Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lancaster flows seamlessly into
Morecambe
, a resort described in 1930s' ads
as “the Sunset Coast” for its setting on a seemingly infinite bay to rival any seascape
in the world. Between the days when it was known as the “Brighton of the North” or
even the “Naples of the North,” attracting the likes of Noel Coward, Wallace Simp-
son, and Coco Chanel, and its rating as number 3 in the 2003 book
Crap Towns: The
50 Worst Places to Live in the UK
, it underwent a slow but painful decline and lost
both its piers and its pleasure beach. The reopening of its Art Deco Midland Hotel
(p. 597) in 2008 seemed to bespeak great things to come, but change is still at snail's
pace, and the future of the long-abandoned
Winter Gardens
(www.thewinter
gardensmorecambe.co.uk), the magnificent red-brick pavilion that once housed a
theatre, ballrooms, and baths—the setting for scenes in the 1960 Laurence Olivier
movie
The Entertainer
- remains unsure.
If that all makes Morecambe sound unappealing, it's far from the truth: Despite
the lack of a pier, the town offers a rare taste of the real, unreconstructed British
seaside resort, with a pale-sand, kid-friendly beach, a handful of fun rides, a quirky
outsize sculpture of Eric Morecambe—the much-loved comedian who changed his
name from John Bartholomew in honor of his hometown—and little to do beyond
slurp ice creams or buy a bag of fish and chips or some bay-caught cockles or potted
shrimps, and sit on the seafront gazing out at the ocean on which Chanel is said to
have landed her seaplane after flying up from Antibes.
Brockholes
NATURE RESERVE Open since spring 2011, this “unre-
served reserve” features Britain's first floating visitor center, on a pontoon, together
with wildlife hides, family nature activities, guided walks, open-air music and theatre,
and even a Sunday cinema. Note that signing up for Wildlife Trust membership helps
this free attraction to cover its costs.
Beside junction 31 of the M6.
&
01772/877140.
www.dev.brockholes.org. Free admission (car park
charge £4 for up to 5 hr.). Apr-Oct daily 10am-6pm, rest of year daily 10am-5pm.
Lancaster Castle
CASTLE Officially owned by the Duke of Lancaster (the
Queen), this was where the Pendle witches (p. 593) brought to trial were imprisoned,
and today's tours take you into the grand jury room, courts, and dungeons. Exhibits
also touch the subject of convict transportation, as many hundreds of people were
sentenced to deportation in these courts.
Castle Parade, Lancaster.
&
01524/64998.
www.lancastercastle.com. Admission £5 adults, £4 children
5-16. Daily 10am-5pm.
WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre
NATURE RESERVE Great for a
family outing, this reserve offers visitors the chance to stroll through waterfowl gardens
and hand-feed their inhabitants, see aerial displays of wild ducks, geese, and swans,
visit a beaver enclosure, attend otter and flamingo talks, follow the nature trail and/or
reedbed walk, let off steam in the adventure play area, and even try a canoe safari.
Burscough.
&
01704/895181.
www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/martin-mere. Admission £9.85 adults, £4.80
children 4-16. Daily Nov-Feb 9:30am-5pm, to 5:30pm rest of year.
Where to Eat
VERY EXPENSIVE
Longridge
MODERN EUROPEAN The finest produce from Lan-
cashire, northern England, and the U.K. as a whole is used to admirable effect at the
award-winning flagship restaurant of Paul Heathcote, a protégé of Raymond Blanc
and Member of the British Empire since 2009 for his services to the northwest's
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