Statues are boring.

[Spinney]

I went to Morecambe for the first time last year and managed to shepherd seven or eight schoolmates from the class of '74 there to see a fellow member who whose band was playing a gig there. We had a wonderful time and there's a lot of regeneration taking place in the town. The public works of art are stunning the the sea front is really nice.

I revisited the place August Bank Holiday to start a Coast to Coast ride and spent a couple of hours enjoying the sea front and tea and cake at the former shipping pier/passenger terminal.

Morecambe does not deserve the derision directed at it.

Did you know that Morecambe, not so long ago, was host to the 'Crinkly Bottom theme park' - of Mr Blobby /Noel Edmonds 'fame'
That was possibly its darkest hour...

 

[vernon]

Did you know that Morecambe, not so long ago, was host to the 'Crinkly Bottom theme park' - of Mr Blobby /Noel Edmonds 'fame'
That was possibly its darkest hour...

This is more than compensated for by:

The pies at Morecambe FC were voted the best in the football league.

EDIT: I've now justified my third visit to Morecambe......

 

[Spinney]

Morecambe also has this statue on the seafront:

This used to annoy me no end when I cycled past it - unless that baby has core muscles of steel, and similarly the woman's arms and shoulders, the only way that kind of pose can be held is if you are swinging the brat around. Which you cannot do with your bum on the ground like that.

Pendant? Moi?

[Edit - yes, I know now I've made a cock-up there]

 

[Frood42]

This is one of my favourite pieces of public sculpture. It's absolutely beautiful but impossible to photograph well. It has so many layers of meaning, and it invites people to lean on it and sit under it, and children to climb on it. I don't understand why some people hate it so much. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scallop,_Maggi_Hambling,_Aldeburgh.jpg

For me it is the broken rusted appearance, it comes across as a despressing (a bit strong?) sight compared to the lovely piece of coastline, the scenery makes me smile, the sculpture brings that mood down.

Aldeburgh is only 20miles south of where I grew up, and has a very nice chippy, and is a very nice place to go for a walk.

The sculpture will be viewed differently by different people, and even though I may not love it, it doesn't mean it should not be there, I just find it a bit melancholy.

This photo I quite like of it http://goo.gl/maps/RRgSr

This Guardian letter says it for me:

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2004/jan/14/guardianletters1

And I am sad to report that for me (and many other residents) Ms Hambling's stainless steel motif, undeniably impressive when viewed from the east (ie the sea), carries no resonance on this flat and stony shore (with not a scallop shell in sight). The casual visitor is provided with no hint of its memorial nature. Moreover the line inscribed from Britten's opera - I hear those voices that will not be drowned - is an unfortunate one, reminding us that the fisherman Grimes was driven mad by his guilty conscience at having allowed three boy apprentices to die.

Google streetview of it:
http://goo.gl/maps/U0m2H
http://goo.gl/maps/Pdx7C


Probably better than the huge white dome and grey square building of Sizewell power station though
http://goo.gl/maps/Yxcii
http://goo.gl/maps/RMEez

.

 

[vernon]

Morecambe also has this statue on the seafront:

This used to annoy me no end when I cycled past it - unless that baby has core muscles of steel, and similarly the woman's arms and shoulders, the only way that kind of pose can be held is if you are swinging the brat around. Which you cannot do with your bum on the ground like that.

No need to twirl the child. It can be very windy....

Pendant? Moi?

You a swinger?

 

[Fnaar]

Pendant? Moi?

*ahem* pedant

 

[Spinney]

*ahem* pedant

 

[Crackle]

Crosby beach, Anthony Gormley statues.

You see people decorating them and then standing next to them to have their picture taken: Bloody great.

 

[Spinney]

Crosby beach, Anthony Gormley statues.

You see people decorating them and then standing next to them to have their picture taken: Bloody great.

Ah, yes - I want to go and see those.

 

[Crackle]

Ah, I must say I think Gormley is an overrated egotist. Just goes to show ...

Dunno about Gormley, I like the statues in that setting/location and what people do with them.

 

[Christopher]

Dunno about Gormley, I like the statues in that setting/location and what people do with them.

have to be careful of the wash from container ships tho' as the port is right next to the beach where the statues are
Oh and as far as 'statues' go, one of the reasons I go caving is to see the amazing shapes you see underground where flowing water has eroded the rock in many different ways, one of my fave locations in the entrance series of County Pot (Cumbria) where the walls of a tall sinuous stream canyon are covered with scalloping - very beautiful (and difficult to photograph).

 

[MontyVeda]

I've never been there, but I read that the town itself has seen better days and is depressing now.

As Spinney says, it's got a lovely sea front... just keep Morecambe behind you.

Morecambe has seen better days... then Morecambe an Lancaster's councils merged and it seems more money went in to the Lancaster side of the deal than the Morecambe side. Blobbygate didn't help, nor did the Festival Market; built to accommodate performers at the once annual music festivals, and market traders the rest of the time... but the market traders really really really wanted to trade when there was a music festival on, so the venue stayed as a market, and the music festivals went elsewhere. None of it is Morecambe's fault... but Morecambe is a much better place now than it was ten or twenty years ago.... but like many seaside resorts, it's 'heyday' is long gone.

 

[vernon]

Ah, I must say I think Gormley is an overrated egotist. Just goes to show ...

He might be an overrated egotist but his works possess underrated brilliance.

I like the sentinel* theme of his work.

* my interpretation.

 

[Spinney]

As Spinney says, it's got a lovely sea front... just keep Morecambe behind you.

Morecambe has seen better days... then Morecambe an Lancaster's councils merged and it seems more money went in to the Lancaster side of the deal than the Morecambe side. Blobbygate didn't help, nor did the Festival Market; built to accommodate performers at the once annual music festivals, and market traders the rest of the time... but the market traders really really really wanted to trade when there was a music festival on, so the venue stayed as a market, and the music festivals went elsewhere. None of it is Morecambe's fault... but Morecambe is a much better place now than it was ten or twenty years ago.... but like many seaside resorts, it's 'heyday' is long gone.

I was glad they did up the art deco hotel on the sea front - not been inside it, mind, but it looks good from the outside.

 

[ColinJ]

I went to Morecambe for the first time last year and managed to shepherd seven or eight schoolmates from the class of '74 there to see a fellow member who whose band was playing a gig there. We had a wonderful time and there's a lot of regeneration taking place in the town. The public works of art are stunning the the sea front is really nice.

I revisited the place August Bank Holiday to start a Coast to Coast ride and spent a couple of hours enjoying the sea front and tea and cake at the former shipping pier/passenger terminal.

Morecambe does not deserve the derision directed at it.

Ok - you have persuaded me! When I am fit enough, I will organise a forum ride to Morecambe sea front to check it out. I have devised a good circular route from Whalley which will be the 3rd of my 'flattish seaside century' rides, the other 2 of which were very popular. If possible, it will be the first weekend in April next year.