42 Buxton Street

Eric Morecambe born in ‘the wrong house’

It could have come straight from a Morecambe and Wise TV script. As Eric might have said: ‘I was born in the wrong house, you know. Right child, wrong house. Oh yes!’ Certainly, arrangements for Eric’s birth didn’t go to plan. A leak in the bedroom roof of the family home at 48 Buxton Street, near Lancaster Road, meant his mother chose to give birth at number 42, home of his aunt. There were no further complications, and Eric Bartholomew came into the world, destined to become one of the country’s best-loved comedians, once he had changed his name to Morecambe and teamed up with comedy partner, Ernie Wiseman. Today, celebratory plaques can be found on both of the terraced houses. There’s also a third plaque to mark the larger house that the family moved to, in nearby Christie Avenue just a 15-minutes walk away.

Eric’s father, George, was an easy-going council labourer, and it was his mother, Sadie, who pushed Eric into developing his entertainment skills. She made sure he could play the piano, and entered young Eric for child talent contests so he would gain experience on stage. Eric met up with Ernie aged just 14, and their comedy double act was born. The partnership would last over 40 years, ending when Eric had a fatal heart attack aged just 58. This was his third attack, and little consolation that his ‘grand finale’ came after six curtain calls at a charity concert in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Fittingly, a statue of Eric in classic ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ dancing pose, was placed on Morecambe’s Central Promenade. It was made by Graham Ibbeson, who also produced the Laurel and Hardy statue across the bay in Ulverston. With Eric’s catchphrases laid out in front, the statue has become a major attraction on Morecambe’s seafront. Such is the warmth of feeling towards this great British comic, that people spend up to 45 minutes posing, singing and dancing beside it.

Address 42 Buxton Street, Morecambe, LA4 5SR | Getting there Bus 1A towards Heysham from Lancaster station; alight at County Garage, then a four-minute walk; by car, M 6 J 34, then follow the A 683 and B 5321; in Morecambe, take James Street and Charles Street to Buxton Street | Hours Always accessible | Tip Eric was a keen birdwatcher –note the binoculars on his seafront statue – and RSPB Leighton Moss in Silverdale, North Lancashire, has named a hide and a pool in his memory; Myers Lane, Silverdale, LA5 0SW – an hour by train from Morecambe to Lancaster, then to Silverdale on the Barrow train; half an hour by car.