Hmmm...try the Big Wheel, they said - knowing that I'm terrified of heights. That's your colleagues for you...always supportive - and always ready to make you suffer for their entertainment. So, that's how I came to be standing at the foot of Blackburn Town Centre's latest attraction for the Christmas season - a huge ferris wheel, reaching over 100ft (and then some!) into the air.
It was the first "flight", and all the great and the good of the town - Blackburn's "glitterati", if you like - were patiently queuing to get into one of the 24 gondolas and be first to experience views of the town from the air.
Having read about the wheel's illustrious history (as you're queuing, there's plenty of historical information to look at), I felt a little better about my impending plight...then all of a sudden, I was being led to my pod - and the fear returned. With mouth dry and heart pounding, my carriage soared majestically into the air....
....and I absolutely fell in love with the views.
My expected terror vanished, and was replaced with a sense of wonder as I contemplated my home town from a completely new viewpoint. As the wheel turned (and it turned for a good long while - certainly enough to give cracking value for money for your £1 fare), I saw Blackburn laid out before me and noticed so many things I never saw before - the chandeliers and artwork inside the Town Hall, detail on the buildings surrounding King William Street which I had previously been oblivious to...and I experienced a sense of wonder at just how big our town is, sprawled out before me.
Then, it was all over...and I wanted to go on again! I need to get a move on - it's only in town for 4 weeks - but at a quid a throw, it's certainly affordable enough to take the missus, the kids, granny and grandad...if you're going on during the day, make sure you take a camera - if it's dark, just marvel at the glittering landscape and the patterns of the streetlights...maybe you'll see your house, if you're lucky!
Garry Scott, BBC Radio Lancashire.
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