I WRITE in response to the letter from Mr Sands' (Citizen, April 17), though not to direct my criticism at him.

The weather may have been fine in Morecambe at Easter, but I was happier spending the weekend in Manchester than I would have been in the hole that is Morecambe.

In my opinion the title for Best Memorial in Morecambe' should not go to the statue of Cmdr Forsberg, or even to the great Eric Morecambe, but to the Winter Gardens, gravestone to what should be already a dead town. Morecambe is boring.

Lancashire would be better served by a multi-storey park and ride, or even a massive skate park, than by the empty shell of a once great seaside town.

The beach is a joke, the Midland Hotel, although I would love to see it restored, is an eyesore, Bare is a massive geriatric extension to the RLI and the train ride to Heysham port is comparable to being smacked in the face with a boring stick.

The view across the bay is, I heartily agree, unbeatable. It is caused in part, of course, by the exhaust fumes from the Port at Barrow. Quite nice when you think about it.

I don't mean to go on about how terrible the place is, but I am sick to the back teeth of people fooling themselves and others into believing rhetoric from the mouths of Morecambe councillors. Be realistic Morecambe had its hey-day, but now it is home to boring old people and bored young people.

In response to the expected barrage of questions: Have I ever spent much time in Morecambe? No, but for that matter, I don't spend that much time in car parks because they are boring too.

Am I another visiting student? Card carrying, Guardian reading I'm afraid. I do come from Lancaster though.

So the stone jetty is beautiful and unique so is the sarcophagus that is Chernobyl power station. But I would sooner spend a weekend therethan at the wet end of a lump of concrete in Morecambe.

I don't want to hurt or offend anyone, but I truly believe that there is very little to do in Morecambe. I really wish that something could be made of it, but if the council can justify putting car parks on the sea side of the promenade and trying its hardest to dissuade festival organisers from touching the place, I find it hard to believe that Morecambe has any future.

Manchester Student

(name and address supplied)

May 1, 2003 09:30