Alan Bennett's Memories of Morecambe

we night mode in fact a little bit on the common side Malcolm Laura fine no ever made me let manage since I lost my husband the of the boarding woman I have mmmm meal at night sunsets across the bay and all day on the sun's to television plays written by Alan Bennett and filmed here in Morton the inspiration for both of these films was largely based on Allen's childhood memories as with many thousands of families from West Yorkshire Allen along with his brother Muhammad dad would come to welcome for their holidays here are some Allen's early memories and though I was born in Leeds in 1934 my memories of Malcolm starting about 1914 when we used to go for long weekends we never had a long holiday cuz my dad worked for the coop again with him being in the war he only got Monday and Tuesday up and sometimes we'd stay on with my mom my brother me for the rest of the week but more often than not it was just for the weekend holidays there in the war were either going to Wilson in Morcom generally occasionally very occasionally we go to Blackpool but my mum they always thought that Malcolm was that bit more genteel than Blackpool so if we went to Blackpool we stayed we tell you to stay in Cleveland because that was a bit less less common as it were but an indoor cat we staged up at the Baron can you remember how you got some welcome if we went on the train but all the trains were very very crowded and I remember people used to I mean very dangerously used to go along the line and get into the trains before they actually got into the onto the platform we didn't but that means we didn't get us the the first intimation you were nearly there was the train would stop at Lancaster and and the porter would go along the platform saying Lancaster greenair and it's totally mysterious well this green there was everybody went on holiday at the same time so they would be on bank holidays it would be absolutely packed everywhere bullshitting and trains mostly well a lot of people would have full board that's to say they have breakfast and high tea and night but we didn't we just had breakfast and we took our own food and so we were always accompanied by cardboard boxes tied it was you know mystery with all our Russians in that and I was bit ashamed of this as a child because I thought it was somehow in there in evidence about our sort of lowly status that we didn't actually ever you know board like everybody else but we probably are better food than they did most of the times we when we weren't in a big boarding house we were in fairly small places at the bottom where everyone sort of newly developed and then welcomed you know semi-detached house Italy were what would be your main entertainments and well we we've got the pictures always I mean without that would be the true good everybody went to the pictures at twice a week or three times a week sometimes and remember seeing Jane Eyre at the Odeon in Malcolm and being terrified by kind of famously sexy farewell in the Sun I think was called lost in the dust in the papers yeah yeah and you'd have to kill a baby all such cubes get into the cinema I can only remember going to the Winter Gardens once and he was to see watch Lesley Hutchinson it was a pianist black pianist he was and he was he was a he was big star but to a child of age you know is the most boring thing in the world you know I was just playing the piano and he wanted bit more than that we used to go to things on the pier which would be more likely to be old-fashioned varieties England I remember his this was seeing the sea through the boards of the pier you know being terrified that you could ask me yeah theory fall through we probably went to if they had a little orchestral concerts during the day we'd go to the Oscars my dad was a ballet I played the violin I remember come people coming around and charging you for the deck chair I think there was apologies we have forgotten this but yeah I think I think have you guys I think being surprised by how violent it was because of it today I'm sure it'd be the same the you should be talent shows I don't think I ever went in form but I wasn't around anything to contribute versus really maybe when we took us on the Big Dipper my brother and me and the more can big dipper about bumping dippers sounded fairly mild you know but I was petrified advice I never been on one since but but the thing is I did do remember I'm written about this as the I liked was when when you finished all the dipping as he will is a bit when you Coast along the top of the thing pass behind the boarding houses and then you slowly come down there thinking I really like that but the actual you know zooming on the down I didn't like at all but that didn't and my brother probability as well but anyway I mean there were all the things that waltz us in order all right say you were used to seeing but we didn't have much money of see you know you're they live before of us my brother and I were both born on May the 9th my brother three years older than me but in counting back it means that we must have been conceived in August so I assumed that we were conceived in a boarding house somewhere whether it was in Morcom or in fileio scar I don't know but we never discussed it with my parents I don't like to think about it anyway well it was tray a restricted out my spirit of the boardinghouse bedroom and anyway and can you describe what your mom and dad looked like when they went on holiday well they look exactly the same as they did when they went on holiday that I mean my dad always wore a raincoat and anyway we'd wear a suit and because he had two suits the suit he wore to work and then what he called my other suit and my other suit was his best suit birthday and so he'd be in his other suit you were to go on holiday but he'd never have such a thing as a sports jacket or anything like that and he'd have a he I think he graduated to true bass warm when when I was growing up but when we went out around five he'd still be wearing a bowler hat which sounded extraordinary now but it was quite commonplace then you know that was all you all but it was just a way but people were that was all and you know they they take their socks off and paddle but they wouldn't know other adjustments to it while they were wearing would you say you had a happy childhood it was happy miss dole it was you know let me say its significance I remember so little of it really you were just ordinary I made two films in Malcolm sunset across the bay couple of years later all day on the sounds which first one was the BBC the other was for ITV so that's rather overlaid by our short memories although it reflected here fairly accurately you know in the world what what is it being like the man in the film down in the film is a bit it's very like my my father the way he gets up they shoot off in the morning even though he's it on his holidays and and the way he's always very roof or about stuff it was like my dad remember their lives yawns a boring woman talking better somebody they sat next to in a shelter and just been being quite a satirical about stuff so would you say that Mokomoko memories I saw of happy memories well you know it's Malcolm it's the seaside I mean it's what I think I went here I don't think of Brian I think it Malcolm the view from coming in from West Bank is spectacular I'm in the ticker when I've been filming there on um first thing on the morning you know you think well if we'd have the climate it would be winner of the most extraordinary place but it can be a really inspiring plumbing that the shots in the films have done with them first thing in it my doubt first thing in the morning walking along the beach yes I think he's you know take some beatings as though [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Morecambe Heritage Centre Films

Views: 13,330

Rating: 4.9160838 out of 5

Keywords: Alan Bennett, Morecambe, sunset across the bay, all day on the sands

Id: zOV97afpYBA

Length: 11min 51sec (711 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 27 2020