Morecambe Bay and Eric
Where is Morecambe Bay?
The spectacular Morecambe Bay is in the northwest corner of England, one of the most beautiful parts of Britain. To the north of the bay is the unrivalled area known as The Lake District, with its’ mountains, lakes, tarns and pretty villages.
The Arnside/Silverdale area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with its untold heritage, stately homes, quaint villages, magnificent coastline, ancient woodlands and beautiful limestone countryside, takes up the southeastern edge of the bay. A must for birdwatchers and walkers.
To the south is the traditional British seaside resort of Morecambe. It has a five mile long renovated promenade and the view across the second largest bay in England can only be described as “stunning”. In the centre of the promenade is the world famous statue of Eric Morecambe in his iconic pose,
next to which visitors have to have their picture taken. Art deco is to the fore with the recently renovated, four-star Midland Hotel. The huge, atmospheric Winter Gardens theatre, soon to be fully renovated, once saw the very best of all British entertainment performing here. Morecambe’s historic origins can be found in the attractive village of Poulton. Nearby Heysham is a must to visit with its award winning village centre, old smuggling cottages and 8th century St Patrick’s chapel and Viking rock cut graves standing majestically on the cliff top overlooking the magnificent expanse of Morecambe Bay. No wonder that the internationally renowned painter JMW Turner felt compelled to capture its beauty on canvas.
Just a little further along the coast the river Lune enters the bay after its sixty-five mile journey from the Howgill fells. A tiny village, Sunderland Point, nestles at its mouth and was the original port of Lancaster, once an essential port in the slave trade and where cotton was imported into Britain for the first time. Cut off by the tide twice a day it has been used as a location for several films.
Moving up river we come to the Georgian city of Lancaster, where Romans, Vikings, and Jacobites have all left their mark. With its magnificent Norman castle towering high above the city, next to the beautiful 11th century priory church. Historic cobbled streets surround it, each nearby house with a story to tell. It is a city of culture with theatres, museums, music, two universities and a centre for creative industries. 
It is an historic Georgian city crying out to be explored, not least to follow in the trail of the Pendle Witches who were tried and hanged in the city. They reputedly stopped in a local pub, just one of the many historic alehouses in the city centre, to “sup their last pint of ale”. This city of Lancaster is the original one from which many others in the USA, Canada and the rest of the world took their name.
Lancaster is easy to get to from junctions 33 & 34 on the M6 motorway; it has its own mainline railway station and is a stopping point for inter city buses to and from London and Scotland.
To the north the magnificent Lune Valley, with its sleepy villages, historic market towns and where John Ruskin on his first visit declared, “I do not know in all my country, still less France or Italy, a place more naturally divine”. Contact with the local tourist board will give you access to more information and also to some excellent, high quality dvd’s which have been made about the area.
Who were Morecambe and Wise?
John Eric Bartholemew was born at 42 Buxton Road, Morecambe on the 14th May 1925 and is regarded with considerable affection in Morecambe. He took his home town as his nickname and became Eric Morecambe. That is why the competition is nicknamed "The Erics". He teamed up, eventually with Ernie Wise and they became Britain’s top comedy act for over twenty years.
Morecambe and Wise's partnership began in 1941 when they were each booked separately to appear in Jack Hylton's revue, Youth Takes a Bow. War service broke up the act but they reunited by chance at the Swansea Empire Theatre in 1946 when they joined forces again. Initially appearing in music hall, they made their name in radio, transferring to television in 1954.
They had a series of shows that spanned over twenty years, during which time they developed and honed their act, most notably with the original move to the BBC in 1968, where they were to be teamed with their long-term writer Eddie Braben and it is this period of their careers that is widely regarded as their "glory days". With the exception of 1974, the show had end-of-year Christmas specials, which became such an institution during the 1970s that few British families would dream of missing them. Her Majesty the Queen is known to be a fan.
The 1977 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show attracted 28 million viewers (around half of the total UK population at the time). Classic sketches from such shows often revolved around the guest stars. One example is the 1971 appearance of André Previn. Previn's schedule was extremely tight, and Morecambe and Wise were worried that he had very little time to rehearse, but the final result was described by their biographer as "probably their finest moment".
Morecambe and Wise are considered by many to be one of the UK's all-time favourite comedy acts. Wise's character would write a play, complete with cheap props and appallingly clumsy writing ("the play what I wrote" became a catchphrase), which would then be acted out by Morecambe, Wise and the show's guest star. Guests who participated included many big names of the 1970s and 80s, such as Flora Robson, Dame Shirley Bassey, Diane Cilento, Sir David Frost, George Harrison, Elton John, 
Joanna Lumley, Paul McCartney, Yehudi Menuhin, Keith Michell, Sir John Mills, Juliet Mills, Nana Mouskouri, Nanette Newman, Rudolf Nureyev, Des O'Connor, Sir Laurence Olivier, Michael Parkinson, Michael Redgrave, Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Cliff Richard, Sir Ralph Richardson, Ringo Starr, Harold Wilson, Terry Wogan, Edward Woodward, Susannah York, Tom Jones and Dame Glenda Jackson. Jackson had not previously been known as a comedienne and this appearance led to her Oscar winning role in A Touch of Class.
Their signature tune was Bring Me Sunshine. They either sang this at the end of each show or it was used as a theme tune during the credits.
They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the USA seventeen times over a five year period but they never really made the American big time. Perhaps, as Bob Hope once declared, "That it was because Eric talked too fast for the Americans."
Eric died in May 1984 bringing to an end the greatest comedy duo that Britain ever had.