts (often 10 in a row).

I loved to walk the length of the beach from Uphill sands to Birnbeck Pier, it was a long enough walk to dampen down the frustrations, have a blub and to talk myself back into continuing my training. Thankfully these episodes of doubt were few and far between so often I could just enjoy the walk.

The walk yesterday was full of children chasing the tide out and dogs chasing balls. As the tide was only just going out the causeway over to the pier was quite treacherously slippery, but I made it over with no broken bones or without falling into the drink.

When I got to my destination I was saddened to see the state of the pier, I hadn’t see it for quite some years. As a child in the 1970’s I regularly visited Weston Super Mare and the pier on day trips with my grandparents, and of course I would have a little trot on it at the end of my walks during my training.

Birnbeck pier was designed by Eugenious Birch and was opened in 1867, it is the only pier in the country to link the mainland with an island, Birnbeck Island. Since 1882 it was the base for the RNLI to launch their rescue boats as it is the only location for launching in any tide. Unfortunately due to safety they had to relocate in 2016.

This grade 2 listed pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and it’s been placed on the “at risk” register compiled by British Heritage as it’s in a very poor state of disrepair.

But all is not lost, rumour has it that the RNLI may potentially take back ownership of the pier and hopefully restore it to it’s former glory. In addition to this there is the fundraising organisation called Friends of the old pier, that are working very hard to help achieve this aim.

I really hope that the old pier can be restored and then maintained so it doesn’t get in such a state again. You never know who might visit, after all it was good enough for the Beatles in 1963!