Save our seaside: The Winter Gardens, Morecambe, Lancashire

We've launched a campaign to rescue once-glorious seaside buildings that now sit empty and abandoned. Help us save those at risk by joining forces with Coast and other campaigners to preserve our seaside heritage for future generations to enjoy.

We asked you to alert us about derelict shoreline buildings. Photographer Andrew Hasson emailed about Saltdean Lido, near Brighton, East Sussex. ‘Plans have been submitted for its closure,' he writes. ‘The Grade II-listed structure would retain its elegant façade, but the pool would be concreted over. More than 100 apartments could be created on the site if the £12 million redevelopment plans go ahead. The Art-Deco structure was designed by Richard Jones and finished in 1938. The current owner, Dennis Audley, claims to have lost £250,000 running it over the past ten years. Nonetheless, a Save Saltdean Lido campaign group has been set up and is mobilising the local population to keep the facility running. There is a Save Saltdean Lido Facebook page and a campaign page at www.saltdeanlidocampaign.org.' 

Our advisor

Each case study has been sourced and written by Allan Brodie, an architectural historian who specialises in the study of seaside resorts. He is the author of four books on the seaside and has published papers on subjects as diverse as seaside resorts in the 18th century and holiday camps.

Case five: The Winter Gardens, Morecambe, Lancashire

Campaign update, Nov 2010:

The Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust still owns the building and protects it through fundraising activities in collaboration with the Friends of the Winter Gardens.

The shell of this once popular attraction is a ghost of holidays past, but a local campaign group has bought Morecambe Winter Gardens and is looking for ways to guarantee its future.

Winter Gardens began to appear at seaside resorts in the 1870s, providing entertainment whatever the weather. The name for these multi-functional buildings was derived from the fact that they often had large, glazed structures that provided an environment suitable for tropical or sub-tropical plants.

Morecambe's Winter Gardens began life in 1878 as the ‘People's Palace', containing baths, an aquarium, bars and entertainment facilities. In 1897, the Victoria Pavilion building was added next door to the earlier building, built to designs by Mangnall and Littlewood, but with advice from the leading Victorian theatre architect Frank Matcham. Behind the elaborate oriental-inspired brick and terracotta façade, a long, wide hall with 2,000 seats was created. In the first half of the 20th century, this pair of structures dominated Morecambe's seafront and became a magnet for huge numbers of holidaymakers and daytrippers, attracted by acts as famous as George Formby, Laurel and Hardy, and, of course, Morecambe and Wise.

It's come to this...

By the late 1960s, the Winter Gardens were in decline and in 1977 the complex closed. In 1982, the original ‘People's Palace' was demolished and replaced by a modern amusement arcade. Since its closure, the remaining 1897 pavilion has been little used, its most prominent use being for television shows and tours exploring paranormal phenomena. Despite the best efforts of its owners, simple maintenance is currently all that can be afforded.

What can be done?

Saddened by the closure of the centrepiece of Morecambe's seaside history, a local pressure group was established to campaign for the building's future. The Friends of the Winter Gardens was formed in 1986 and in 2006 it was able to buy the increasingly neglected structure, thanks in part to a substantial bequest left by a clarinet player who had performed in the Winter Gardens in its heyday. In 2009, an ambitious £12.8 million scheme was proposed for its regeneration, with the hope that money would be forthcoming from the regional development agency, the Heritage Lottery Fund and CABE's Sea Change fund. Unfortunately, the whole amount has not been raised and so the future of the Winter Gardens is again in doubt.

How can we help?

For more than 20 years, the Friends of the Winter Gardens have actively campaigned to secure the future of the building - as its enthusiastic Chair Evelyn Archer has said, ‘We are here to stay.' To carry on this work, they need your support, by becoming a friend and by volunteering to help maintain the Winter Gardens. So why not join its famous patrons, who include Ken Dodd, Wayne Hemingway and Eric Morecambe's son Gary in supporting the campaign to return the Winter Gardens to the heart of Morecambe's holiday experience? For more information, see www.thewintergardensmorecambe.co.uk.