Morecambe and Chowder

Morecambe vs Newport County, EFL League 2, Mazuma Stadium, 31st August 2024

We set off early for a part of the world that neither of us have been to before - Morecambe Bay. Well, we say that - we’ve been to Fleetwood, and it was from there that we looked out over the bay and decided that we’d have to return, and head to Morecambe itself. After an excess of hold-ups on recent journeys, this is an easy, drama-free trip - until we get to Morecambe promenade which, it appears, is shut. Roadworks at the final hurdle. But then Liz notices a sign.

‘It’s not roadworks! It’s a vintage festival!’ she shrieks with delight. Ben, not overcome with quite the same level of delight, instead focuses on finding one of the final remaining parking spaces in Morecambe, noting that the queue for the ticket machine is so long it disappears over the horizon towards Lancaster. Clearly it is a popular weekend to be in Morecambe.

We get parked right next to the vintage festival, the epicentre of which is the rather sumptuous art-deco Midland Hotel. Built in 1933 and substantially refurbished and expanded in 2008, it’s a striking building - one that has featured in several episodes of Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Now surrounded by elegantly-dressed vintage people milling about outside the hotel and promenading up and down the promenade, Liz (somewhat despondently) says ‘I’ve got several vintage dresses at home but I’ve only brought football clothes … perhaps I’d better buy a hat?’ whilst looking hopefully in the direction of one of the vintage clothes stalls.

Ben, reading the room like a man that’s been married for well over 2 decades, agrees. Liz decides that in future perhaps it will be wise to travel with a tea dress in case of unexpected vintage emergencies, but for now a scarlet brocade turban will have to do. She dons it and we have a look at some of the vintage cars that have parked up outside the Midland Hotel for the weekend as part of the festivities. Now, this isn’t Top Gear Magazine (or similar) so I’m afraid all we can offer in terms of vintage car reporting is that some of them are ‘very old’ and others ‘not so old’ - but they are all very nice and shiny. One car Ben does recognise is a replica of the Delorean from Back To The Future, complete with Flux Capacitor! Upon seeing this, two things occur to Ben:

1. Imagine owning a Delorean but having no interest whatsoever in Back To The Future. You’d soon get sick of people saying ‘EH LOOK, IT’S MARTY McFLY!’ every time you popped to Sainsbury’s

2. The half-forgotten memory of a childhood holiday on the Isle of Man, when a bus tour called into a ‘flea market’ (read: ‘big warehouse full of crap’), the highlight of which was the chance to see ‘Mike Baldwin’s Jag’ from Coronation Street, rotting in the car park outside. 

Anyway, we then promenade down the promenade ourselves, past the clock tower and a jolly statue of Eric Morecambe. Obviously, given his fame, there are a lot of tributes to Mr. Morecambe around the town.¹ In addition to his statue we see murals, a mosaic and several pubs and cafes named after him.

Our promenading is halted by the sight of The Old Pier Bookshop - its brightly-coloured frontage luring us in to look for hidden gems. Frankly, we could’ve spent the entire weekend in there and still not found all the hidden gems - a labyrinth of second-hand books, tumbling out of bags, overflowing from the shelves and stacked up to the ceiling. Eventually we leave - now with several books as well as the hat - and look for some lunch.

 We are drawn to a small marquee tent belonging to the Morecambe Bay Chowder Company.

‘That looks nice,’ Liz says, eyeing up a vat of fishy soup.

‘We should really have pies for lunch. Then the title of the blog title can be Morecambe and Pies!’ offers Ben, more than a little bit pleased with himself. However the allure of the chowder is too great and admittedly was well worth changing the blog title for, as it's delicious (and decorated with a tiny cheese biscuit shaped like an anchor). 

After lunch we head back up the promenade. Amidst the buildings along the seafront, one in particular stands out - a spectacular, red-brick Victorian structure. It is Morecambe Winter Gardens, a formerly derelict theatre now being painstakingly restored by a team of dedicated volunteers. We have a look inside and decide to go on a behind-the-scenes tour. It’s breathtaking, even in its semi-restored state. Atmospheric in its faded grandeur, you can practically hear the stars who trod the boards in its heyday, and the crowds of excited holidaymakers heading for the original tip-up wooden seats in the gallery, still there, just waiting for an audience to return. If it wasn’t for the people of Morecambe coming together and saying no, it would’ve been bulldozed forty years ago. It’s a testament to community spirit that it’s still standing. By this point Morecambe had hooked us both - a combination of our childhood holiday memories of similar places, the eternal appeal of traditional, innocent seaside fun and the evident labours of the townsfolk to ensure the town keeps its pride and its heritage.

We head to the football. It’s a bit of a walk to the ground, but the sun is shining and once we arrive it’s straight into the club shop. Ben buys the requisite pin badge and finds himself unable to resist the appeal of a t-shirt with a shrimp on it (the club’s nickname being ‘the shrimps.’) which he insists on changing into immediately.  Outside the ground, there's a performance from a group of young cheerleaders with the wonderful name of ‘The Shrimpettes’!

Despite having been founded in 1920, Morecambe FC have only been a Football League club since 2007. Of late, they’ve had their financial problems off the pitch (and, we found out subsequently, had lost most of their first team players over the summer) and the season has begun with 3 league defeats. However, it sounds like they’ve been playing well and have been unlucky not to pick up some points - particularly in their last game where the deciding goal was due to an uncharacteristic error by the goalkeeper.

Having been suitably cheered by another performance from the Shrimpettes and a chorus of Bring Me Sunshine as the teams run out.² We have a good feeling about this one. It's been a while since we’ve seen a home side win on our travels, and despite their poor start to the season we have high hopes.

Unfortunately, another error costs Morecambe big. A poor clearance by the goalkeeper falls at the feet of Newport County striker Aaron Wildig who gives the away side the lead in just the 9th minute. And try as they might, Morecambe can’t quite get back into the game. And they really do try very hard, but there is to be no equaliser. The Taylorson Curse has struck again. Of all of the teams we’ve visited as ‘neutrals’, we’d perhaps wanted Morecambe to win the most. But it wasn’t to be this time.

We leave the ground and head for our hotel, where we check in before heading back to the promenade - and to the amusements! Armed with a pot full of 2p pieces for the goal is to win an Eric Morecambe keyring. We do better than that, coming out with a dinosaur, a football whistle, a heart-shaped gem AND an Eric Morecambe keyring. As the sun goes down we eat fish and chips under the gaze of a very hopeful seagull, before posing next to the aforementioned statue of the man himself.

We stand on the promenade looking out over the vast sweep of Morecambe Bay in the evening sunlight. Behind us the bronze, eternally waving form of Mr Morecambe is illuminated by the twinkling lights of A. J. Ryan’s Snappyland amusements. There’s laughter from nearby bars, the smell of fish and chips in the air and a chorus of seagulls. It’s timeless. It is nostalgia, but it’s also both then and now. It’s simple pleasures and good times, both had and yet-to-have. And it’s beautiful.

‘You know, I’d rather have a weekend in Morecambe than a week in Dubai,’ says Ben, and Liz nods her head solemnly in agreement. ‘Admittedly I’ve never been to Dubai’ he qualifies, ‘but I doubt very much that you can get two fish suppers for £15 after winning an Eric Morcambe keyring on the 2p machines’. 

You might think we’re being sarcastic, but we mean it. Morecambe is an unexpected gem of a place, and we’ve had a fantastic time.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with your friends. You never know, they might fancy a trip to Morecambe too!

1. For those of you that might not know - because I wasn’t actually certain - Eric Morcambe was born and raised in Morecambe, and he took his stage name from his home town. Ben.

2. The Eric Morcambe connection even extends as far as the name of the football programme - All the Right Notes.