18 MORECAMBE
A Brief Encounter with Morecambe...
On a recent trip to Morecambe, GUY WARNER and his wife (an avid Agatha Christie fan) enjoyed a stay at The Midland and a Brief Encounter in Carnforth...
W
HEN we mentioned to friends that we were taking a short break in Morecambe, I must admit that there were a few raised eyebrows and quizzical looks begging the question – why? There were two simple answers, my wife is a fan of Agatha Christie and had seen the Art Deco ‘The Midland’ in an episode of Poirot and had expressed a desire to visit it. Secondly, we have friends in Shropshire and Morecambe is roughly half way between there and Carrickfergus. Moreover, Derek’s wife, Marion, had been brought up in that part of Lancashire and therefore had an insider’s knowledge of the region. We flew to Manchester from Belfast International with easyJet on the first flight of the day and by 10 am were at Preston Railway Station, where we had arranged to be picked up by our friends.
The rail journey from Manchester Airport to Preston takes less than an hour and is bookable on-line with First TransPennine. We could have taken the train to Morecambe, with only one change, at Lancaster, which would have taken under 90 minutes.
On the way from Preston we stopped for lunch at The Stork, Condor Green, which is in the countryside three miles outside Lancaster. It was excellent value for money and somewhat surprisingly specialises in South African cuisine, even though the landlord spoke with a broad Lancashire accent! He was the first of many very friendly locals whom we met, very chatty and keen to pass the time of day with visitors. By mid-afternoon we arrived at The Midland, which is perfectly situated on Morecambe Bay, with wonderful views across the sand and seascape to the rising peaks of the Lake District. We were able to check into our rooms straight away. As a rule of thumb, the more you pay, the wider the view you have.
I would suggest that you ask for a room at the right hand corner if you prefer paying a little less and still having an excellent view. Our room was £94 per night B&B for two. Plenty of good deals are available, particularly if you register on-line with the parent group – English Lakes.
The Midland was built in 1933 and a contemporary description asserted, ‘it rises from the sea like a great white ship, gracefully curved.’ It is undoubtedly elegant, striking and far from the usual corporate monolith and, as its own guide states, ‘has been recently refurbished and brought back to its former glory with careful attention to detail.’ There are only 44 rooms on three floors, so there is an immediate feeling of exclusivity. Our room was spacious and very cleverly designed in a quirky yet very practical
modern style, which fitted in perfectly with the avant garde appeal of art deco. The main dining area is a newly fully glazed terrace overlooking the bay, while the Rotunda Bar has cosy, well-padded nooks to encourage not only conversation but relaxation. Meals are also available in the bar.
We had an excellent afternoon tea one day (£16.50 per head) but also appreciated the fact that we had been able to sit on the terrace the previous afternoon for a couple of hours without being made to feel that we had to order anything. Indeed I would regard this as one of the prime assets of the hotel, the staff are friendly and attentive but do not push themselves on you. The interior décor boasts some genuine period pieces including a mural map of the north west coast created by Eric Gill, harking back to the pre-war years when the guest list included Lawrence Olivier, Coco Chanel and Wallis Simpson (not to mention Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings). It is hard to beat the The Midland’s self description as ‘a modernist masterpiece curving along Morecambe’s front.’
Turning to the town itself, straight across the road form the hotel and situated in the former railway station building may be found the tourist office. Following that our next port of call after a walk along the fine promenade was the famous statue of Eric Morecambe, which is worth visiting, not least for the supplementary information on the great comic duo inscribed on the surrounding paving.
Another attractive feature nearby is a relief sculpture identifying the Lake District hills on the far side of the bay. The local authority has clearly taken a lot of time and money over the lengthy, well-maintained and spacious promenade. At the time of year which we went, early April, it was by no means over commercialised and our walks were both sunny and bracing.
To get a greater flavour of the area the visitor needs to travel only six miles to find the little town of Carnforth and just nine miles further to the village of Arnside. Carnforth was the setting for the filming of Brief Encounter in 1945. The Heritage Centre opened in 2003 and has been delightfully refurbished. Inside you can watch the film, learn much background information about it, browse though other fascinating galleries covering railway history and have a cup of tea in the lovingly recreated Refreshment Room, made famous by Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. The volunteer staff are very knowledgeable and are always ready to have a chat. Entrance is free but donations are, of course, appreciated. The town centre is worth a visit, particularly if you are interested in second-
Brief Encounter’s Alec and Laura in the Station Refreshment Room and the famous station clock (inset)
Kent, where it flows into Morecambe Bay and trains pass across its viaduct on the way to Grange-over-Sands, Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness.
ABOVE: The elegent and striking exterior of the beautiful 1933 Art Deco ‘The Midland’ Hotel - as featured in Poirot
hand books, the local bookshop stocks 100,000 of them! Arnside can be reached by train from Carnforth as well as by road. It is a very pretty village with a fine display of paintings by local artists in a gallery and shop which has been converted from a former bank. It is situated by the side of the River
Some readers may recall travelling to England in years gone by on the old Heysham Boat, oddly enough there was a painting on display Carnforth Heritage Centre of one of the steamers, the Duke of Lancaster (the others being the Duke of Argyll and the Duke of Rothesay). This brought back many memories to me of the old shed at Donegal Quay (where my grandfather was the chief electrician for the ferries and dockside equipment), the compact but well-equipped cabins and the walk across the railway lines at Heysham to board the train. We drove around Heysham on our way home but the area is now swamped by a huge modern car park for car ferries. As a final tip, I would suggest calling in at the New Barton Grange Garden Centre, near Preston, if you are looking for lunch on the way back to the airport and have time to spare.
All in all this was a brief but very enjoyable break, being relaxing, bracing, friendly, welcoming and very scenic. Would we go back to The Midland? Yes we would.
Stylish, practical travel I
HAVE been a fan of filofax for a long time - I had a special kids edition filofax as a child/young teen and absolutely adored it (I ran that thing through the mill), so coming into adulthood I invested in a gorgeous pink Finsbury A5 to get myself organised. I used it all through my time at university, and now, nine years down the line I still use it for, quite literally, everything. I use it to organise my daily life (bills, post, birthdays, anniversaries, household budgets) and my work life (interviews, story ideas, meetings, contacts, travel arrangements) - and I don't mind lugging my A5 between home and the office, but when it comes to travelling (and being a travel journalist and a huge fan of weekend getaways this is a regular thing!) it is proving to be a real pain in the you-know- what!
I don't know about you, but when I'm travelling I like to have everything in the one place, easily accessible - I hate rifling through my bag trying to find passports, train tickets, boarding cards, credit cards, hire car details etc, the list could easily go on forever. And this isn't just a problem ladies have (I can already hear the men chuckling about ladies and their handbags) - I have seen many men standing at the check-out rifling through a back-pack, briefcase or several pockets for an illusive passport! But I think I may have found a solution to my travel organisational problems in the form of the Filofax Pennybridge Organiser. Although I would describe this as a ladies organiser, they do stock a similar organiser (without the purse section) called the Metropol Zip Organiser (in the size Personal for £34) which would be an excellent alternative for guys!
The classic Filofax design has been given a modern update in the zipped Pennybridge. A grain pattern leather-look organiser containing a fully functioning purse/wallet and smartphone section. The secure zip- around closure keeps everything in one place and is especially suited for those on the move - no more lost boarding passes!
When I first opened the box I wasn't too sure what I would find - would it fit all my travel bits and bobs as well as the contents of my purse - was the major question, and one I can now happily answer, yes it does!
ABOVE: The famous Refreshment Room
LEFT: The statue of Eric Morecambe on the promenade
The purse section is bigger then my actual purse (and I carry a large long wallet style zipped purse) so my fears in that department were put at ease. I could easily slip two passports inside the middle section, although I had to take the leather covers off - I use covers on our passports to easily identify which one belongs to whom. In saying that though I can easily fit two covered passports into the back pouch of the
By KIRSTY JOHNSTON
Filofax. This pouch is quite tight so I'm not worried about them falling out. As I will specifically using this Filofax for travelling I took out the diary and added in a notes section, world map and the Filofax travel pack. I also purchased a hole punch so I can add my printed travel documents (that I won't be presenting at check- out) to the ring-binder. This is especially handy when I have printed out train/bus times to and from our accommodation as they are things I can quickly reference and can label them using colourful sticky labels. You can get these from Filofx aswell (they come on a handy ring-binder) but I have so many of these already that I just popped a pack in one of the pouches on the inside.
If you wanted to, you could quite easily use this Filofax for daily use - it packs all the essentials in one place - purse, phone and diary, you could even fit a lipstick/balm and a compact in there - then simply pop your passports in the back pouch and add your travel documents to the ring-binder and you are ready to travel with very little change and/or effort. I am very excited to put this to a proper test on my next trip and will follow up on how it stood up to the challenge! This organiser is pretty easy on the pocket too at only £35.
You can check out my initial unboxing and first impressions of the Pennybridge at -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQulBZK1Pr8 - be gentle with me though as it is my first ever video! You can find all the products described here on
www.filofax.co.uk. Details:
Left Hand Details: zipped purse/wallet functionality with 14 card pockets
Right Hand Details: one full length pocket, elasticated pen loop
Diary Type: week on two pages 5 language 12 month diary
Features: one full length pocket on the back of the organiser
June 2014 Travel News
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