A Royal Day and an Extravaganza!

Well the 25th Victorian Extravaganza here in Llandudno has begun a day early this year as we have an extra Bank Holiday for the Royal Wedding.

The weather is looking good for the weekend so it should be a good one!

There will be a parade of steam vehicles, marching bands, traction engines, people in Victorian dress and much more each day at 12 noon.

The main street in Llandudno is closed to traffic and there will be traditional stalls with old fashioned games such as Hook a Duck and Coconut Shies and also some really old one armed bandits! There are some great old fairground rides including chairoplanes (pictured), ghost train, helter skelters, gallopers and a couple of more modern ones in dodgems and waltzers.

There are various stages where there will be singers, dancers and various other acts performing.

The fun extends onto the promenade where there is usually one of the stages, a helter skelter and of course our stall selling Lifeboat souvenirs! We will be there on Saturday, Sunday and Monday so come and say 'hello' if you are in Llandudno.

We aren't on the promenade today as we are all at home watching the wedding!

Easter Sunday Brought us Sunshine!

We have had a brilliant day today with plenty of sunshine and plenty of customers.

We sold lots more souvenirs and had plenty of laughs but I am feeling tired now after two 9 hour days!

Next week it will be three consecutive days on the prom for the May Day Bank Holiday - Saturday, Sunday and Monday so this weekend has been good practice.

I shall have to get round to emptying some collecting boxes tomorrow as I am also the Box Ssecretary for the Llandudno Lifeboat Guild!

What Happened to the Weather?

We have had beautiful weather for the best part of a fortnight now - until today! We set up the RNLI stall on the prom and it was cloudy and quite cold for the majority of the day.

We managed to sell souvenirs but not as many as we would have hoped - lets hope for better weather and better sales tomorrow.

Despite the weather we sold plenty of buckets and spades and saw them being used on the beach - even though most people kept their woollies on!

Feeling tired now but I am sure, after a good night's sleep, I'll be ready to do it all again tomorrow!

Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza

I know we are just coming up to Easter but the following weekend is May Day Bank Holiday and here in Llandudno we host the Victorian Extravaganza.

The main street through the town (Mostyn Street) is closed to traffic from Friday evening until Monday afternoon and it is full of Victorian fairground rides, stalls and games. There are a couple of stages where various acts perform during the three days.

Each day at midday traction engines, steam powered vehicles and people in Victorian dress parade through the town.

The vehicles and their owners congregate down at Bodafon Field at the end of the town nearest the Little Orme where there is also a huge market and funfair. A shuttle bus runs from Bodafon Field to the Great Orme.

Of course the Lifeboat Stall is on the prom for all three days so if you are in the area come and say hello.

I didn't want to go into too much detail and make this post too wordy but if you do want some more information just go to http://victorian-extravaganza.co.uk/ where you will find all the details together with pictures from previous years.

An Introduction to Mew

When we moved to our cottage on The Great Orme in Llandudno a stray cat kept coming to our door and meowing so loudly that we eventually allowed him to adopt us. We asked him what his name was and he said 'Mew' so that's his name!

If any of you think you recognise him it could be because he found fame this year (2011) as Mr February on the RNLI calendar and this is the photograph that they used.

At the moment his favourite thing is catching rabbits and eating them - six so far in the last seven days! I do feed him honestly!

I'll keep you posted on Mew's adventures as my new blog develops.

Lifeboat Fun on the Promenade!

On Easter Saturday and Sunday we will be dusting off the tables and setting up our souvenir stall on the prom at Llandudno for the first time this season.We start at about 9am by fetching out all the tables, setting them up and covering them with souvenirs to sell and finish at about 6pm by putting everything away again! So you can see it's a long day and it is hard work but it is also great fun!

We sell all sorts of things from pens and notepads to toys and teddies and from tea towels and sweets to key rings and fridge magnets so there is something to suit every budget. There are far too many things to mention here so you'll have to come along and take a look.

This year we also have a range of 150th anniversary items as we have had a lifeboat on site at Llandudno for 150 years now and I will be telling you all more about that in later posts. We have various events planned during the year too and I will keep you posted on those too.

Our lifeboat will also be on display on the slipway next to the stall ready for action if she is needed.

We do the same thing again the following weekend on Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the May Day Bank Holiday and Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza. This year we will be on the prom for 5 out of 10 days so we will be needing a rest after all that I can tell you!