Ship of Fools

The TSS Duke of Lancaster. Built by Harland and Wolff in 1955 and registered in Lancaster, it ferried passengers on the Heysham to Belfast route until 1979. It was then sold and beached at Mostyn Dock on the Dee Estuary. As a teenager living in Chester at the time, my friends and I were quite excited to hear about the plans to turn it into a “fun ship”. There was talk of bars, amusement arcades and a disco.
Unfortunately, over forty years later, those plans are still being talked about. Continued planning application refusals by the local council meant that no development took place. The owners have put up a big sign saying that trade has been scuppered by “pirates”. There was evidence that some sort of outdoor market/event took place at the end of last year, but no signs that anything similar might be happening this year.
We were only there because Mrs C wanted to visit the Abakhan fabric shop which is nearby. Having failed to find a top she liked in the shops this morning, she has decided to buy the fabric and make it herself. So, a pleasant thirty minute drive down the North Wales coast it was then.
Off to the cinema again tonight to see “The Batman”. Thought we’d embrace modern technology and book tickets through the app because it’s cheaper - and supposedly quicker. But no matter which card we used, it kept crashing at the last minute. Finally got it to work by registering the card on Apple Pay and then using that as the payment method. All very long winded and frustrating, but we do now have a QR Code. Whether it relates to the seats - or even the film - we wanted, remains to be seen…