This is a gem!

A recording of the sights and sounds of Morecambe made over 40 years ago has been shared publicly for the first time since it was produced.

Sounds of Morecambe and District was a cassette made by a small team led by Peter Mason-Milward in 1981.

As well as the sounds of Marineland, go karts at Heysham Head and the Harbour Band Arena it also featured interviews with some of the stars of the day who visited the area. They include presenters Pete Murray and Isla St Clair along with Colin Crompton, the comic whose routine took aim at Morecambe in TV’s The Comedians.

Using recording equipment from Lancaster and Morecambe Hospital Radio where Peter was chairman, the result is an extraordinary audio archive of the resort in the 1980s.

Isla St Clair had the honour of switching on Morecambe illuminations in 1980 and told Peter about her love for the town. Meanwhile Colin Crompton said his jokes about Morecambe as ‘a cemetery with lights’ and a place where ‘they all turn out to watch the bacon slicer’ were taken too seriously by tourism staff and on the tape admits the town is ‘not bad.’

The cassette was produced as an audio postcard of the area with around 150 sold by Peter and his colleagues to tourists staying at hotels around Morecambe.

We met up recently with his wife Kath to listen back to Morecambe over 40 years ago.

1' the laughing clown

1'30" Pete Murray

4' Peter explains where the idea came from

5'50" Memories of working with Eric Morecambe

7' Top interview tips from Eric!

10'30" Isla St Clair switches the lights on

12'30" Colin Crompton

15' Gypsy Lee

16' Peter explains how people gave time to the recordings

16'30" Marineland

17' Heysham Head

19' Wrestling on the Central Pier

19' 30" The sand train to Heysham

Do you remember Heysham Head or how about the pleasure park on the prom before it became Frontierland?Morecambe illuminations switch-on? Colin Crompton? Pontins Holiday Camp? Marineland ? The list goes on!

In the 1980’s a friend of mine had the foresight to record the sights and sounds of Morecambe and we recently met up to listen again to the cassette he produced.

Here's a taste!

Did you know there are over 100 works of art in Morecambe town centre?

With more artwork springing up around the town it's certainly causing much debate and it's emerged the town's Business Improvement District have supported artist Matty Green in sprucing up areas with imaginative work.

An art trail could coax visitors off the prom to explore lesser known areas - and businesses that could benefit.

So what difference will artwork make and what's next?

Enjoy hearing more from the BID here.

Details of https://morecambebid.com/

Live webcams overlooking the prom (seagulls permitting) https://morecambebid.com/more-cam/

The promenade may be where most visitors head for but in part of Morecambe some of the town's buildings are getting a colourful makeover.

There are already posters and artwork depicting some of the area's well known characters in the town centre but now a new mural has been unveiled just off the prom.

A seagull eating chips and Morecambe's 'bird man' - John Wilkinson who was jailed in 2014 after breaching an anti-social behaviour order to limit his bird feeding habit - is the subject of the artwork on the gable rear of the Old Pier Bookshop.

It's stunning and is the work of artists Matty Green and Harry Mills.

Matty gave us a guided tour of this and his other artworks which he hopes will spark widespread interest in a side of Morecambe visitors don't yet appreciate.

Notes:

2' We hear how work is already underway to brighten up the town's lesser known areas.

9' What is the reaction of the mural's nearest neighbour?

10' What's next...?

Can you imagine moving out of a three bedroomed house and setting out to live in a 60 foot long canal boat?

Mark Sadler's boat is more 'like a posh flat' but even so, parting with years' worth of belongings and changing lifestyles to one where the weather and seasons are a constant factor takes some getting used to.

This month marks his 12 month anniversary of taking the plunge and living on the Lancaster Canal.

Has it been plain sailing or will he be back in the housing market soon?

2' Why a canal boat?

4' How to downsize.

6' Nature on the canal.

8' Reflecting on one year aboard.

10' The challenges of the canal.

12' Coping with a change in pace

14' The canal community.

16' Life afloat and looking to the future.

Transcript:

 Welcome to the Morecambe Bay podcast with Nigel Thompson.

If you're listening to this in your house or on your way home, would you pack up, get rid of anything you didn't need and downsize your entire life onto a canal boat? It sounds daunting, doesn't it? Yet that's what Mark Sadler did a year ago. A three bedroom house was replaced by a 60 foot long, 10 foot wide boat on the Lancaster Canal.

As his first anniversary approaches, how's he getting on?

Banish the winter blues with the sights and sounds of a stunning light and sound display on Morecambe promenade.

From The Ghost of Moby Dick to The Garden of Hope, 18 installations from artists all over the country will be pm show from The Midland to the Yacht Club on 21st and 22nd of February.

Full details can be found here and the Morecambe Bay Podcast is proud to be a sponsor.

Three of the displays are the work of Ulverston-based sound and light pioneer Dan Fox and his Sound Intervention team. 6 metre tall Luminosi trees, Aeolian Flutes and emersive Glittering Grove (at points 15, 16 and 17 close to the yacht club) will doubtless be popular and Dan has been explaining where his inspiration comes from and why he loves being part of Baylight.

Show notes:

1' Inside the production studio

2' The challenges of developing a space to make music

3' Starting to work with street bands

4' The Boom bike!

5' Starting out in soundscapes

6' The challenge of working during Covid

7' Visiting Baylight during the early years

9' Bringing flutes, luminosi trees and a glittering grove to the promenade

11' Using hydrophones to capture the sound of ice!

12' Finding inspiration in all kinds of places

14' 'A kilometre if speaker cable..' going above and beyond!

16' Planning for the future

17' Why Dan gets a buzz from the shows he puts on

Have you had a busy week? Need time out but don't have time to go to the coast?

Enjoy the latest in our occasional series of sounds from the Bay.

Take two mins to enjoy the incoming tide recorded this morning close to the boats moored not far from Morecambe town hall.

There's treasure to be found on our beaches if you know where to look!

Sea glass, the remains of bottles and other objects discarded sometimes decades ago is polished and weathered by the continual action of the sea. The result is highly polished shards of glass that are fashioned into gem-like shapes. Clear ones are common - coloured is rarer.

Jacqueline Kendall from Manchester comes to Morecambe to hunt for the glass which she uses to decorate bottles and other artefacts.

We met on the beach by the Midland Hotel.