YOUR COMMUNITY CORNER

“The two photos were taken in Morecambe in the 1960s. One is of my dad, Bob, and me, aged two, posing with a monkey on the West End Pier. It’s hard to believe now but cameras (and films to go in them) were very expensive then so it was common for people to have pictures taken by a professional photographer. In this case, the monkey’s owner took the photo.

“The other (out-of-focus!) photo is from six or seven years later – probably 1968 – and shows me, my brother Neil and sister Lynn posing with more monkeys on the prom alongside father Bob and mother Margaret. It employs a common photographic technique still in use today called ‘cutting off the head and feet of the subjects’.

“Living in Carlisle, Morecambe was the favourite holiday destination for us and only a couple of hours away by Morris 1000 (our family car) and we went there regularly over the years during Carlisle Race Week, when all the factories shut down.

“Usually, we stayed in a family room in a traditional guest house – the type where you had to leave after breakfast and weren’t allowed back in until it was time for your evening meal. This caused frequent problems due to the unpredictable British weather but there were plenty of cafes and amusement arcades to shelter in. A couple of those cafes (Brucciani’s and Lewis’s) are still there and intact.

I remember my mother trying to persuade my dad to take us to Blackpool for a change but he always preferred Morecambe because he said it was smaller, quieter and friendlier.

“Morecambe had an open-air swimming pool then and the ‘Miss Great Britain’ beauty contest was held there. Later on, there was ‘Marineland’, where dolphins used to perform tricks but it, along with the monkeys, disappeared as people became more aware of animal exploitation.

“In the middle of the prom was a brilliant fun fair with a wooden rollercoaster – you can see it immortalised in the 1960 Laurence Olivier film, The Entertainer – and a second, smaller fun fair behind where Woolworths used to be. There was also a rich assortment of ‘fancy goods’ shops where we would stock up on often-bizarre toys and games unavailable at home. My particular favourites were Aurora plastic model kits of movie monsters like Dracula and The Mummy, which glowed in the dark and I still have them today.

“Also on the prom, beside the old railway station, were two vending machines. One sold little cartons of refrigerated milk and the other plastic bags containing a cheese triangle, two pickles, a wooden fork and a cream cracker. That was lunch taken care of…

“In one of those strange quirks of fate, I was living in student digs in Morecambe in 1977 near to the West End Pier and saw it tumble down in the November storm.

“The photos were always around the house when we were growing up and my dad would regularly point at one and ask: “Which one’s the monkey?”

“We did try other places for our holidays – even, finally, Blackpool – but nowhere matched up to Morecambe!”

Like most of the nation over lockdown, we’ve been doing a clear out at home. The Dark Lord daughter grows so much that every season she needs an entire new wardrobe. Luckily it’s mainly long, black cloaks these days. I stopped short of spring cleaning or DIY – I know my limits – but according to riveting research by shelving and storage specialist, BIGDUG, Brits have preferred to do DIY rather than have sex during lockdown. Understandable really – after all, we’ve had 12 weeks to fill, not 12 seconds. Bigdug’s research also claims that more men than women have had DIY disasters – I could have told them that for free – but that 12% of Diyers have landed themselves in hospital, mostly from drilling through part of their body. Probably their heads – it’s got to be their least vulnerable part. I’m here with you every day on our community pages, bringing you funny readers’ letters, snaps and jokes, and competitions to find the bestlooking backyard and silliest pet selfie. Today we’ve also got another UK staycation holiday story, this time memories of the 1960s from the seaside coast of Morecambe in Lancashire. Please send your ideas and stories to siobhan. mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP. And finally, thank you for being part of our community pages – we couldn’t do this without you. The memories of our childhood seaside holidays never leave us, and this poignant and beautifully written trip back in time comes by Keith Baty from Carlisle, Cumbria, and reminds us why there’ll never be a better place to stay than our beautiful British Isles. Although there’ll certainly be a lot warmer ones! Keith writes… STATUE Keith and comic Eric If you would like to be part of our UK holidays memories section, please email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk with a recent photo and your treasured holiday snaps – even if they’re so old, they’re practically sepia – and tell me what makes our beautiful islands the best places in the world. Flower whisperer Norma Eyre has been making sure her prize rhododendron has been getting plenty of attention over lockdown, while husband Eric’s busy with the DIY. The couple, who are in their 70s, have created an interesting and vibrant living space outside their house in Middlesbrough. Norma emails: “Here’s me with my rhododendron which is in a pot and is over 15 years old. It’s had plenty of loving care during lockdown. “We love our garden – it’s been our sanctuary and kept us busy, especially my husband Eric who’s done plenty of painting and woodwork.” I’m very impressed with your rhododendron, Norma. I have one too and I kept moving it round the garden as it never seemed to do very well. Now it’s in a shaded corner under the dripping hose and it’s very happy. It’s literally the wallflower of the plant kingdom. Please do send in photos of your backyards to siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk and try to include a snap of yourselves and some details about your outside space.