Posted:  Saturday 09 May 2009

Manchester Area Associates
enjoy a five-day holiday at the
Warner Coastal Resort near Lowestoft
- April 2009 -

It was a sunny Monday morning on 20th April when eighty-five Associates boarded two coaches at the Manchester Plant car park at 7am to start their long journey south to Corton, near Lowestoft.
In a kind gesture from the Manchester Associate Committee everybody was give an envelope containing £5 to spend at the Ferrybridge Services, one of our many stops on route.
The second stop was a traditional farm shop near Holbeach serving good food, gifts, plants and home made jams, pickles, and farm fresh fruit and vegetables for which we made a note for the return journey.

On arriving at the Warner Coastal Resort the sun was still shining and we were in awe of all facilities that were on offer.
We all settled in to our chalets with every comfort given to us.
The evening meal was very good, followed by a quiz and a game of bingo.
The cabaret proved to be first class dancers with a trio of musicians plus a lovely lady singer.  As the evening drew to a close we realised it had been a long day and we were all ready for our beds.

Tuesday
After breakfast we joined the coach and set off on our visit to the cathedral city of Norwich.  The castle was in the centre of the city and after a stroll through St. Michael's church being given a guided tour of the church by a kind parishioner who provided all the history of Norwich we proceed to find somewhere for our lunch.

After our long search we happened upon the oldest pub in Norwich called
"The Murderer" where we literally murdered a welcome meal and a jar of ale.

Church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich

The weather was very kind to us shining throughout the day.
After our evening dinner we were entertained by a very good comedian with stories about everyday experiences, he was very funny and true to life, there was plenty of dancing, and incidentally guess who won the quiz, only Herb Booth's table, par for the course I do believe.

Wednesday
Off we go the Great Yarmouth, glorious sunshine all day long.
A walk along the pier observing the lovely clean beach and sea front, plenty of bargains in the market place, still more sun, chance for a little sunbathing whilst awaiting the coach to return us to Corton.

Time for tea (food is great) with a free glass of bucks fizz from the management for our party and yet another evening of good entertainment in the ballroom plus fabulous dancers giving us a really professional show then on with the disco.

Thursday
This was a free day to do what we wanted.  Some went out on a trip to Lowestoft, others stayed around the complex.  I actually had a swim in the pool, some played bowls on the astro-turf bowling green, there was also a giant chess game if anyone wanted to play, also an area to play croquet, and someone mentioned there was a nudist beach nearby but no one seemed to be able to find it.  I wonder why.

Following the activities of the day we had our evening meal and then settled down to our last evening in the ballroom.
This was actually St. George's day and also two of our members were celebrating their birthdays.  That was Malcolm Faulkner at 70 years young and also Ken Atkinson who was 74.  We all joined together in wishing them "Happy Birthday" and also thanked John Greatbanks for yet again organising such a great holiday for us all to enjoy.

We finished the evening by all waiving our flags for St. George and having a real good old sing-song.  Needless to say I went home with a sore throat from all the singing I had done, not to mention a few glasses of wine.

Friday
Up early and after breakfast we were on our way home returning via the farm shop we had visited earlier in the week to fill up with gifts and our mid-day meal.

We arrived home weary but happy in the fact that we had met up with friends and had a wonderful holiday.

That is what retirement is all about.

Dilys Bray

(ph  09/05/2009)

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