MORECAMBE. A Vintage Day Out.

Taking a breather in your boater with the good lady.

It was to the coast for me last weekend, to Morecambe for the Vintage By The Sea festival.

It’s an event I only dropped onto last year though it has been running for a while. It’s an excuse to raid the dressing up box and polish, or get your chauffeur , to polish the drop head Bentley or elegant Alvis and pootle along to the seaside.

Gossip and a cigarette in the sunshine, with the elegant bulk of the iconic Midland Hotel in the background.

The main focus of the meeting was around Morecambe’s iconic Midland Hotel, the impressive, Moderne style building that dominates that stretch of the Promenade. The other location was across the road in what had formerly been the Promenade railway station, built in 1907 by the then Midland railway to handle tourist traffic from both Lancashire and Yorkshire as well as the boat traffic for the Heysham to Ireland ferry route. The station is now a performance venue with the train service relocated further back from the sea front.

A fine selection of motor cars for the family man lined up for inspection.

Or if you prefer someone else to do the driving a vinatge bus awaits you outside Morecambe’s Winter Gardens Theatre.

The weather on the day was stunning, this brought out ladies in big hats and chaps in sensible cavalry twill and tweeds with the occasional dashing fedora in evidence. Cars of all shapes were in attendance, from vintage to more modern steeds. Dancing was in progress when I arrived, mine host on the gramophone leading the crowd by example through dance moves to the sound of period numbers like “The Old Bazaar In Cairo”

Something a little more racy for the Cad in you.

One of those dammed Yankee ( sort of ) things.

Dancing in the sunshine, in the background the former Promenade Railway Station.

The local constabulary ensuring the ladies are not troubled by the hoipoloi.

For those who prefer a little sedate excitement.

Dance in style all the way to a rosette.

As street parties went it was a success I would think, as an attraction to bring people and their spending power into the resort, I think it worked very well on that front too.