Among some of the Sandra in Spain stuff I do - apart from the writing, radio appearances and hustling people to give me interviews for various expat sites - I'm a group host for Costa Women on the Costa Blanca. We're trying to set up a group of business women, writers, mothers, professional people, students, rocking retirees, and any other brand of woman living in the Torrevieja area. It's getting to the time of year when people head for their homeland for the summer, or leave on a jet plane for cooler climes, and there was only one other lady at the most recent meeting before the summer recess. But what a lady Marian Donovan is! I was actually glad it was just the two of us, because it gave us plenty of time to talk about one of our favourite topics - Sir Cliff Richard.
Now, I've been a big Cliff fan since the time of Summer Holiday and Lucky Lips, when I was around 10. I sat through three back-to-back showings of Summer Holiday, and scared my parents silly. It was the only time I ever remember my father raising a hand to me, but it was justified - I'd been out alone, at the age of 10 or 11, for almost 8 hours, and this was around the time of the Moors Murders, and several other child abductions. Someone had even been taken from our school, although thankfully they were found unharmed.
It turned out Marian was also a big Cliff fan, and she used to walk half an hour from her home in London to the Juke Box Jury studios. Her mother knew where to find her though - she'd be on the telly in the audience, having been invited in to watch the rehearsals as well as the show. She happily recalls sitting in the stalls with the Shadows, the only fan who'd turned up hours ahead of the show in the hope of catching a glimpse of her idol. I saw Cliff live too - usually at Blackpool, during our summer holiday, which obviously wasn't as good as Cliff's film version. For a start, we were short on sun, although the music was great, and I managed a quick hello here and there.
So far then, our Cliff experiences were similar, but since then, Marian has left me far behind. Not content with seeing the movies, buying the records and attending the odd concert, Marian reckons she's been to hundreds of concerts since the 1970's, and she's booked 3 dates for Cliff's 75th Birthday Tour at the Royal Albert Hall. Not only that, she goes to Portugal on holiday every year and rocks up at Cliff's winery at Guia on the Algarve.
So, does she just stand at the gates and peer through? Not on your life! Cliff is very approachable, and loves meeting the fans who come to the winery. He's often to be seen in the gardens, meeting people, and one year, without thinking, Marian called him 'Darling' in front of her husband. Her husband played to the gallery, and Cliff thought it might be pistols at dawn, until Marian explained her husband was a right wind-up merchant. The following year, Cliff spotted Marian and shouted 'Hello darling!' across the gardens. Once seen, never forgotten, that's our Marian!
So, is her husband jealous of all the attention Marian showers on her idol? Apparently, he does sometimes say she spends more on Cliff than on him, and her very reasonable reply is, 'Well, I've known him a lot longer than I've known you!'
Now she's in Spain, it's not so easy for Marian to follow Cliff, but that doesn't deter her. She's pathologically scared of flying, so when she heads from her home near Guardamar to London in October, she'll be travelling by train and bus, and maybe boat, although she has still to work out a route and find places to stay. And she'll be doing it alone, unless she can find someone to travel with. Her ever-supportive husband usually accompanies her, but he's recovering from surgery, and won't be able to make it. When she gets back, having wished Cliff a very happy birthday in person, she wants to try to set up a Spain-based fan club.
So, if you fancy a trip to London around the end of the first week in October, or if you can advise Marian on the best way to get there, leave a comment below or message me privately and I'll pass it on. You don't have to be a Cliff fan - once you're in London you can do your own thing, or if you want to see Cliff in action, you can try and pick up a ticket. I'd be first in the queue myself, but we're not back from England and Portugal until late September. I'm swinging past Guia too!
Sandra Piddock is a writer and blogger living in Algorfa, Costa Blanca. She's also a Costa Women host. Check out her website Sandra in Spain