English Lakes Blog

The Midland to Host Ladies Day at the Races Event

The Midland is proud to host ‘Ladies Day at the Races’ this Sunday 3rd July 2011, an event in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK organised by fundraiser Kate Hardcastle, who has worked tirelessly to raise funds and awareness of the cause.

"Pancreatic Cancer claimed the lives of my mother, Marguerite, and my brother, Terry.  Their pain made me determined to raise awareness of and funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK; so that a test may be found to detect this cancer early and so to save more than the 3% who currently survive."

"Since 1st March 2009 over £10,000 has been raised due to the generosity of people on our previous charity events such as our 7,000 mile Odyssey around the UK by bus in 2009 and on our 97 mile walk from Morecambe to Saltburn in 2010.  My goal is £20,238 and with your help this can be achieved”.

At the event you will own and name your own racehorse and the winning horse gets a bottle of champagne. The afternoon is inclusive of strawberry afternoon tea, half price cocktails, a ladies Hat competition, grand raffele and you could even win money by betting on the races. Entertainmet for the even will be porivded by Ray Evans, Lounge Pianist.

Tickets for the event are £30 per person and include a Pimms reception, your own racehorse, strawberry tea and half price cocktails.

The event starts at 2.30pm at The Midland Morecambe. Tickets can be purchased through Kate on 01524 823080 or 07702980903. All proceeds will go to Pancreatic Cancer UK.
 

Midland cinefilm shows 1950s Morecambe life

Rare cinefilm depicting Morecambe life in the 1950s is now on show at the iconic art deco Midland hotel in Morecambe.

The film gives a fascinating insight into life in a sunkissed Morecambe in 1959.  It features a packed seafront of happy go lucky holiday makers enjoying the summer sunshine, with children playing in the outdoor swimming pool and enjoying a traditional Punch and Judy show on the beach, and even tall ships moored by the pier.

Historic Happy Mount Park is also featured with its gardens, mini train and even a small zoo with seals, pelicans and bears.

The footage was discovered by chance at a car boot sale by the parents of one of the architects involved in the redevelopment of the property.  It was then digitally converted to DVD by staff at English Lakes, which runs The Midland, and there was a surprise for IT Manager Harvie Rollins when he spotted his parents and elder brother in some of the footage.

Harvie says: “I was just checking the film to see if it was in the correct format for digital conversion and was only about 30 seconds in when by chance I spotted my family in one of the scenes on the seafront.  It was a nice surprise and struck a chord as my Dad was a keen cinefilm buff and amateur film maker.”

The film is now showing to guests in rooms at The Midland. Matt Stanaway, the manager of The Midland says: “The Midland has such a wonderful history, and to be able to show guests the film of Morecambe as it used to be is a nice addition to the rooms.  No doubt there will be some other people – locals and visitors - who will spot family members in the film.

“I'm sure some local people will also have similar footage and if so we’d love to hear from them.”

The film was also used as inspiration for the redevelopment of the hotel.  Still frames were used as prints in each room and the colour schemes of the rooms is based around the stills.

Originally built in the 1930s, the art deco inspired hotel helped to make the town fashionable, with celebrity guests including Coco Chanel, Wallace Simpson and Lawrence Olivier.

The Midland overlooks the uninterrupted coastline of Morecambe Bay with views across to the Lake District.

£45,000 Fundraising Target Reached!

Congratulations and thanks to everybody that helped raise an incredible £45,000 in 2010 which will build and equip an orphan home in the Open Arms village in Eldoret, Kenya.  This has been a tremendous effort by all and the results will undoubtedly, and in a very real way, improve the lives of dozens of children for years to come.

The Open Arms fundraising project has clearly shown the dedication and care of the staff at English Lakes who have risen to the challenge with their usual enthusiasm and commitment. The list of activities undertaken this year demonstrates the creative energy that we have within the group:

Sponsored swimmers, face painting, aerobathon, boxing dinner, raffle, salary giving, learn-to-sail scheme, jumble sale, 3 peaks challenge, 5-aside football competition, sponsored walkers, country and western evening, cellar tours at Storrs, guess the baby’s weight, cake baking, cross bay walk, sponsored runners, Christmas gift fair, silent auction, staff raffle, pyjama party, beauty evening, Land’s End to John o’ Groats static bike ride,  photo competition, car washing, Morrison’s collection, pub quiz, tuck shop … the list is long and impressive!

We hope that the building work on the orphan home will start in Spring 2011 – watch this space for more details.

Our New Look...

You may have noticed recently, here at English Lakes Hotels we gave our website a brand new look. This new look reflects the diverse range of businesses English Lakes Hotels now includes and to help communicate our commitment to excellent service and quality.

Here at English Lakes Hotels we have changed our name to English Lakes: Hotels, Resorts and Venues. We took this decision as we felt the new name better represents our business - which includes self-catering lodges, a marina and watersports centre, health and fitness facilities, larger conference and wedding venues as well as five quality hotels and an inn.

New product identities and logos have been produced to reflect the individual nature of the properties. However they share some common design elements so that customers will recognise the English Lakes brand, while still allowing the hotels’ very different characters to shine through.

Simon Berry, managing director and chairman said: “The change consolidates what we offer as a group and reflects that we are much more than a hotel chain."

“We are a group of individual properties that all have their own unique style and character so we do not want any kind of homogenous uniformity. However, we feel that it is important for people to be able to recognise our brand and know that they get the same attention to detail and level of quality at each of our properties.”

The Low Wood Hotel has also been rebranded. It will now be known as Low Wood Bay – reflecting the many facilities located there, including a Marina, Watersports Centre and large leisure club.

The rebranding of the company also allows it to become more flexible in how it develops in the future.

David Neale, commercial director said: “The new branding is a better expression of the breadth of what we do now as well as expressing something of our vision for the future.”

To find out more about our new look visit our new site at englishlakes.co.uk where can see the new hotel brand identities on the hotel pages.

Back To the 30's with the Midland Hotel

On 27th December, the iconic, art-deco inspired Midland Hotel held its first 1930’s style dinner dance since it reopened in June 2008.

The dinner dance was based on the original format of the dances held at the Midland in its 1930’s heyday, when it was visited by society figures such as Noel Coward and Wallis Simpson.

The evening commenced with a champagne reception in the hotel lobby where guests gazed at the Eric Gill artwork, including the ceiling medallion of Neptune and Triton and the Odysseus mural, which was famously stolen and recovered in 1999.

This was followed by a sumptuous 3-course dinner in the Eric Gill suite, which houses his famous map of North West England mural.

The evening rounded off with dancing until midnight to the High Society Band.

Being the first of many new events to be hosted at the historic Midland Hotel, the 1930's dinner dance was a great success.

On Friday 22nd January the Midland will play host to a weekend of mystery and entertainment. Help us solve a murder mystery performed by the After Dark Theatre Company while you enjoy a 3 course candlelit dinner.

The mystery theme continues on Saturday 23rd January at our Masked Dinner Dance with entertainment once again from the fantastic High Society Jazz Band.

For weekend and individual event booking enquires telephone:  01524 428 370

See more photos and read more about the dinner dance from the Lancaster Evening Post Online.