Monday

When I spoke to my brother, Ken, and told him that I would be in Baildon he asked me if there was anywhere I would like to go. After some thought I said that I would like to go to Morecambe.
When I was a child we spent our holidays, for many years, in Morecambe. The first few times we stayed at a hotel called the Strathmore, it must have been soon after the war as I was quite young. Then my father rented a flat, on Sandylands, for a month and mum and I stayed there and dad visited at weekends. Morecambe not only had donkeys on the beach, they also had horses and I spent a lot of time leading the donkeys along the beach in return for a ride back to the stables on one of the horses. I also went to a riding school at Heysham and remember some wonderful gallops on the sands. I learned to swim in the open air pool, the lido, which was where the Miss Great Britain beauty contest was held. So I have many happy memories of the town.
Ken and Kay picked me up on Monday morning, sadly the weather didn't look too promising. We drove a very different way to the way dad used to go as the roads have now changed so much. When we got to Morecambe it was starting to drizzle. We drove north along the promenade and I was very surprised to see that the Strathmore Hotel is still there although somewhat tarted up now. We drove back to the town centre and parked close to the Midland Hotel, a beautiful art deco building that has been restored to its former glory. Sadly the rest of the town looks very sad and down at heel. It seems that the area around the Midland is the only part that has been cared for. The open air pool has gone and nearby a statue of Eric Morecambe has been erected. By now it was raining quite heavily and after a quick look at the statue, and a photo call, we got back into the car. We drove on to Heysham and found somewhere to have a pub lunch before driving back to Ken and Kays at Micklethwaite. They later dropped me back to Baildon. A somewhat sad return to the past but I am glad that I have been. There were so many memories there but I certainly do not want to return.