Morecambe is somewhere I have been going since I was a little girl, it was always somewhere that I loved to go, when I was a kid, there was a great amusement Park called Frontier Land, which I would go to sometimes, normally for special occasions! And also an indoor "water park", called Bubbles, which was great while it lasted, from what I remember it had a couple of water slides, and a wave pool, and an outdoor pool for those summer days of old!

There was also Morecambe beach...you may think now...MORECAMBE....BEACH!?!?!?!?!?! Butttt, 20 years ago, the beach was lovely, donkeys and ice cream all round! I used to adore it!!!

There was also the popular Midlands hotel, the Winter Gardens, the Platform and Dome where there were shows and acts, Happy Mount Park which is just up from Morceambe town centre which had a special season of "lights" (like Blackpool but not so big!!!) and all sorts!!!

But when I got to my teens the place started to go downhill, Bubbles closed down first, it wasn't making nearly enough money for the big bosses. This was quite a big loss for Morecambe, but not so bad it lost all of its tourists.

But then Frontierland began to lose its business and eventually, after a couple of years of falling apart and closure of rides, the place closed completely, the Midlands hotel had been closed for a while already, the Winter Gardens had been closed for years, the lights season came to an end, the beach became a bit of a tip, and even Happy Mount Park turned into a crap hole.

The tourists went elsewhere, Blackpool mainly, and the place went a bit rough, the people who lived there changed too, the hotels became cheap flats, and thats when the chavs took over. The little parks that were left ended up burned down and the buildings that had been kept for restoration were bricked. It was a sad time for a girl to see when she had pretty much grown up there.

BUT, over the last few years Morecambe has been coming back up to the top!!

Happy Mount Park for a start: This was the first place to be re-done, they got rid of all the rubbish that had been there, the empty shells of shops were pulled down and turned into a seating area, the old playarea was turned into a nice new play area, everywhere got a nice new painting, and best of all the old paddling pool was filled in and turned into the "splash park", a variety of machines which spurt water out at different angles and in different way, which kids (and adults!!) can run through, splash in etc when its nice and sunny! The whole place was re-done and the gardens spruced up and its really quite good a wonderful place to take kids and a nice place to go for a nice walk or relax, or even a game of golf, or bowls! :-)

The front is looking a little better now, Morecambe council are trying to get it looking nice, its not too bad at the moment!!! The shop fronts still look a bit "skanky", the old fair is still there empty and rotting away, and I'm still not sure what they're planning on doing with the place!!!

The Midlands though, has been getting re-vamped over the last two years and is now open and looking beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

There are a couple of new little parks which have been put up for the kiddies, and the place just looks on the whole "nicer" and cleaner than it did last year!

THINGS TO DO IN MORECAMBE:

Other than the above which I have mentioned, there is also a Ten Pin Bowling alley which is great family fun whatever the weather!!! Also there is a cinema opposite the bowling alley which shows all the latest films!

Morecambe isn't the "Hippest" place to go, there is no funfair, theres no big clubs or funky bars, but its a nice little day out, there are some lovely little cafe's and fish and chip shops, the front looks pretty and there is a great view over the Lakes!

All it needs now is for the beach to be spruced up a little more, maybe even some boat trips when the tide is in, clear up the front a bit!!! It is an up and coming town, and I'm glad to hear it!!! I just hope that in the next couple of years it is restored to its former glory, its just a shame it went downhill so quickly!!!!!