Here is the guest blog previously mentioned. Emma has kindly allowed me loose on her blog to talk about the Art Deco world of Morecambe (Lancashire on the NW coast of England).

As a birthday surprise I was treated to a night in The Midland Hotel on the sea front of Morecambe. This amazing Art deco hotel built in 1933 (for the princely sum of £72,000) replaced a Victorian hotel on the site and was designed as a hotel for the wealthy to visit (many could no longer afford foreign holidays due to the great depression but wanted 1^st rate facilities closer to home).

Financed by the The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company and designed by Oliver Hill. The design stood out because attention was paid to all aspects, internal and external and extended to items such as commissioning large art pieces for the interior to the colour of hand towels.

Today, after a major renovation (reopening in 2008), the hotel retains much of its original grandeur, attention to detail and original art work. I especially liked the two huge stone carved seahorses that sit either side of the exterior of the main staircase.

The grandeur of much of the rest of Morecambe’s Art Deco past has faded. B&M Bargain and Hitchens occupy two amazing sea front buildings and other Art Deco gems hide on back allies and above shop fronts.

Thanks to the Friends of the Midland Hotel  for much of the information contained within this blog and to Emma for treating me to an amazing birthday trip.