> Folk Music > Songs > Day Trip to Bangor

Day Trip to Bangor

[ Roud - ; Debbie Cook]

Some people say that this song really is about the North Wales seaside resort of Rhyl but, since Day Trip to Rhyl doesn’t sound very rollicky, it was relocated to the nearby town of Bangor, which sadly lacks funfairs and beaches.

Fiddler’s Dram with Cathy Lesurf recorded Day Trip to Bangor in 1978 for their Dingle’s album To See the Play. They also released it in November 1979 as a single, leaving out verse 3. It reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1979. This short version was also included in in 1980 on their eponymous album Fiddler’s Dram before they disbanded and morphed into the Oyster Ceilidh Band and later into the Oyster Band.

Lyrics

Fiddler’s Dram sing Day Trip to Bangor

Chorus (after each verse):
Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor?
A beautiful day, we had lunch on the way and all for under a pound you know
But on the way back I cuddled with Jack and we opened a bottle of cider
Singing a few of our favourite songs as the wheels went around

Do you recall the thrill of it all as we walked along the sea front
Then on the sand we heard a brass band that played the diddlely-bump-terrara
Elsie and me had one cup of tea, then we took a paddler boat out
Splashing away as we sailed round the bay and the wheels went around

Wasn’t it nice eating chocolate ice as we strolled around the fun-fair
Then we ate eels on the big ferris wheel as we sailed above the ground, but then
We had to be quick ’cause Elsie felt sick and we had to find somewhere to take her
I said to her lad, what made her feel bad was the wheel going around

Can’t you still hear the noise on the pier as we took a breath of sea air?
Having a go at every sideshow we passed along the way, we had a
Our fortunes told, when it turned a bit cold and a go on the tombola
It was such a surprise when I won a prize when the wheels went around

Elsie and me, we finished our tea and we said goodbye to the seaside
Then on the bus, Flo said to us, “Oh, isn’t it a shame to go
Wouldn’t it be grand to have cash on demand and to live like this for always
Oh, it makes me feel ill, when I think of the mill and the wheels going around”

Yadda-aah-laddle-aah-aah-dah-laddle-aah-dee-lah-dah-dah-dah-dah