Morecambe

This article is about the town. For other uses, see Morecambe (disambiguation).

Morecambe
Morecambe Sands
OS grid reference	SD425634
Civil parish	Morecambe
District	Lancaster
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MORECAMBE
Postcode district	LA
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Morecambe and Lunesdale

Morecambe /ˈmɔːrkəm/ is a town on Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, England.

In 2001, it had a population of 38,917.

Derivation of name Morecambe

The first use of the name 'Morecambe' in modern times was by Whittaker in his 'History of Manchester', published in 1771, when he refers to the æstury of Moricambe. It next appears 4 years later in 'Antiquities of Furness' where the bay is described as 'the Bay of Morecambe'.

That name is derived from the Roman name shown on maps prepared for them by Claudius Ptolemœus {Ptolomy) from his original Greek maps. At this distance in time it is impossible to say if the name was originally derived from an earlier language or from Greek (e.g. Celtic) [As the copy of Ptolomy's map I was sent by the British Library was a little indistinct I will forego the Greek spelling as I am not a Greek scholar] The Latin version describes the fourth inlet north from Wales on the west coast of England as Moriancabris Æsturis. Tranlated this gives a more accurate description than the present name of Morecambe Bay as the Latin refers to multiple estuaries on a curved sea, not a bay, as then the word sinus or gulf would have been used.

The name next crops up as early as March, 1862 (before the town took the name officially) on a steam locomotive built for the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway. Strangely this was one of four locomotives in the class and the others were each named after existing towns; No. 162 Saltburn, 163 Morecambe, 164 Belfast and 165 Keswick which could indicate the name was already in use for the area unofficially.

It was not until 1889 that the necessary legislation was passed to officially name the area as Morecambe, comprising of the hamlets of Poulton, Bare and Torrisholme (a township for the purposes of the Census of 1841 but shown as separate townships in the previous Census of 1831). In 1894 the Urban District Council was formed, thus freeing Morecambe completely from its governance by the Borough of Lancaster until 1974 when Lancaster again took charge.

[Prior to the creation of Morecambe, Poulton acquired two affectations, 'le Sands' and briefly also 'on Sands' shown on at least one map. The reason for these additions stem from the dearth of names of townships in earlier times with the same name recurring over again. In the days before free movement of people this was not so important but as travel became easier through first the turnpikes and later the railways, it became necessary to differentiate between the various towns with the same name, hence the additions] On 3rd August 1928 the name changed again when the Corporation of Morecambe amalgamated with Heysham Urban District Council to form the borough of Morecambe and Heysham.

History

In 1846, the Morecambe Harbour and Railway Company was formed to build a harbour on Morecambe Bay, close to the fishing village of Poulton-le-Sands, and a connecting railway. By 1850, the railway linked to Skipton, Keighley and Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and a settlement began to grow around the harbour and railway, to service the port and as a seaside resort. The settlement expanded to absorb Poulton, and the villages of Bare and Torrisholme. The settlement started to be referred to as "Morecambe", possibly after the harbour and railway. In 1889 the new name was officially adopted.

Morecambe was a thriving seaside resort in the mid-20th century. While the resort of Blackpool attracted holiday-makers predominantly from the Lancashire mill towns, Morecambe had more visitors from Yorkshire (due to its railway connection) and Scotland. Between 1956 and 1989 it was the home of the Miss Great Britain beauty contest.

Morecambe suffered from decline for a number of years after a series of incidents that affected its tourism and local economy. Two piers were lost: West End Pier was partly washed away in a storm in November 1977 and the remnants demolished 1978 while Central Pier, though struck by fire in 1933, survived until 1992. In 1994, The World of Crinkley Bottom attraction in Happy Mount Park closed only 13 weeks after opening and the ensuing 'Blobbygate' scandal led to a legal battle between Lancaster City Council and TV star Noel Edmonds. The closures of Bubbles, Morecambe's swimming pool, and Frontierland, a fairground, soon followed.

Concern over the decline of Morecambe's West End led to regeneration and investment in the area. The Times and the Daily Telegraph ran features on Morecambe's revival around Easter 2006. After falling into abeyance in the mid-1980s, the Miss Morecambe beauty contest was revived in 2006 by Margee Ltd, a local fashion store, founded in 1933 – the same year that the second Midland Hotel opened.

Morecambe was selected by the RNLI as the location for its first operational life-saving hovercraft, (Griffon 470SAR) H-002 "The Hurley Flyer", which was made operational on 23 December 2002. Housed in a temporary garage next to the Yacht Club until a permanent building could be designed and built. Building work started in 2008 and officially opened on the 12th June 2010.

On 5 February 2004, there was a major loss of life in Morecambe Bay when Chinese immigrant shellfish harvesters were drowned.

The "Morecambe Budget"

Morecambe Beach looking towards the West End

Enoch Powell made a speech in Morecambe on 11 October 1968 on the economy, setting out alternative, radical free-market policies which would later be called the 'Morecambe Budget'. Powell used the financial year of 1968-9 to show how income tax could be halved from 8s 3d to 4s 3d in the pound (basic rate cut from 41% to 21%) and how capital gains tax and Selective Employment Tax could be abolished without reducing expenditure on defence or the social services. These tax cuts required a saving of £2,855 million, and this would be funded by eradicating losses in the nationalised industries and denationalising the profit-making state concerns; ending all housing subsidies except for those who could not afford their own housing; ending all foreign aid; ending all grants and subsidies in agriculture; ending all assistance to development areas; ending all investment grants; abolishing the National Economic Development Council and abolishing the Prices and Incomes Board The cuts in taxation would also allow the state to borrow from the public to spend on capital projects such as hospitals and roads and on the firm and humane treatment of criminals.

Governance

Morecambe is covered by three tiers of government—Morecambe Town Council, Lancaster City Council (District) and Lancashire County Council.

The town is in the Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency. It is also represented in the European Parliament as part of the North West England constituency.

Economy

Morecambe Promenade

Morecambe's main central shopping area stretches from Central Drive Retail Park to the Arndale Shopping Centre. This area also incorporates two markets—The Festival Market and The Morecambe Sunday Market—and the Reel Cinema complex.

Morecambe's manufacturing and industrial businesses are largely located in the White Lund Industrial Estate.

Morecambe is primarily a seaside resort with a large proportion of the local economy based on tourism, hospitality and catering located along the seafront. It is also situated at the foot of the Lake District National Park.

Legal and other professional services are concentrated on Northumberland Street and Victoria Street.

Tourism

Morecambe Sands in summer

The Morecambe Hotel and Tourism Association which had 40 members has merged with The Bay Tourism Association. At a full meeting of the Morecambe Hotel and Tourism Association on Monday 8 March 2010, it was unanimously resolved that the MHTA joins with Bay Tourism to become one association under the name of The Bay Tourism Association and The MHTA will cease to operate as an association. The BTA works closely with Lancaster Chamber and organise joint promotional ventures with other tourism associations in the region.

Education

Morecambe is served by a number of primary, secondary and tertiary educational establishments. Morecambe High School is a specialist Mathematics and Computing College and Heysham High School is a specialist Sports college. Lancaster and Morecambe College is a further education college.

Culture

Performing arts

Morecambe has two large live music venues, the Platform and the more music. The Platform is a converted Victorian-styled building which used to be the old railway station. It also houses the Morecambe Tourist Information Centre. Morecambe has a number of bands playing in the town's pubs and music venues.

Morecambe is home to community music charity More Music. Based in The Hothouse and established in 1993, More Music has extensive experience delivering workshops, training, performances and festivals across the district, region and beyond! More Music seeks to build confidence and spirit in individuals and communities through the arts, especially music. The Hothouse is now a venue for live gigs from a wide variety of national and international artists, including Roddy Woomble, Rae Morris and Grand Union Orchestra.

Festivals

Morecambe hosts a number of large public festivals throughout the year including 'Catch The Wind' Kite Festival, West End Community Festival (both organised by More Music), Morecambe Jazz Festival and Tutti Frutti 1950's Festival.

Art

Morecambe was the birthplace of the artist William Woodhouse (1857-1939), who lived all his life in the town and is buried with his wife and daughter at St. Peter's Church in the village of Heysham, a little to the south of Morecambe.

Cuisine

Morecambe Bay potted shrimps are a famous local delicacy.

Landmarks

Eric Morecambe statue

One of Morecambe's most famous landmarks is a statue commemorating one of its most famous sons, Eric Morecambe. It was created by sculptor Graham Ibbeson.

One of Morecambe's landmark buildings is the partially renovated Victoria Pavilion (spelt incorrectly on the mosaic tiles at the entrance to the theatre), popularly known as Morecambe Winter Gardens. This was once a venue for swimming baths, a grand theatre, a restaurant and a ballroom, and even became a training camp at various times in its life.

Morecambe Library opened in 1967, and was designed by the office of the architect Roger Booth. It replaced the library on Victoria Street which opened in 1928. There had been earlier proposals to build a library in Morecambe with Carnegie funding, but arguments about the rates involved stalled the project; instead, one of the Aldermen spent his money on building the Clock Tower on the seafront. The library is mentioned by Pevsner, and is one of the few buildings not connected to the seaside trade to get a mention apart from churches. The building is formed by hexagons, with a hyperbolic parabolic roof, creating a distinctive skyline and *interior.

Morecambe once boasted two fairgrounds: a small one to the north of the railway station which closed down in the 1980s, and a larger one to the south of the station, which ultimately became Frontierland and closed in 1999. The only remaining landmark left on the site is the Polo Tower, left standing only because of the contract for the phone mast on top. The future of the remaining land remains uncertain.

In July 2008, the local council ordered a clean-up of the Polo Tower and scaffolding was erected around the structure to carry out a survey.

Near the promenade is the Morecambe and Heysham War Memorial which commemorates the men of Morecambe who lost their lives in the two world wars and the Korean War.

Midland Hotel

Midland Hotel in 2008 after restoration

The Midland Hotel is an important art deco luxury hotel situated along the seafront. It still contains interior design and art pieces by artist Eric Gill. It has undergone a £7m restoration, headed by Manchester company Urban Splash.

The company has restored the hotel to its former glory and opened it for business in June 2008.

Media

Print

Local weekly newspapers include The Visitor published on Tuesdays and the Morecambe Guardian, a localised edition of the Lancaster Guardian published on Fridays.

Sport

Football

Morecambe F.C. (known as 'the Shrimps') are the leading local football team and on 20 May 2007 won the Conference National playoffs to earn promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history. As of 2010–11, they are playing League Two. They had a successful first season in the Football League, surprising a few teams and in the 2009–10 season they reached the play-offs, only to lose, 7–2, on aggregate to eventual winners Dagenham & Redbridge. At the end of the 2009–2010 season the team moved from its Christie Park ground to a brand new home, The Globe Arena. The old ground was demolished to make way for a Sainsburys Supermarket.

Fishing

Morecambe Bay has some of the most varied fishing in all of Britain, and is perhaps most famous for Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps which are 'By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen'.

Rugby league

The rugby football schism occurred in 1895, Morecambe joined the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League) in its second season. Morecambe played for eight of the ten seasons from the 1896–97 season through to the end of 1905–06 season, Morecambe finished 14th of 14, in its first three seasons of the Lancashire Senior Competition, withdrew for the 1899–1900, and 1900–01 seasons, finished 11th of 13 in the Lancashire Senior Competition, then finished 17th of 18, 16th of 17, 13th of 14 in Division-2, and finally 30th of 31 in the recombined league, after which Morecambe withdrew from the Northern Rugby Football Union.

The town still hosts a rugby league team with Heysham Atoms playing from their Trimpell Sports and Social Club base. The Atoms finished joint top of division three in the North West Counties in 2012.

Transport and infrastructure

Rail

Morecambe railway station has a regular rail service from Lancaster, with some trains running directly from Preston and Leeds. Trains also run to Heysham, where they connect with the ferry service to the Isle of Man. There is another railway station at Bare Lane, serving the suburb of Bare. Services are operated by Northern Rail.

The present-day Morecambe station opened in 1994, replacing an older station once known as Morecambe Promenade, built by the Midland Railway on its North Western Line from Skipton in Yorkshire. There was also a station called Morecambe Euston Road, built by the rival London and North Western Railway, which closed in 1963.

Bus

Bus services in the area are operated mainly by Stagecoach Lancaster. Other local services are operated by Battersby's Coaches. Direct services link the town with Lancaster where connections to Keswick (555), Carnforth (5), Preston (40/41), Blackpool (42). Regular services up to every 15 minutes (numbers 3/3A/4) operate along the promenade to Heysham and to Lancaster University whilst services 2 and 2A operate up to every 10 minutes from Euston Road to both Heysham and Lancaster University. Services 6 and 6A operate via Westgate (where most caravan holiday parks are) to the ASDA supermarket and Salt Ayre Leisure Centre. Service 5 operates to Overton and Carnforth. Many services (2/2A/3/3A/4/6/6A) operate using Low Floor Easy Access Vehicles suitable for wheelchair users and prams/pushchairs, whilst other services use older buses.

Points of interest

• Recent tourism initiatives have made Morecambe a centre for bird watchers with the Tern Project enhancing the resorts heritage linked to the extensive natural landscape of the Morecambe Bay and diverse wildlife.
• The 1960 film The Entertainer, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, was filmed on location in the town. Morecambe-born actress Thora Hird co-starred.

Further reading

• Hatch, J. (Easter 1909). Morecambe, Lancaster & District (souvenir of the Conference of the National Union of Teachers, 1909). Warwick Square, E.C.: Henry Frowde / Hodder & Stoughton. p. 266. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Quick, R.C. (1962). The History of Morecambe and Heysham. Morecambe. p. 160.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Potter, T.F. (1976). The Growth of Morecambe. Morecambe: The Visitor. p. 56.
• Stocker, David (1988). Potted Tales (Recollections and Views of Morecambe Bay Fishermen). Lancaster: Local Studies No.8, Lancaster City Museums.
• Bingham, Roger K. (1990). Lost Resort ? The Flow and Ebb of Morecambe. Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone Press. p. 320. ISBN 1 85284 071 4.
• Bracewell, Michael (2003). I Know Where I'm Going: A Guide To Morecambe & Heysham. Book Works. p. 96. ISBN 9781870699617. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Hayes, Cliff (2004). Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham (Francis Frith's pocket album). Frith Book Company Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 9781859377314.
• Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme : MORECAMBE - Historic Town Assessment Report. Lancashire County Council. February 2006, amd July 2006. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
• Guise, Barry (2008). The Midland Hotel: Morecambe's White Hope. Palatine Books. ISBN 9781874181552. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Bryson, Bill. Notes From A Small Island. pp. 271–277.

External links

• Morecambe Visitor Information
• Bay Tourism Association
• Morecambe Newspaper Morecambe's weekly newspaper and local resources.
• Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen newspaper News and sport updated daily
• Morecambe Library
• Morecambe Bay - Local Information Site