A Day out in Morecambe

Dot & I were invited to meet our dear friends Gordon & Sue on Wednesday. They had booked in to a penthouse suite in the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. Being the kind of person I am, I did a bit of research on the Midland Hotel before we went to Morecambe.

I discovered a website which gives an interesting account of the Midland Hotels which have occupied the site since the late 1840's.

This was what the first Midland Hotel looked like, and it opened in 1848. The hotel was designed by Edward Paley, a local architect, and cost £4,795 including the furnishings! As you can see, it was a two storey building of grey slate and it had green shuttered windows. It contained forty bedrooms, and although it was a Victorian building, it had a distinctly Georgian look about it!

It was known initially as the North Western Hotel. Its name was changed in 1871 when the Midland Railway Company took over the North Western Railway Company.

By the 1930.s the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company were responsible for the original Midland Hotel, and they decided to replace this building with a more modern structure. Oliver Hill was selected as the architect, and he had trained in the "Arts & Crafts" tradition, and had only recently been converted to "Modernism.". He had no previous experience of hotel construction!
As well as designing the building he took a keen interest in the furniture, decor, upholstery etc. He also gained a reputation for his extravagent interiors, using glass, chrome, vitriolite, marble and exotic woods.

A view of the second Midland Hotel from the convex sea facing side.

The concave side faced the railway station, and was divided by a tower contining the hotel entrance and spiral staircase. At the south end (left on the photo) was a rounded bastion, whilst at the north end (right on the photo) was a single storey cafe.



Hill commisioned the renowned sculptor and engraver Eric Gill to carve two sea horses for the outside of the building. He also carved a circular medallion in the ceiling overlooking the spiral staircase.

The convex, sea facing front of the hotel today.

The Rotunda Bar.

The medallion carved by Eric Gill, which bears the inscription "And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn"

One of the views from Gordon & Sue's Penthouse Suite Balcony.

Another view from the penthouse suite balcony, looking across Morecambe Bay.

This view is looking northwards from the balcony

Whilst this view is looking south. The large building standing separated from the rest is the Battery Hotel.

This is a view of the spiral staircase looking down from the third floor.

Whilst this is a reverse shot from the floor of the hotel foyer looking upwards. You can see the Eric Gill medallion situated at the top of the stairwell.

The Midland Hotel Foyer, with the spiral staircase on the extreme left of the shot.

Just two minutes walk north of the hotel and you will come across the statue of Eric Morecambe.

Viewing the statue got Gordon & I round to reminiscing about the Golden Age of British Comedians and Comedy programmes.

We remembered (quite obviously) Morecambe & Wise, and their wondrerful Christmas programmes (how could anybody forget their antics with Andre Previn/Mr Preview/Mr Privet and the wonderful, nay immortal lines from the mouth of Eric Morecambe after trying to play the piano "I played all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order!" We recalled such people as Ken Dood (& his Diddymen), Jimmy Tarbuck, Ronnie Barker (Porridge/Open All Hours) and Ronnie Corbett (The Two Ronnies), Penelope Keith, (To the Manor Born), Richard Bryars, Felicity Kendall and Penelope Keith (The Good Life). Then earlier comedies such as Steptoe & Son, and The Army Game (remember Bootsie and Snudge?) and Dad's Army.

Passing the now closed Winter Gardens, we observed that this type of variety theatre was where many of the above mentioned comedians would have "cut their teeth" and learnt their trade, after first working their way up from the working men's clubs.

Being the two old codgers we are, we lamented the fact that there no longer seemed to be comedians of the calibre of those we had reminisced about, but felt that the present day comedians had little opportunity to learn their trade in the way of the previously mentioned comedians - they simply appeared on television and became comedians overnight!

Dot and Sue get in on the act!

The siting of the statue, on the promenade, with the hills across the far side of Morecambe Bay is very impressive.

A closer look at those hills revealed that they were dusted in a slight covering of snow!

By the time we sat down to afternoon tea, this was the view we had from the front of the hotel.

A close up shot of the same view, showing the Battery Hotel, isolated from the rest of the buildings.

All in all an enjoyable day out with good company adding to the enjoyment!