MORECAMBE has at last come to terms with its identity.

It has stopped trying to compete with Blackpool and realised that it has a unique and unbeatable asset.

This is the Morecambe Bay itself which is overlooked by the Lakeland Hills.

The birdlife is spectacular and the old Stone Jetty has seats from which birdlife can be enjoyed and there are statues depicting the birds which can be seen in the area.

The Midland Hotel has just opened following a multi-million pound renovation and shows its 1930s elegance at its best.

The old railway station is now a visitor centre and the cafe at the end of the stone jetty also has an interesting history.

This was built in the 1850s by the Midland Railway Company.

Here passengers waited to board the pleasure steamers which toured the coast.

In the 1930s some of the steamers were owned and crewed by Germans who were obviously spies trained to map the harbours of the North West in the event of a war which they were planning!

All is peaceful these days and whether the tide is in or out Morecambe Bay hosts lots of birds all through the year.

Families can all be happy because set out along the wide pier are children’s games which are well known, but adapted to have a bird there.

There is for example a magpie hopscotch. The numbers have captions on them which read: “One for sorrow
Two for mirth
Three for a wedding
Four for a birth
Five for the rich
But six for a witch.”

There is also a game with lots of jumbled letters.

These are followed along routes spelling out the name of a bird.

Morecambe at last has realised that it has a character all of its own and which wants a lot of beating!