The Morecambe Bay Podcast

Thousands of starlings, moving as one, twisting and turning through the sky in perfect synchronisation — a murmuration is one of nature’s most spectacular sights.

For photographer Darren Andrews, the phenomenon became the inspiration for a book filled with images captured around north Lancashire and North Pier in Blackpool. Now he’s taking on an even bigger challenge: trying to film a murmuration, which means patience, persistence and plenty of waiting for the birds to choose the right place and time.

In this episode, we head into the Arnside and Silverdale area to search for the murmurating starlings around Morecambe Bay.

Recording the spectacle proved a challenge of its own, but listen closely and you’ll hear the anticipation build as we wait, watch and finally capture the sights and sounds of one of nature’s most extraordinary performances.

What better way to start the New Year than by running into the icy waters of Morecambe Bay?

Every New Year’s Day, hundreds of brave — and often very creatively dressed — people take part in the annual Big New Year’s Day Dip, raising vital funds for St John’s Hospice.

It’s one of the Bay’s most unusual festive traditions, but behind the fun and fancy dress is a serious cause. The money raised helps St John’s Hospice continue providing care and support across north Lancashire and south Cumbria — something that has been needed more than ever in recent years.

In this episode, we find out what drives people to take the plunge, why the event means so much to the hospice and how the charity is preparing to expand its services as more people need its support.

Fancy dress, freezing water and hundreds of brave swimmers — it’s the New Year’s Day tradition that makes a splash around Morecambe Bay.

The memories of Storm Arwen are still strong around Morecambe Bay.

The first bad storm of the winter brought down powerlines cutting off homes and leaving communities without power for days. The disruption caused by the storm, which unusually blew in from the north, affected many all around the Bay.

You don’t have to travel far to see evidence of the destruction caused. Trees that had stood proud for decades were felled in one night and landscapes changed forever.

For this edition of the podcast we return to Eaves Wood near Silverdale. While the storm did damage the area, work to nurture nature here continues. The area is home to a wide variety of species and more are being reintroduced as part of the Back on our Map (BOOM) project as we’ve heard in an earlier edition of the podcast.

National Trust area ranger Craig McCoy explained more about the work that’s underway and how he and a small team of colleagues and volunteers are giving nature a helping hand.

Charlie Overett is a true “sand grown’un” — born and raised in Morecambe, with the Central Pier and the town’s fishing fleet right on his doorstep.

At just 13, Charlie and his friends were already getting a taste of life on the Bay, taking borrowed rowing boats out to escort cross-Bay swimmers safely back to Morecambe from Grange-over-Sands.

That early fascination with the sea would shape the rest of his life.

Charlie went on to become a merchant seaman travelling to the Far East, an offshore supply boat captain working around West Africa, and eventually a fisherman back home on Morecambe Bay.

In this episode, Charlie shares an extraordinary life at sea — from childhood adventures on the Bay to working thousands of miles from home, and the powerful pull that eventually brought him back.

Could getting outside and reconnecting with nature help communities recover from the impact of the pandemic?

That’s the idea behind The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery, a new programme bringing organisations together across Morecambe Bay — from Fleetwood to Walney Island.

Supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery and working with Lancashire and Cumbria Wildlife Trusts, the project aims to help people discover the natural world on their doorstep, learn new skills and build stronger connections with their communities.

One of the first events took place on Morecambe Beach, bringing people together to experience the Bay in a new way.

In this episode, we discover how nature, community and the extraordinary landscape around Morecambe Bay could play a part in helping people recover, reconnect and look ahead.

A story about the Bay, the people who live around it — and the power of getting outside.

The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery

Morecambe’s Winter Gardens is a building that seems to ooze atmosphere. For generations, it has welcomed some of the biggest names in entertainment — from George Formby and Gracie Fields to Vera Lynn, The Who and The Rolling Stones.

But this remarkable theatre needs saving.

A small, dedicated team of volunteers is working tirelessly to raise the money needed to protect the Winter Gardens from further decay. Now, a major grant from Historic England has helped push this year’s fundraising total close to £1 million.

With an extensive programme of restoration work about to begin, the Winter Gardens is entering a crucial new chapter — one that could help secure its future for generations to come.

In this episode, we go behind the scenes of this extraordinary building to hear about the restoration, the challenges ahead and why preserving Morecambe’s entertainment heritage matters.

Step inside one of Morecambe’s most iconic buildings and discover the story behind the fight to save it.

Morecambe Winter Gardens

Chas Jacobs has become familiar as an artist whose distinct work has helped spread the appeal of Morecambe Bay.

From an industrial career to becoming one of the artists most closely associated with Morecambe Bay, Chas has built a reputation for capturing the character and beauty of the area in his distinctive style.

For 18 years, he has also shared his skills and enthusiasm with a new generation of artists — some of whom have gone on to build artistic careers of their own.

His work has found an audience far beyond the Bay too, with paintings sought after by ex-pats around the world who want a piece of home wherever they live.

In this episode, we meet Chas in the studio where his paintings come to life, hear how he turned art into a career and discover why Morecambe Bay continues to inspire him.

A conversation about art, inspiration, teaching and the enduring pull of the Bay.

What do you get when you take a dance performance into a woodland bordered by a bypass, a housing estate and a wind farm?

Something quite extraordinary.

Underlie is a unique dance performance inspired by the history of Heysham Moss, created as part of the Entangled Arts Festival. With just one performer, no music and an audience asked to remain completely silent, it’s a very different way of experiencing the story of this remarkable landscape.

I grew up close to Heysham Moss, so being invited to the dress rehearsal was particularly special. On a calm evening, with the moon rising and the surrounding birdlife providing its own soundtrack, the woodland became the stage.

In this episode, discover how dance can reveal the history of a place — and perhaps make us see a familiar landscape in an entirely new way.

Find out more about the Entangled Arts Festival