I took Lulu for a seaside walk this week. Usually if we want to go to the beach, we go to St Annes, which is not far away. But this week I fancied somewhere different, so I took her to Cleveleys which is about a 20 minute drive from home.

Cleveleys is a quiet town, mostly populated with retirees (like me) and culturally far away from its sister Blackpool. It is more commonly known as Thornton-Cleveleys because politically is joined up with the ancient village of Thornton. Cleveleys grew rapidly in Victorian and Edwardian times as somewhere for posh people to visit and take the water. Many of them stayed at the massive Hydro Hotel, which had salt water pools and Turkish baths.

The promenade is concrete with an Art Deco styling and that is what attracted the producers of Star Wars series Andor to form the setting for Niamos, a holiday resort planet, under strict rule from the Galactic Empire. There is a famous scene where Cassian Andor is arrested and held against a wall by android K-2SO.

This image is often recreated by the many Star Wars fans that visit Cleveleys, dressed as characters from the film. When I was there this week, there were no stormtroopers or rebels, so I found this view through the famous wall.

Instead of recreating film scenes, Lulu and I just wandered along the beach and the prom, enjoying the walk, taking in the fine views and chasing other dogs. It’s a lovely place to visit, even without any cos play.