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Morecambe

Morecambe [ˈmɔːkəm] is a resort town within the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. As of 2003 it has a resident population of about 45,000. It faces into Morecambe Bay.

Morecambe and nearby village Heysham have a combined population of 51,400.

Geography and administration

The town is in the Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency and is governed by Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council and a planned Morecambe Town Council.

History

In 1889 the villages of Bare, Poulton-le-Sands and Torrisholme collectively became known as Morecambe, and those areas of Morecambe are still known by their original names.

Morecambe has had a proud history as a thriving seaside resort in the mid-twentieth century. Whilst Blackpool attracted holiday-makers predominantly from the Lancashire mill towns, Morecambe had more visitors from Yorkshire and Scotland. Between 1956 and 1989 it was the home of the Miss Great Britain beauty contest. And was regarded one of the best seaside destinations in the UK.

However, Morecambe has suffered a decline in recent years.[2] It once had two piers, but both are now gone: Central Pier was struck by fire and West End Pier was washed away in a storm. In 1994, The World of Crinkley Bottom attraction in Happy Mount Park closed only 13 weeks after its opening. The ensuing 'Blobbygate' scandal led to a legal battle between Lancaster City Council and TV star Noel Edmonds. The closures of Bubbles, Morecambe's indoor waterworld, and Frontierland, its Pleasure Beach, soon followed. However, Morecambe is now an 'up and coming town, lead strongly by the regenerating west end,' with some investment in the area and house prices rising. Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph ran two-page 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 Midland Hotel opened its doors. Morecambe has a thriving community of Polish expatriates who have entered the local employment market in recent years.

Morecambe was selected by the RNLI as the location for their first operational hovercraft (Griffon 470SAR) H-002 "The Hurley Flyer" which was made operational on 23 December 2002. Despite this fact the 5 February 2004 saw a major loss of life in Morecambe Bay when Chinese immigrant shellfish harvesters were inundated by incoming tides, resulting in multiple fatalities.