Fed’s favourite day, its dustbin day with plenty to check out. I saw a guy changing the parking information signs on the seafront. I was interested to see if the costs had gone up? As it turns out no. These were the winter signs and he was taking down the summer signs. The local authority obviously wants to cash in on the summer tourist visitors and in the winter, things are a bit more relaxed and between Oct and March 8am – 6.30pm if you’re not a permit holder you can park for 4 hours free. He told me there were nearly 100 signs along the front to change over. He went on to tell me he had been doing this for 28 years and as the conversation developed he said one town I can’t remember which one (which is a shame) were trying to reduce traffic information for drivers as one particular place had 150 signs just about parking. As I walked on I suddenly became aware of just how much street furniture and information there is bolted onto to everything. Is it all spam? Or valuable information which enables the smooth running of a seaside town all of a sudden signage is omnipresent when I had only subconsciously seen it before.
Walking on the pier now and I can see the carousel which is one of the main attractions on the pier looks very different. The one I remember had rather bold red and yellow; dare I say garish decorations on the horses. It was a little scary if I’m honest somehow the faces of the horses were alarmed or even in pain with nostrils seeming very prominent and flared. A vision of happy children laughing going up and down, round and round something from a trailer from phycological thriller. However, the said carousel was I’m sure a fantastic example of fairground/folk art with contrasting colours and a strong stylistic example of a rare tradition. As We walk around looking at the horses which are much paler and less imposing I notice a man I recognise, he is a local councillor. About two years ago he asked me to draw an artist’s impression of an ambitious seafront development. He didn’t offer me any money to carry this out and nothing came of it, or the proposal he was advocating. I wondered if he would recognise me and if he did I thought I might ask him what became of his proposals.
‘’Hi there how are you’’
Obviously, he did recognise me and instead I asked him if this was a different carousel? He said yes it was, this one was a little smaller and didn’t have the horses names painted on. The other one had been leased and taken away to another location. This one he said the agreement seemed more permanent and it would remain. He asked me if I ever watched Vanity Fair? I said no and struggled with it as I could only think of a long-standing magazine publication. He said the introduction credits to the TV show had used a fleeting glimpse of the previous carousel. He seemed busy rearranging tables and chairs so we moved on.
