Found this vid by pure chance and has brought back some wonderful memories. My mum's old neighbours owned a hotel on South Promenade in Lytham St Annes called Oceandene and in the mid-late 1970's we'd go and stop there, sometimes peak but also what we'd call 'out of season' now. Me and my sister being just little kids back then would go and play in their games room in the basement of the hotel which also had the hotel's bar. Now back then UK licensing laws meant pubs could only open 11am to 3pm and then 6pm to 11pm so late afternoon Les himself could often be found propping the bar up with his bottle, tumbler and bucket of ice. It was one of the few places he could get a drink between 3pm and 6pm of course. He was always very kind to us as kids and as well as telling us some latest jokes he always shouted us a bottle of coke and a packet of KP crisps each. We just called him "Mr Dawson, the funny man on the telly". The summer of 1976 was a relentless heatwave with temperatures in St Annes topping 41c some days. One searing afternoon Les invited us all across to his place The Bumbles and me and my sister played in his private swimming pool all afternoon as the beaches were so rammed it was almost standing room only. Ok, I was only a kid so didn't appreciate things maybe as much back then , but now I relish my memories of Les very dearly.

I stumbled upon Les' grave by pure chance a few years ago. I was in the cemetery looking for a bird (I'm a keen birdwatcher) and just glanced down for no reason and realised I was stood right by it. RIP Les.

Les' s piano playing....i loved it.....makes you want to learn the piano.

Loved the man 💟 and his jokes. RIP Les Dawson.

Mr Les Dawson...A Funny Man With Funny Bones... Loved Him!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

@michaelgrace1298

3 жыл бұрын

Funny everything, imagine being his child? As a parent I've always tried to make my children laugh, Les makes me wee myself

Les was so talented and so funny. Thanks for the upload.

The late great Les Dawson a really really funny man, lovin the Toby cam btw 😀👍

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Indeed Nosey B'stard' 8928, Les Dawson was a comic legend and his style of humour is still missed by many. Glad that you enjoyed the 'TobyCam' as I will hopefully be doing a few more of these type of videos before Toby starts becoming more vocal and curious when he's in the pram! 😉

I had my pie n chips sat in that shelter last week.great video as always Mr H.

Yes a great man and truly missed, thanks for sharing , they don't make em like that anymore, RIP Les

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

You're welcome Alan, glad that you enjoyed the video. Sadly you are right when you say that they don't make them like him anymore and I doubt we'll see comedians like him again.

I knew him fairly well as a customer at Lidum Cottage when his first wife was still alive in the late 70s. She was lovely as was the phantom mother-in-law. He also drank a lot at the Fairhaven regularly with holes in jumper but full of bling, he usually held court in one corner of the bar. Taxi drivers in the area would tell stories of picking him up from places like Birmingham so he could get home to his family every night. He would sleep in the back of the car. If he’d met you before he would remember you and acknowledge you first. It’s hard to believe just how famous he was as you’d never meet a more unassuming man who had both feet very firmly on the ground.

Great video. Les and Meg came to my mum's 21st birthday party in 1968 in Mereside Blackpool. Ive got a photo i could share but not sure how on here

He was a proper legend, still sadly missed. Never be another les.

@padijeff5675

3 жыл бұрын

Is Larry Grayson buried there too?

Thanks for another great video, the church service at his funeral was at the large white marble church in Lytham. Quite a number of comedians from that era lived and are buried in Blackpool, Frank Randle, Jimmy Clitheroe and Alfie Hall to name just a few

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Alan I, glad to hear that you enjoyed the video. I believe that there is a memorial stone and tree to Les in the grounds of the church that you mention from his second wife Tracy and his daughter Charlotte, unfortunately I only found out this information afterwards otherwise I would have included it in the videos as I more or less walked past the church on my way back to St Annes to take a look at the statue. I also did a video whilst I was away from the cemetery where Frank Randle is buried and the ashes of Jimmy Clitheroe and Alfie Hall/Danny Ross are scattered which still needs editing and uploading when I get the time.

Thanks Mr H..for giving us all the history of the nothwest...

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

No problem Chris, I hope you enjoyed this video and Les Dawson themed ramble around Lytham St Annes.

Graveyards are extremely levelling.

Great video Mr H ... loved Les`s dead pan humour and his piano playing skills too

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

I agree Graham, Les's style of dead pan humour and delivery was definitely a one off and I doubt that we'll see his like again as the world is too politically correct now with comedians finding it harder and harder to ply their trade for fear of offending someone.

Les Dawson ... You were so funny ... Thanks for the laughs Les. RIP

" I walked into the Pub the other Night, only to find six big Lads setting about my Mother in Law and beating her up. The Landlord shouts "Les! aren't you gonna help?" I said, nah......six should be enough." One of my fave Les Dawson Gags. 😂 Thanks as always for sharing Mr H.

New subscriber.. Thank you for the vlog... Happy New year to you and your family xx ❤️

Really enjoyed this video 👍

It happened at a bupa hospital in whalley range, Manchester. His daughter is called Charlotte. He was born and grew up in collyhurst, manchester. His first wife meg helped and encouraged les to go into show business. I watched a video about his life story a while ago.

Why would it beak his heart? The house is still very nice and an improvement, to me.

A big man, large as life and extremely funny, loved by millions, suffice to say that we're all the same in death, a hole in the ground is all the property ul left with, RIP big man.

@littleredrose6254

3 жыл бұрын

Is it being so cheerful that keeps you going? You're right though. A sobering thought.

Hey Mr. H, love to see the graves of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and possibly Morecombe and Wise?;) Nothing like UK comedy..GOLD..Dont know much about Les Dawson but great video;) oh and btw..subscribed;)

Super interesting video! More please! Top guy!

Well done Roy great video again.

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers John, glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍

Please show some scenery at the Formby House it would have been nice to see the seafront

Nice video! And I liked the Toby cam :) Are there sands dunes you can get too from that park by Led Dawson's statue?

I think it's great you're keeping these memories Alive by taking us to their graves. But perhaps you could swing the camera around so other people can see where you are and how we can find it as well

@MrHsHotPot

4 жыл бұрын

Hi Dennis, Les Dawson's grave is very easy to find should you ever find yourself in the area and wish to visit it. Simply enter Lytham Park Cemetery & Crematorium through the main gates on Regent Avenue, then shortly afterwards take the first narrow footpath to the right from the main drive and basically you follow the boundary fence with the Golf Club on your right until the footpath ends and you are at a line of graves in front of you. Les Dawson's grave is amongst these graves, two rows back if I remember rightly.

Very interesting mr h👍😁👏👏👏

We are a regular visitor to the statue in the summer, the kids always stop over and say hello after we have been on Lytham St Annes beach. www.dropbox.com/s/jpm29riz850fmgk/Les_Dawson.jpg?dl=0

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Tech Mailbox, and apologies for the late reply as I've only just noticed your comment. We too are regular visitors to St Annes in the summer but normally stick to the beach Blackpool side of the pier with having the dogs with us. Nice pic by the way and it's good to see people enjoying the statue of Les Dawson. Personally I think the statue fits in well as the centrepiece of the Sunken Gardens and can't understand why some local people at the time opposed it being put there.

Toby pram.i like it.nice one mr h.

New subber. I'm made up you did this I adored Les Dawson. I Must do the walk your doing 1 day, if this house arrest ever ends 😕 . A clown too many is my favourite book by Les Dawson . The grave is unassuming you're spot on. I was working at a Butlins in Wales when he died I was mortified 🙈. Me mates were laughing at me. Horrible barstools . Anywho thank you 👍

Another interesting video Mr H, I enjoyed it. Could I suggest a second "Toby Cam" so we can see the views that You see while walking? You could put the second Cam's footage in PIP mode.

@beckyboo4688

5 жыл бұрын

Please don’t encourage him. Ha ha

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

You've now got me thinking how I could do this Nonroadusr, utilising the equipment that I've already got. If I am going to give it a go though I'll need to do it before Toby gets 'curious' and starts grabbing at the selfie stick that I used with the camera in this video or gets any more vocal than he is already having developed an 'opinion' over the two weeks that we have been away. 😉

@nonroadusr

5 жыл бұрын

As I don't know what equipment You have it is difficult to give advice, But if I was to do it I would mount My Sony Camcorder as the main cam with the external lapel microphone on My coat. My GoPro would be mounted on the pram somehow pointing in the other direction. The GoPro footage would be 'Muted Audio' in PIP mode.

@nonroadusr

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry Mrs H, But I simply must ;-)

Love les dawson, I hat people when they changed famous house. I fi own it . i never change it

Very good.

Collyhurst legend Mr H, my old stomping ground 👍

Sorry some errors here. He was cremated, his first wife is buried in that graveyard. He lived at the house in Islay Road Lytham from 1974 (not the 60’s) until he died in June 1993.

@MrHsHotPot

4 жыл бұрын

www.findagrave.com/memorial/8260766/les-dawson

@joannafrith-williams5303

3 жыл бұрын

Some errors and the opinion / suppositions made are wide of the mark.

Theres a few telly that folk who live down that road, once when I was walking along the seafront I saw this man coming towards me and I thought I knew him from Wigan, so I said what are you doing here, it was then I realised it was Frank Carson (its the way you tell um), he looked at me as though I was daft and shook my hand, he was dead a couple of weeks later

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Ha-ha at least he saw the funny side and shook your hand Mick. 😉 Always liked old Frank with his trademark Irish laugh especially on 'Tiswas'. He was another good example of a comedian who could easily switch his act to a clean one and be just as funny.

@DavidJHarrisonEssex

3 жыл бұрын

I met him once, he was a very nice & friendly person.

From a distance the statue looks more like Harold Wilson than Les Dawson.

He was great

I didn't realise Roy Harper lived and went to school in Lytham...

I know the camera was shaded by the weather but I didn't think that statues face, looked liked Les.

@didwest1249

3 жыл бұрын

Nothing like him these statues never do

It's been changed to avoid and deter random members of the public from snooping! 🤣

rip to bobby ball too

we used to turn the tv on and be entertained by people like Les Dawson, how times have changed its just none stop fearmongering and fear these days

@MrHsHotPot

Жыл бұрын

Hi David, sadly I don't think that there are the same calibre of entertainers around today like Les Dawson. but in fairness to any up and coming comedians /comediennes they are hamstrung with political correctness which has all but killed their trade. But yeah TV of yesteryear seems like a lifetime ago now.

@MrDMc1981

Жыл бұрын

@@MrHsHotPot it really does mate. Re-watched all the Royle Family recently and it really brought it home to me, they really captured a moment in time, pre internet and mobiles. Great vids by the way have watched a few so far

Remember the Victoria Wood one?!!!

"TobyCam" 🤗

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Did you like that Shelly Lyme? 😉 It was a name I just thought up on the spot but 'TobyCam' seems to have gone down well so I'll probably do a few more of these type of videos before Toby gets too 'vocal' or 'curious' and giving his opinions when I'm filming.

@shelleylyme6402

5 жыл бұрын

@@MrHsHotPot Yes I did! It made me laugh and it's off-the-cuff cute. In fact, I find all your videos warm-hearted and uplifting, Mr H. Best Wishes to you, the Missus and young Toby! 🤗

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Shelley, I'll pass on your best wishes to Mrs H 👍 and it's good to know that you enjoy watching the videos. All the best.

I think the taking down of the plaque is a bit disrepctfull. even fred dibnah,s old house as still got a plaque. but each to their own i guess

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

The new owners of the house have made many changes to the property EDL, such as demolishing the quaint little conservatory that Les and his wife Tracy had spent many happy hours in and had a large extension to the house built there instead. The original entrance to the driveway is also gone and has been replaced with a high fence instead which silently tells passers by to "Keep Out!" Add to this the name change and the removal of the blue plaque makes the house unrecognisable now to when Les Dawson owned it, so much so that I walked past it twice and only found it because I bumped into the guy who used to do his garden. But maybe that's what the new owners want and why they have made so many drastic (and expensive) changes to this property.

Wow....you would just walk past that grave and never give it a thought if you didn't know, eh?

No mention of Frank Randle now he was a rum bugger.

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

Frank Randle is buried at Carleton Cemetery & Crematorium not this one Black adder, but you are right he was a rum bugger in his day and his drinking sessions with the late Irish Tenor Josef Locke were legendary, putting many Rock Stars to shame for being hedonistic. 😉

@towerpower6867

4 жыл бұрын

@@MrHsHotPot my great grandparents are just behind josef locke's daughter in Layton Cemetery.

if you walk through the gate and keep baring right that just takes you back out the gate , come on les would have said that ,

What is a lewk?

Toby cam.

Some nice plots down that rd Mr H . If you had a £MILLION , you wouldn't have enough . I used to clean windows on Islay Rd , some good payers some not so good payers . I wonder what Les would make of todays politically correct comics ?

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

You certainly know your local area Neil T! 👍 As I never mentioned 'Islay Road' in the video. 👏 Typical of 'certain' residents to be bad payers regarding things like having their windows cleaned, although they are also usually the ones who are fully paid up members of the local golf club and enjoy a good bottle of Bolly! Reference what Les would make of today's politically correct comedians I should imagine it would be something along the lines of one of his catchphrases of "Knickers, Knackers, Knockers!" 😉

@neilt7191

5 жыл бұрын

@@MrHsHotPot I'm a true "Sandgrownun" Mr H . Lived in Blackpool all my days , I expect i always will . There's some serious money around Lytham . A customer of mine lives in the old "Squire of Lythams" house , right on the front on the opposite corner to the assembly rooms . I took a look at George Formbys old place the other day too , all this time and I never knew .

@MrHsHotPot

5 жыл бұрын

I was surprised at just how close we'd been staying to George Formby's old house Neil T, as I'd no idea that we'd only be literally round the corner from it when Mrs H booked the house that we'd been staying in on Shalbourn Road one street back. I'd have loved to have taken a look around the house at some of the original fixtures from the George Formby era but as I said in the video you have to respect that it's someone else's home now and respect their privacy.

It would be nice to see flowers at his graveside..his ex wife and daughter Charlotte Dawson don’t put anything down it’s shocking.. it’a always bare. It’s disgusting she’s living off his name to gain money and fame. I go every week as I have lost someone very close, that’s actually the first time I have seen anything out down in 3 years

@Isleofskye

3 жыл бұрын

Who paid for the funeral, please,Trace? Sounds like there was a dispute although a bit more complicated because it was the death of Meg that made Les move on to another Lady whereas, I assume if a man walks out on his wife and family and sets up a home elsewhere then the second family should pay but not sure about this case. Also, no flowers ever ?

@bigbernie7260

2 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately he was a meal ticket for both of them.

Looks nothing like Les Dawson very poor

Sorry. Too much chatter.

@philipowen3370

3 жыл бұрын

Agree