Morecambe

Tourism businesses in the North West were honoured at the Northwest Tourism Awards last week. The event was held at St George’s Hall in Liverpool on October 22 and was hosted by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Winners and finalists included:

Large Hotel of the Year

Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club, Manchester (Winner)
Cottons Hotel and Spa, Knutsford
Macdonald Old England Hotel and Spa, Bowness
Big Blue Hotel, Blackpool
Marriott Liverpool City Centre Hotel

Small Hotel of the Year

White House Manor, near Macclesfield (Winner)
Appleby Manor, Appleby
The Shireburn Arms Hotel, Clitheroe

Bed and Breakfast of the Year

Augill Castle, Kirkby Stephen (Winner)
Number One, South Beach, Blackpool (Highly Commended)
Moss Lodge, Rochdale
42 Caldy Road, West Kirby
Sand Hollow Farm, Burwardsley

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

Manchester Art Gallery (Winner)
Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston
South Lakes Wild Animal Park, Dalton in Furness
Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

The Quaker Tapestry Exhibition, Kendal (Winner)
Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre, Cotebrook
Farmer Ted’s Farm Park, Ormskirk
Smithills Hall, Bolton
Mersey Ferries Manchester Ship Canal Cruises

Self Catering Holiday of the Year

The Beach House, Blackpool (Winner)
Staying Cool, Manchester (Highly Commended)
Premier Apartments, Liverpool
Mellow Brook Cottage at Harrop Fold Farm, Macclesfield
The Lodge Holiday Cottage, Hayton

Holiday Park of the Year

Park Cliffe Camping and Caravan Park, Windermere (Winner)
Newton Hall Holiday Park, Blackpool
Manor Wood Country Caravan Park, Coddington

Excellence in Business Tourism

The Rheged Centre, Penrith (Winner)
Park Royal Hotel, Warrington (Highly Commended)
Barton Grange Hotel, Preston
Manchester United
The Conference Centre at LACE, Liverpool

Taste of England’s Northwest

Roses Tea Room, Heswall (Winner)
The Hollies Farm Shop, Cheshire (Highly Commended)
The Village Bakery Melmerby
Northcote Manor, Langho
Isinglass Restaurant, Urmston

Tourism Experience of the Year

Manchester International Festival (Winner)
Tate Liverpool – Turner Prize (Highly Commended)
Shacklabank Free Range Walking, Sedbergh (Highly Commended)
Byways Breaks, Cheshire
Downy Duckling Experience, WWT Martin Mere
Lancashire Food Festival, Accrington
Cholmondeley Fireworks Concert and Garden Party

Excellence in Customer Service

Gary Henshall – Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool (Winner)
Julie Lyons – De Vere Carden Park Hotel, Chester
Daniel Fairweather, Windermere Marina Village
Pam Simpson – World of Glass, St Helens
Madge Butler – Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport

Sustainable Tourism Award

Palace Hotel, Manchester (Winner)
Cote How Organic Guest House, Rydal (Highly Commended)

RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Silverdale
Carden Park Hotel, Chester

Tourism for All Award

The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven (Winner)
The Trafford Centre, Manchester (Highly Commended)
Wyre Estuary Country Park
The National Wildflower Centre, Knowsley

Tourist Information Centre of the Year

Congleton TIC (Winner)
Fleetwood TIC (Highly Commended)
Manchester Visitor Centre
St.Helens TIC
Keswick TIC

Happy Mount Park in Morecambe is hosting a Halloween Spooktacular on Saturday October 25.

The event starts with a fancy dress competition at 5.15 pm. Age groups are under-5s, 6-11, and 12 and up. Prizes will be awarded for the best costumes.

Entertainment will be provided by samba band Batala and the Astral Circus. There will also be a magic show at 7 pm.

Advance tickets are priced at £1 for adults and 50p for children and are available from the Morecambe Tourist Information Centre. Tickets on the gate cost £1.50 for adults and £1 for children.

Lancaster City Council has decided to offer free car parking on all its Morecambe car parks to boost Christmas trade in the town.

The move follows discussions with local trade and tourism organisations. The offer applies on Sundays only from November 16 until Christmas.

Plans to erect a 6 ft bronze statue of comedian Les Dawson in St Annes have been given the green light by Fylde Borough Council.

Although Dawson was born in Manchester he spent much of his life in St Annes with his wife and daughter. The comedian started his career as a club pianist before making his television debut on Opportunity Knocks in 1967. He died in 1993 after suffering a heart attack.

The statue will be placed in a garden near St Anne’s Pier and will be unveiled on October 24. It has been sculpted by Graham Ibbeson, the creator of the Eric Morecambe statue in Morecambe.

Lancaster City Council is organising a sandcastle building competition in Morecambe next Sunday (August 10). The Sandcastle Festival will take place at the beach in Morecambe, just south of the Midland Hotel, with the actual competition running from 11 am to 2 pm.

There will be 3 categories; 1 for adults and 2 for children. Registration will be between 9.15 am and 10.45 am. The winning adult team will receive a cash prize of £100 while the best children’s entries will be awarded gift vouchers. For more details, entry forms, and competition rules contact Lancaster City Council on 01524 582810.

Morecambe FC have delayed the opening of their new stadium at Westgate until July 2010. A statement on the club’s official website states ‘It was previously anticipated that all planning, legal and sales agreements would be completed by July 2008. However, the process has taken slightly longer than anticipated and all agreements are now scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2008. This delay therefore gives insufficient time to enable completion of the new stadium in time for the 2009/10 season. The Board remains confident that all approvals will be granted by the end of September and that work on the stadium will commence in May 2009 and will be ready for the start of the 2010/11 season.’

Property developers Urban Splash have confirmed that the Midland Hotel in Morecambe will reopen on June 1 2008. The famous Art Deco hotel closed in 1998 and, with the help of grants from the Northwest Regional Development Agency and English Heritage, has been given a £10 million facelift.

Hart’s Restaurant in Morecambe has reopened under new management as Ma Renooo’s. The famous restaurant closed in February last year after falling into financial difficulties. The new restaurant has a 50’s theme with staff wearing period uniforms.

Morecambe will celebrate the run-up to Christmas with an open-air ice rink in the newly developed West End Gardens. It will be in operation from December 17 to 21. Use of the rink and hire of skates will be free of charge.

Morecambe is set to host its first ever sandcastle festival next month. The Morecambe Bay Sandcastle Festival will take place on Sunday 19 August on the beach just south of the Midland Hotel.

Lancaster City Council has recently imported thousands of tons of sand onto Morecambe’s beaches as part of a sea defence project.

There will be separate competitions for teams of adults and children, with a maximum of 4 members in each team. The winning adult team will win a cash prize of £100, while the victorious children’s team will receive gift vouchers.

For further details, an entry form and competition rules, contact Lancaster City Council on 01524 582872 or 582810.