A Leigh Day

May 7, 2019 by Ray Morgan

Bank Holidays carry a weight of pressure. You have to be DOING something, you have to be USING your time. If you're lucky enough to not work on Bank Holidays, that is, and shout out to any of you who had to work this weekend.

Jo and I did very Bank Holiday things. We wallpapered. We gardened. We brunched. We went for drinks. But sometimes you need to have a 'take it easy' day before going back to the grind, and that's exactly what we did on Monday. It wasn't the greatest weather-wise (we were spoilt / ruined by what we shall refer to in future times as Climate Emergency Easter Weekend). But still, we had a nice Leigh day.

It started at an undisclosed location (our house, lol) and we walked to the church fair at St Margaret's where we bought some cute plants for the front garden. We walked down along Marine Parade (where it was windy af) and into Old Leigh. It was busy, but not crazy, and we sat outside The Billet drinking regrettably iced drinks. We popped into The Foundry Hatch. We stumbled upon the Old Leigh Artists' Market - loads of stalls of artists showing in this year's Art Trail. Some were painting right there on Strand Wharf - it was so cool. I love this about Leigh- there's always something nice going on. It made me think how exciting it must be for anyone who is thinking of moving here to come and see how great it is here, and happen upon things like that. 

We walked along the cinder path where we saw a million cute dogs. We got as far as Chalkwell Beach and decided it was time for another pit stop (we live for pit stops).

Jo popped into Saltwater Cafe while I got a table outside and sat down with the plants (they were having a nice little trip too). Jo came out with a grin like the Cheshire Cat for the cafe sold vegan fudge! A small moment of appreciation for our little town where it is SO easy to be vegan right now! So many places have vegan options and it is so great. Anyway, we had a cup of tea. I'm going out on a limb here to say this was also the nicest cup of decaf tea I've ever had in a cafe. I know, I know, vegan, decaf... I'm your basic nightmare, your Sally Allbright dining companion (but without the cute knee socks).

We ate the fudge and I had a whoosh of madeleine-esque nostalgia for family holidays in Cornwall as a child, particularly St Ives, because I can picture that fudge shop exactly, carefully choosing from the myriad flavours. I have not eaten something like this in YEARS - I gave up dairy about 4 years ago and it was such a delight to enjoy the taste of happy seaside holidays. 

We finished up the tea and fudge and walked along the seafront, the tide was coming in fast, we passed people sitting on rugs in actual coats scarves and hats while barbecuing, surely the ultimate British scene? We ambled home, ready to lounge on the sofa watching Seinfeld re-runs with a glass of wine - by the time we made it back, we'd walked five and a half miles. A perfect little Leigh day.

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