More to Morecambe
March 21st 2012 19:28
Photo Credit:
The tide is up and the Irish Sea spreads out calm and flat and looking as though it goes on for ever into the misty-milk distance. Children toss pebbles into the water. Elderly folk sit on benches reading the papers, occasionally turning to one another to chuckle over a story. ItÂs incredibly quiet, save for the odd squeal of an enormous seagull.
Down on the beach near the lifeboat station, a trio of fishermen try their luck  while keeping a dog happy by throwing a tennis ball and watching the hound rush off along the sand. I go down to see how theyÂve been doing (theyÂve got one ÂkeeperÂ, they say) and then ask them what they like most about Morecambe.
ÂThat! says Andy, who is wearing a battered old baseball cap and tattered jeans. HeÂs pointing at the view out across the water. ÂJust that!Â
Morecambe has to have one of the most beautiful views in Britain. ItÂs so wide and open, and the water looks incredibly calm; the surface swelling imperceptibly, almost as though the Irish Sea is breathing. The view on its own is a good enough reason to visit, but then thereÂs the sleepy feel of a once busy seaside resort; the atmosphere of faded grandeur that has an almost addictive quality.
In the mid 20th century, Morecambe was a leading resort, with hordes of visitors coming by train from Yorkshire while nearby Blackpool tended to attract the Lancashire crowds. It hosted the Miss Great Britain beauty contest from 1956 to 1989, there were two piers (both now gone after storms and fires), plus all sorts of amusement parks and attractions (including The World of Crinkley Bottom, based on the Noel Edmonds television show, which closed after a few months in 1994).
Its decline came as the era of cheap flights took off. But now that the most garish attractions have gone, what remains seems to have a quiet dignity, with a sense of having survived a storm and, of course, the view hasnÂt changed simply because Ryanair and easyJet have arrived.
Down on the beach near the lifeboat station, a trio of fishermen try their luck  while keeping a dog happy by throwing a tennis ball and watching the hound rush off along the sand. I go down to see how theyÂve been doing (theyÂve got one ÂkeeperÂ, they say) and then ask them what they like most about Morecambe.
ÂThat! says Andy, who is wearing a battered old baseball cap and tattered jeans. HeÂs pointing at the view out across the water. ÂJust that!Â
Morecambe has to have one of the most beautiful views in Britain. ItÂs so wide and open, and the water looks incredibly calm; the surface swelling imperceptibly, almost as though the Irish Sea is breathing. The view on its own is a good enough reason to visit, but then thereÂs the sleepy feel of a once busy seaside resort; the atmosphere of faded grandeur that has an almost addictive quality.
In the mid 20th century, Morecambe was a leading resort, with hordes of visitors coming by train from Yorkshire while nearby Blackpool tended to attract the Lancashire crowds. It hosted the Miss Great Britain beauty contest from 1956 to 1989, there were two piers (both now gone after storms and fires), plus all sorts of amusement parks and attractions (including The World of Crinkley Bottom, based on the Noel Edmonds television show, which closed after a few months in 1994).
Its decline came as the era of cheap flights took off. But now that the most garish attractions have gone, what remains seems to have a quiet dignity, with a sense of having survived a storm and, of course, the view hasnÂt changed simply because Ryanair and easyJet have arrived.
| 39 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by World Wise
Skip On Over
World Wise