Morecambe Musical Festival

Winter Gardens c1955
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From 1952 to 1959, aged 9 to 16 and at Morecambe Grammar School, I played the piano in the solo classes at the Morecambe Musical Festival - a premier event in the calendar of the Winter Gardens. It brought in thousands of people during the week; choirs, brass bands and soloists from Scotland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wales etc. with all their supporters, as well as local talent.
If I won my classes during the week I would appear in the grand finals on the Saturday evening and I still have all the certificates to prove it! Very daunting for a young person in that magnificent theatre and on that enormous stage. Every few years I come back and remember the Winter Gardens as it used to be in those halcyon days of the 50's. How it has all changed, especially as I had a tour round the old theatre a couple of years ago and saw how much decay had set in.
I went on to Manchester University to gain a music degree and still regard the Winter Gardens as a very large stepping stone on the way to my career as a professional pianist. The Winter Gardens - and Ballroom - will never be the same again, as neither will Morecambe itself, but I hope the limited restoration project for the theatre is successful. It deserves a new lease of life since I think it was once the largest theatre between London and Scotland with a capacity of 7000 if you included the Ballroom, on the right of your photograph, sadly now demolished.
May it always be remembered for what it was and for all the famous (and not-so-famous!) stars who trod the boards there.