25. Yarmouth - Great or not so...

It's such a shame when a place can't live up to its name.  I love Great Yarmouth, but I have to admit it should possibly be re-named Once-great Yarmouth or just plain Yarmouth. Great Yarmouth is a seaside town in Norfolk, which once had a thriving fishing industry.  Today, despite the best efforts of the council tojolly it up with lights, it's a bit ... run-down.  Don't get me wrong, it's still popular with a lot of people who holiday there year after year (we met some  a couple of years back who had been coming and staying the same hotel for 10 years) but there's just an air of "could try harder".  It still has charm, though, and if you're looking for a seaside holiday with lots of slot machines and fun-fair rides, Great Yarmouth is ideal.  Just don't go looking for a restaurant with table-cloths along the sea-front.

To me, Yarmouth's saving grace is its rollercoaster - a huge thing built on a wooden frame which has been in situ since 1932.  It doesn't have any of your stomach-turning loop the loops or vertical drops, just good old fashioned height and speed. It's exhilarating and not too terrifying for cowards like me!

I used to visit Yarmouth as a teenager when we holidayed in a nearby village and my best friend and I bought our first illicit pack of fags there (in the days when nobody asked for ID if you had boobs and make-up) and smoked them without inhaling just to look cool (which I'm sure we didn't).  As an adult, I brought my kids to Yarmouth for days out at the Pleasure Beach followed by a ride down the sea-front in a pony and trap and fish and chips straight from the paper.  Often in the rain.  Ah, the good old British seaside!  More recently, my husband and I came for a friend's party and spent the afternoon wandering in the rain, eating chips and riding the rollercoaster.  It was quite romantic!

What am I saying?  Scratch that first paragraph - Great Yarmouth is great!