I’m a keen visitor to Lytham on the Lancashire coast which
an hour’s drive away from home. I always think of Les Dawson when I’m there as
he bought a luxurious house on Islay Road when the money start coming in (he
didn’t head down South to London like many do.) I often time the journey so I
arrive at Lytham at 12:30pm when hung pangs are pinching my stomach. Before I
head to the beach I often call at the main cemetery and have my sandwiches and
a frothy coffee near Les’s grave. It’s such a peaceful cemetery even though the
quietness is peppered by the occasional plop
emanating from the putting green of the adjoining golf club.
I
realised I’d never visited the place where Les breathed his last breath so, on
a trip to Lytham, I set off a little earlier and headed to a Spire (BUPA)
hospital in Whalley Range two miles south west of in Manchester centre. The
large individual family houses surrounding the hospital were under a level of
quietness that only seems to come around on Sunday mornings. It was raining
lightly so I finished listening to a Radio 4 drama until it stopped.
Les
and his second wife Tracy came to this hospital on Thursday 10th
June 1993 so Les could undergo a general check-up for insurance purposes. This
large loud barrel-shaped comic had long-standing health problems from a life of
smoking and drinking and was a heart-attack waiting to happen. He’d had a heart
scare while performing in panto at Wimbledon and Tracy had done her best to get
him to give up smoking and eat healthily. However it was all in vain: at this
hospital Les was put on a treadmill and had his heart monitored. Afterwards he
and Tracy were in a cubicle waiting for the results (later they were due to
meet comedian Foo Foo Lammar in Kendal’s in central Manchester.) Les asked
Tracy to get him a coffee and a magazine. He was a bit tired but this was
nothing new as he wasn’t physically fit. When Tracy returned she thought Les
was having one of his usual dozes; he was well-known for having the odd snooze
no matter what time of day it was. However she found him to have died, screamed
and summoned help. He’d died of a massive heart attack.
He
was 62 and left four children, the last was Charlotte who was only about eight
months old.
Would
Les have entered here…
…or here…