Thursday, December 9, 2010

Another Place, Another Iconic Art Deco Renovation, Another Birthday.

Back when I had more grey hair on my head than today, I went to Antony Gormley's  Another Place.

On Mrs Nikos' recent birthday, I saw it as fitting recollection of our time in Cuxhaven to revisit Crosby beach on our way to another place.

No.97 is feeling the effects in this brass monkey weather

The drive from Crosby Beach to Windermere (not the another place but another place on route to another place), took us through the grinding suburbia of Southport and miles of semi-detatched squalor that seems to take away the feeling of being beside the sea.

Lake Windermere, another place but not the Another Place - the Cumbrian mountains form a backdrop.
We drove into the town of Windermere and made a stop for a traditional English lunch of chicken tikka massala.  After paying the Polish waitress and as the sun was  setting we headed for yet another place, but not Another Place a place where we would spend the night in non decadent style. Skirting around Lake Windermere we headed south with Coniston Water to our port beam.  I told Mrs Nikos about Donald Campbell, Bluebird and Mr Woppet.

Yet another place on Mrs Nikos' birthday tour of North West England.
This would be our first ever stay in a fully functional Iconic Art Deco Hotel dominated by a sea horse motif.

Shower drain


Clever staircase would work if the hotel listed by 90degrees
Early morning view of the prom and Cumbria.
Trouble is, the railway stopped coming to Morecambe Promenade.
The Midland Hotel Iconic Art Deco Hotel from the Promenade
The sun is eclipsed by the light of the Lighthouse cafe where overpriced Asda* instant coffee may be consumed.




* A typical ASDA shopper with her master.

=======================================================================
Addendum

Following a clarifying comment I present to you another typical ASDA shopper:




24 comments:

  1. Birthdays by the sea are always nice. The hotel does remind me of a Poirot location. Hope you didn't experience any of the excitement that his presence normally signifies. Love the drain and the ceiling mosaic. Where there mermaids? ;). -Lori

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bravo Lori

    You are correct, it was used as a Poirot location (I just checked on wikipedia). They run murder mystery weekends too.

    No mermaids, except Mrs Nikos....

    Thanks for writing in, N

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have visited Another Place twice, once with Guzzisue and once for the RBR. It poses questions, especially when the figures are half submerged when the tide comes in. Are they returning to the sea or are they waiting for a Devine Being?

    Have seen the Hotel on the Beebs Coast series and would love to see it in all its splendor.

    Have not been to the Lakes for ages, one of the last visits was to Grassmere, over commercialised and a large tourist trap.

    Ever thought of becoming a tourist guide N?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Too funny that it actually was in a Poirot! I should probably stop reading the posts on a smart phone and actually follow some of the links that you kindly include. :) I'll have to watch the episode again to determine if this is the hotel that seems to have a large nautical mermaid statue in front of it. Hence why I was inquiring.

    So you wouldn't want to be a tourist guide? How 'bout for friends? ;)

    Looking at some of Wikipedia's images for Another Place is surreal. Must be quite the sight to see them submerging/emerging. -Lori

    ReplyDelete
  5. So, what was the Midland like? It fell into such disrepair - like Morecambe itself - that a big wedge of public money went into its restoration....on the grounds that it would bring lots of tourists back to the resort. Did it work? Was it worth it?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice to see your blogs are now written in proper American, boy. I can now understand them some.

    What's an ASDA?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lori

    Of course I would show you the sites! I will do this when you personally deliver my crocs(tm).
    And I would expect reciprocation too! (I did visit a company called Scientific Atlanta some years ago.

    I was thinking of giving you a guest blog spot just like Jack does on his show.

    N

    ReplyDelete
  8. Affer

    Mrs Nikos v2 enjoyed it. We had a good weekend due to the bright sunny cold weather and me accelerating rapidly through "normal Morcambe".

    The hotel is worth a visit, rooms well appointed with Elizabeth Shaw biscuits in a hideaway cupboard with the kettle.

    N

    ReplyDelete
  9. Big Dog

    ASDA stands for Associated Dairies - the sort of grocery shop where you get mown down by bearded women.

    Thanks for commenting, N

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for mentioning Cuxhaven, I was born approx. 100km away, and now I feel homesick.
    Like BeemerGirl said, birthdays by the water are best treats. Happy belated birthday to Mrs Nikos.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sonja

    We both loved Cuxhaven. Wonderful beach baskets and there was a great aviation museum nearby on the site of an airship base.

    Mrs N works all over Germany and sometimes I get invited for weekends.

    N

    ReplyDelete
  12. I shop at ASDA, Mr Nikos, although only when I can't get to Harrods or Waitrose. Or Marks and Spencers at a push. And I certainly don't have a beard. Is that compulsory?

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Camilla

    That little avatar picture thing of you (with you just about to clamber onto a moped in Neasden High street) shows you sporting a beard? Or am I mistaken? Could that white stuff on your face be frost?

    XS N

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Nikos:

    There is nothing like staying in a "period" hotel that has been faithfully maintained. This is vastly different than staying in a hotel built during the American Civil War, and which received artillery fire in the course of events, and which has remained unchanged as a result of financial necessity. I have stayed in both.

    I went to photograph the authority bars on the K75, and then remembered you said, "I understand the bottom. It is the top that confounds me." Do I correctly understand that you do not have the proper exploded parts schematic? Normally, I would simply dismantle the assembly and show you the order in which the parts came off... But I have these fookin' HID lights mounted to them and it is a bit more complicated.

    By the way, should you decide these bars are not for you, I'll buy them. i

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well really! How dare you - that is NOT a beard. I grew up motorcycling with Grandfather Edgar, from whom I learned the joy of gripping with my knees and having the wind in my face. Only persons of a limp-wristed persuasion wear those silly full-faced pressure cookers on their head - is there anything worse than riding with the smell of an old helmet in your nose?
    But, when I raced in Tasmania, I also learned the value of skin protection. I favour an Australian brand so never ride without a good layer of Every Man Jack on my face.

    ReplyDelete
  17. For God's sake, Nikos! Don't provoke her!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jack

    I have a parts schematic but it is not clear what bolts are used at the top mounting - the list says "fillister" head screws but what is there already are hex headed screws. What's a fillister between screws as Socrates was once hear to mutter.

    I'm running with a much more intriguing and taxing issue on the GS at the moment that resembles a 3D jigsaw puzzle - mounting Wunderlich leg shields....

    Thanks for dropping in , N

    ReplyDelete
  19. What's wrong with the smell of helmet?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Ms.Camilla Jessop:

    If you are riding with the smell of an old helmet in your nose, then you have it on backwards. What was Benjamin Disraeli like in the sack?

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dear Nikos:

    I may have a better exploded drawing. Will send.

    Riepe

    ReplyDelete
  22. oooooooo!!! Been sitting on my arse in a locked room doing something that someone keeps referring to as "work"...

    Yay! I have a tour guide!! :) Gracious! '50's juke boxes and espresso's here I come!! But I mightn't wait on the Crocs(tm). I wouldn't want to deprive you of the enjoyment and rapture of wearing them in the intervening months. Bobskoot just would not approve!

    So was your trip scientifically Atlanta-fied? Did you see it in better resolution then other visitors?

    I will definitely have some sights and sounds to drag you to on a visit here. Weird Georgia isn't just a book... ;)

    Would be fun to write for new audiences! LOL I'll try not to lie or plagiarize. ;)

    -Lori

    ReplyDelete

Site Meter