A recording of the sights and sounds of Morecambe made more than 40 years ago has been shared publicly for the first time since it was produced.
Sounds of Morecambe and District was a cassette made by a small team in 1981, led by Lancaster man Peter Mason-Millward.
As well as the sounds of Marineland, go karts at Heysham Head and the Harbour Band Arena, it also featured interviews with some of the stars of the day who visited the area.
They include presenters Pete Murray and Isla St Clair along with Colin Crompton, the comedian whose routine took aim at Morecambe in TV’s The Comedians.
Using recording equipment from Lancaster and Morecambe Hospital Radio where Peter was chairman, the result is an audio archive of the resort in the 1980s.
Peter's story featured on The Morecambe Bay Podcast, hosted by journalist Nigel Thompson. Here is a clip.
“Nobody else was doing this,” Peter said on the Morecambe Bay Podcast.
“Hospital radio opened up a lot of doors and we were able to record interviews with a wide variety of people.
"At Marineland they had the dolphns coming right out next to us!”
Pete Murray was one of Britain's first pop music presenters on TV, as host of The Six-Five Special in the 1950s, was one of the first regular hosts of iconic music show Top of the Pops, and went on to a career as a presenter on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2.
Isla St Clair, who shot to fame on BBC1's The Generation Game in the 1970s and 80s, had the honour of switching on Morecambe illuminations in 1980 and told Peter about her love for the town.
Colin Crompton, known for his 1970s appearances on TV's The Comedians and The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, became notorious for his anti-Morecambe quips.
But he told Peter that his jokes about Morecambe as "a cemetery with lights" and a place where "they all turn out to watch the bacon slicer" were taken too seriously by tourism staff and on the tape admits the town is "not bad".
The cassette was produced as an audio postcard of the area with around 150 sold by Peter and his colleagues to tourists staying at hotels around Morecambe.
“We had a ready made market at The Elms, The Grosvenor and Midland hotels,” said Peter.
And while it did not pay for his retirement he says he is proud to have played a part in preserving some of the sounds of the town for posterity.
“I’ve known Pete and Kath since I was involved in hospital radio years ago and the chance to get together and hear the tape that Pete made - a kind of podcast of its day - was a treat and I’m sure it will bring back many memories to listeners today,” said Nigel (below).
The Morecambe Bay Podcast began during lockdown three years ago and there are now 150 episodes available on Spotify, Apple and all main podcast sites.
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