Morecambe & Wise Odds & Ends

Graffiti Spotted

Posted: 9th August 2019
Residents of Morecambe have been praising a piece of artwork which appeared out of the blue in the town overnight. It features Eric Morecambe – painted on the wall of a property in Deansgate.

Some fans of the street art have queried on social media as to whether famous graffiti artist Banksy could be behind the work. Whoever it is, it’s caused a bit of a stir and some admiring comments.

It’s not the first time a Banksy-style mural has appeared in the town. Another work was seen on the corner of Stanley Road and Cavendish Road in 2014.

Last Laugh

Posted 21st November 2017
Paul Hendy has written and directed what is probably the best short film about comedy we have ever seen. It is set is a dressing room and revolves around a conversation with Bob Monkhouse, Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe.

Staring Bob Golding, the man who was in the fabulous stage show `Morecambe`, this really is worth watching. It is funny, clever and poignant.

Watch it here

Jenson Story

Posted June, February and November 2017
The 1968 Jensen Interceptor owned by Eric Morecambe is currently being restored to all its glory. This painstaking process is being fully documented on a new website that includes a lot of photographs. The car was origianlly rescued by Pieter-Jan Baert who then sold it on to Silverstone Auctions. The man behind Silverstone, once he had seen the car, decided not to sell it on, but to take on the job himself.

After the work was complete Eric`s famous Jensen Interceptor was put up for auction and was expected to fetch in the region of £150,000.

The car, originally purchased by Eric in 1968 for just £4,500 has gone through several owners and eventually ended up with Silverstone Auctions. There it was completely stripped down and re-built from the ground up.

Recently shown at the London Classic Car Show, this was a firm favourite with Eric and also his chauffeur Mike Fountain.

In November 2017 The Jensen Interceptor was auctioned and sold again for £95,625.

New Stamps

Posted: 31st March 2015
On 1st April 2015, the Royal Mail issued a new first day cover stamp featuring Eric and Ern. The First Day Cover marks the start of work on a new Bronze Wall Art of Morecambe and Wise by sculptor Graham Ibbeson who was responsible for the world famous statue of Eric Morecambe.

The new work will be sited in The Sunshine Garden of Fame that is being created on the Promenade in Morecambe opposite the Winter Gardens Theatre.

Sunshine Garden

Posted March - December 2015
After Eric`s statue was vandalised, plans were put in place for a project to bring together Eric and Ern in the holiday resort. As part of that work a new Sunshine Garden of Fame was planned to be build opposite the Winter Gardens Theatre, and the center piece will be a ten foot high bronze wall art depicting the comedy duo. You can read more in our feature: The Sunshine Garden of Fame.

As part of the fund raising and promotion, hoped to raise £70,000, a new beer was created. The drink, called Sunshine Ale was created by Peter Cross from Cross Bay Brewery, and was launched at the Eric Morecambe tribute dinner. The Sunshine garden was set to open in 2016, and there were many fund raising events going on to help reach the target.

Sadly it not go to plan, with little interest from the town and low attendances at the planned events.

In December 2015 it was annouced that the project had been cancelled. The Eric and Ern sculture that was also planned for the town may still go ahead though.

There seems to be confusion about the exact reasons with both the project coordinators and Morecambe council claiming different things.

Full details were the Lancaster Guardian website, but the link no longer works. Here is a local copy of the article.Article Here

In January 2016 plans for a Morecambe and Wise Heritage Trail in Morecambe were underway. The heritage trail will highlight areas of the seaside town connected to Eric and Ern, and will be identified by plaques. Areas will include the Winter Gardens, Lancaster Road School and The Royal Pub.

The heritage trail was setup after plans for a garden of fame and new bronze relief of the comedy duo were cancelled.

The first plaque will be unveiled on the Jubilee Club on 12th March. The location that Eric made his first paid appearance aged eight.

Ernest Wiseman Pub

Posted March 2014
Wetherspoon, the public house chain, was hoping open a new venue in Morely, Leeds, the location of the Ernie Wise ststue. They are hoping to give it the name of Ernest Wiseman so they can complete the set as they already have one in Morecambe named the Eric Bartholomew. Wetherspoon's were negotiations with the estate and hoped to move ahead quickly.

The plan though stalled and plans have now been halted. The pub will now have another name as the Wiseman family declined the offer.