"Catch the Wind" at Morecambe

Morecambe has suffered much over the years since the days when holidaymakers would flock to the resort, but in recent years its fortunes have started to improve. True, there is still much to do in Morecambe, but the significant regeneration work over the past few years, epitomised by the rebirth of the art-deco Midland Hotel, suggests better times are ahead.

One of the ways Morecambe is trying to bring the visitors back is through several festivals throughout the year. One popular festival is "Catch the Wind", Morecambe's kite festival, now in its seventh year. It promised to be a colourful day by the sea and with sunshine promised for the afternoon, we decided to take a look.

If the aim of the festival's organisers was to attract plenty of visitors to Morecambe, then they certainly succeeded as the promenade and beach were full of people, and most of them had brought a kite too!

The larger display kites were truly impressive, with dinosaurs, sharks and an assortment of colourful fishes, sharing the skies with scuba divers and swimmers. Besides these there was a multitude of traditional kites of all shapes, sizes and colours, all competing for air space.

We had, of course, brought our own kites for the occasion, and the sea breeze ensured they flew with gusto - on one occasion a little too much, as the stunt kite I was flying slammed into another and completely took it out!

The one drawback to the event was that it clashed with Fleetwood's own festival, Tram Sunday, where historic vehicles and trams would be on display by the sea front. Dad was keen to see this too, so we packed up the kites a little quicker than we ought and headed down the coast to Fleetwood. The journey from Morecambe is surprisingly far, and by the time we made it, the trams and buses were just about ready to leave. Still, we weren't downhearted, the planned fish and chip supper was still very much in the itinery, rounding off a very pleasant afternoon.