When i was younger people would say that i wasn't a proper local because my family wasn't from around here. My grandparents, on my dad's side, moved from Gornal to Paignton and opened a B&B, then were joined by my uncle and his wife before they found their own place in Goodrington. Following several visits my grandad's sister and husband also moved down and bought a house in Kingskerswell.
My dad was playing football and my mom was at university in Derby at the time but once she had graduated they got married and moved to Brixham. Several conversions mean their 2 bed bungalow is now a 5 bedroomed house but they've never moved.
My older brother and myself were both born in Brixham Hospital before the maternity unit closed and apart from uni and a brief stint in Paignton i have always lived here. Therefore i would definitely say i am local!
Having grown up here though it's easy to ignore the various events that seem to draw in the tourists. For example, the Pirate Festival where people dress up and do enactments etc is no big thing anymore. When you've seen it all once why would you need to see it every year? Plus they have Pirate Thursdays so it has almost become normal to see them all wandering around town. However the streets are always full of visitors taking pictures and loving it!
The RNLI demonstrations are similar because i have seen it all a million times already but my daughter wanted to go so we trundled down to the Breakwater and sat in the rain to observe it all! There was an air display by the Wingwalkers beforehand though which i had never seen and that was actually rather impressive.
We are lucky enough to watch the Red Arrows twice a year at the Dartmouth and Torbay Regattas and i have to admit that seeing their displays never gets old. Sadly we missed out this year due to the tragic death of pilot John Egging and it didn't really feel like a proper summer after that.
It made me realise how many things we take for granted living here simply because they are part of every day life. Having a child though gives me the chance to rediscover some of these things and share in her excitement and enthusiasm.
So it was with the above in mind that i decided we would make our first appearance at Fishstock today. To be frank i struggled to think how this could possibly be entertaining but was determined to give it a shot. As you can imagine i was pleasantly surprised and we all had a good time.
Slytherin were opening the show in the music tent and were completely amazing. According to the other half, who watches them regularly in pubs around town, they had calmed things down alot due to the kids and older folk. They do rock, really loudly, but well and their versions of 'Build me up Buttercup' and 'Mamma Mia' should have been awful but turned out to be brilliant.
We had to stop at the seashore centre stand to make a flag involving glitter glue, paint and lots of mess then somehow i ended up carrying that around! I learnt that i don't like crab, goat curry is just bizarre and i tasted the best Devon Cream Tea I've ever had in my life! There was no point watching the cooking demos as i am the only one who eats fish and i know how i like it.
We had a good wander around a trawler which, to me, was very interesting apart from the annoying family following us who just kept moaning about the smell! News Flash - Fishing boats smell fishy, shock, horror! Father and daughter do not have sea-legs and were stumbling around like drunkards then nearly went overboard while trying to climb onto the Vigilance. It's one of the tall ships and is supposedly traditional and authentic but i spotted the car stereo and electric kettle!
We were tempted to partake of some alcoholic beverages and a pork with stuffing bap but ended up watching our little darling build up her arm muscles on the swingboats. Then it was time to visit Nanny.
All in all it was very entertaining and we will be going next year.
A special thank you to the strange woman dressed as a fish who gave our child 'magic sea dust'. I am now finding green glitter all over my house!
My new rule- A true Brixhamite can make fishing nets and splice rope (which i can do by the way)!!
My dad was playing football and my mom was at university in Derby at the time but once she had graduated they got married and moved to Brixham. Several conversions mean their 2 bed bungalow is now a 5 bedroomed house but they've never moved.
My older brother and myself were both born in Brixham Hospital before the maternity unit closed and apart from uni and a brief stint in Paignton i have always lived here. Therefore i would definitely say i am local!
Having grown up here though it's easy to ignore the various events that seem to draw in the tourists. For example, the Pirate Festival where people dress up and do enactments etc is no big thing anymore. When you've seen it all once why would you need to see it every year? Plus they have Pirate Thursdays so it has almost become normal to see them all wandering around town. However the streets are always full of visitors taking pictures and loving it!
The RNLI demonstrations are similar because i have seen it all a million times already but my daughter wanted to go so we trundled down to the Breakwater and sat in the rain to observe it all! There was an air display by the Wingwalkers beforehand though which i had never seen and that was actually rather impressive.
We are lucky enough to watch the Red Arrows twice a year at the Dartmouth and Torbay Regattas and i have to admit that seeing their displays never gets old. Sadly we missed out this year due to the tragic death of pilot John Egging and it didn't really feel like a proper summer after that.
It made me realise how many things we take for granted living here simply because they are part of every day life. Having a child though gives me the chance to rediscover some of these things and share in her excitement and enthusiasm.
So it was with the above in mind that i decided we would make our first appearance at Fishstock today. To be frank i struggled to think how this could possibly be entertaining but was determined to give it a shot. As you can imagine i was pleasantly surprised and we all had a good time.
Slytherin were opening the show in the music tent and were completely amazing. According to the other half, who watches them regularly in pubs around town, they had calmed things down alot due to the kids and older folk. They do rock, really loudly, but well and their versions of 'Build me up Buttercup' and 'Mamma Mia' should have been awful but turned out to be brilliant.
We had to stop at the seashore centre stand to make a flag involving glitter glue, paint and lots of mess then somehow i ended up carrying that around! I learnt that i don't like crab, goat curry is just bizarre and i tasted the best Devon Cream Tea I've ever had in my life! There was no point watching the cooking demos as i am the only one who eats fish and i know how i like it.
We had a good wander around a trawler which, to me, was very interesting apart from the annoying family following us who just kept moaning about the smell! News Flash - Fishing boats smell fishy, shock, horror! Father and daughter do not have sea-legs and were stumbling around like drunkards then nearly went overboard while trying to climb onto the Vigilance. It's one of the tall ships and is supposedly traditional and authentic but i spotted the car stereo and electric kettle!
We were tempted to partake of some alcoholic beverages and a pork with stuffing bap but ended up watching our little darling build up her arm muscles on the swingboats. Then it was time to visit Nanny.
All in all it was very entertaining and we will be going next year.
A special thank you to the strange woman dressed as a fish who gave our child 'magic sea dust'. I am now finding green glitter all over my house!
My new rule- A true Brixhamite can make fishing nets and splice rope (which i can do by the way)!!
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