The development and decline of Morecambe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: a resort caught in the tide

Abstract

Mass tourism started late and declined early in Morecambe, Lancashire. The seaside resort developed in the late nineteenth century, tourism soared in the early twentieth century and peaked in the inter-war and post-war years. However, by the 1970s Morecambe was nicknamed The Costa Geriatrica – where seagulls don’t land anymore. It had become the unfashionable subject of jokes on national television. This transformation in reputation and fortune was rapid; the trend since the mid-twentieth century was one of decline. Most attractions struggled to survive past the mid-1970s and the 1980s were a low point. The visitor numbers had fallen away; few resorts have experienced such a pronounced boom and bust. This article will consider the various micro and macro factors which contributed to Morecambe’s unusually turbulent history as a mass tourism destination. In doing so it reveals that many of the acutest challenges facing the resort were resort specific or regional and not limited to the second half of the twentieth century – the period most often associated with the decline of traditional British seaside resorts. This account of the failure of mass tourism provides an important historical context, as the resort considers its future and attempts regeneration.