JANUARY
TRIBUTES were paid to the Heysham man who was among the seven who died when a helicopter crashed into Morecambe Bay.

Bob Warburton, 60, of Tomlinson Road, was returning home for New Year from a gas rig in the bay along with four other Centrica workers and two pilots, when the helicopter ditched into the sea.

A CONTROVERSIAL film documenting the Morecambe bay cockling disaster was previewed at the Dukes.

Ghosts, directed by documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield, was a vivid and harrowing record of the events of February 5, 2004, directly addressing the circumstances that put the workers in a position where they regularly risked their lives for a pittance.

THE official opening of Morecambe's Midland Hotel was delayed until 2008.

Its owners, award-winning developers Urban Splash, also confirmed they were to run the hotel themselves after attempts to find an operator failed.

Problems with the Midland building work had led to the delays.
n A CANADIAN who feared his missing brother was a man found hanged in a wood near Lancaster, discovered that he was alive – thanks to a Visitor investigation.

Following a story the previous week about a police investigation into an unidentified body found in a wood at Forton, John Tunstall, from Ontario, Canada, feared it might have been his missing brother, Guy Adrian Grigg.

The body was identified later on in the year as Colin McNeil Hall, 53, from the Bishops Stortford area.

FEBRUARY
MORECAMBE'S life-saving rescue hovercraft was to be given a brand new home – alongside the resort's Stone Jetty.

Plans submitted would see the Hurley Flyer vessel relocated to a purpose-built station that would lead out onto the jetty slipway.

More than £250,000 was raised in a matter of months by the hugely successful Home for the Hover appeal run by The Visitor in conjunction with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute's hundreds of volunteers and supporters.

n A 'GENTLEMAN and gentle man' of the theatre died after a long battle against cancer at the tragically young age of 42.

Roger Bradley, one of the best known and best loved thespians on the local dramatic scene, passed away peacefully at St John's Hospice.

Roger gave pleasure to thousands of theatre-goers in the Morecambe and Lancaster area with his performances in many highly-acclaimed shows, some of which he directed himself.

MONKEY magic hit Morecambe as one of Britain's top bands took the resort by storm in an astonishing surprise gig.

Word had been spreading for a day or two before the event that 'something big' was in the air, but when the announcement was made that the Arctic Monkeys were the big-name act booked for The Dome, locals could hardly believe their luck.

Dozens froze their brass monkeys off as they braved Morecambe's wintry promenade to queue overnight to make sure they got their tickets.

n A HEROIC train driver trapped after a fatal derailment caused by a points failure, was helped to safety by police officers from both Lancaster and Morecambe.

Margaret Masson, 84, from Scotland, died when the London to Glasgow train derailed at Grayrigg approximately five miles north of Kendal.

Two fire service crew members from Morecambe were among the first rescue workers there, saying it was a 'miracle' there weren't more deaths.

MARCH
CRIES of sexual discrimination were ringing out from two new toilet blocks in Morecambe, where women had to pay 20p to pee, but men could go for free.

The council said that, bizarrely, this was not down to some sort of corporate sexism - but was due to an old law which stated that local authorities were prohibited from charging for urinals.

EMERGENCY services staged a dramatic rescue when a man climbed over the guardrail on Carlisle Bridge and threatened to jump into the river below. The man, said by police to be 40, climbed onto an outrigger of the bridge.

He slipped and fell into the Lune, but was rescued by the inshore lifeboat.

CONGESTION charging could be the answer to solving the district's chronic traffic problems, a controversial solution which was being considered as part of a nine-month £120,000 study.

The survey was also considering park and ride, an ultra-light rail system, road modifications, road closures, new bridges, dedicated bus routes and even underground tunnels.

VANDALS aged just 10 were thought to have been responsible for smashing windows on the 'Hogwarts Express' train used in the Harry Potter films.
Hammers were used to smash 223 windows on the train and its carriages, causing £50,000 of damage.

In 2003, £3,000 had to be spent on repainting one carriage after it was daubed with graffiti near Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

APRIL
NEW markings on one of the district's busiest roundabouts caused chaos for motorists.

In a bid to prevent any more accidents involving heavy lorries, it seemed planners had succeeded in confusing and annoying local motorists.

Drivers using the Morecambe Road roundabout ended up in a spin but soon got used to the new road markings.

n ONE man's bid to have an artist's former house designated a listed building could have scuppered multi-million pound plans for the regeneration of the West End.

Taxi driver and local historian David Hodgson was fighting to have the Chatsworth Road property listed because it was built for the famous Morecambe artist William Woodhouse, who lived there in the 19th Century.

Council officers said if the building was listed it could seriously hamper their plans to demolish houses in the West End to make a new living environment as part of the West End Masterplan.

A SCALE model replica of Morecambe's Super Swimming Stadium was returning to the area following its purchase at auction from Christie's in London.

The model made a huge splash at the auction and eventually sold for £3,000, more than double its original estimate.

It was to be displayed in Lancaster's Maritime Museum.

n THE Face of 2007 was launched and the district was scoured for good-looking guys and girls to take part.

Dozens of would-be contestants sent their photos in hoping to become the Face of 2007.

The 40 finalists were then invited to a photo-shoot at Toast nightclub and then strutted their stuff at the glittering climax at The Dome.
Winners in June were Katy Chapman and Steve Quick.

MAY
SUN, sea, sand and cycles were the order of the day in Morecambe, when scores of people arrived by bike to join in the fun at the official launch of cycling on the town's promenade.

The event was organised by Lancaster City Council's Cycle Demonstration Town Project Team and Cultural Services to celebrate the change in the promenade bylaws which enabled the five-mile stretch of stunning views and fresh sea air to be opened up to cyclists.

n FOUR members of the same family who caused a 'level of true terror' were banned from Lancashire.

Mum and dad Christine, 43, and Martin McLoughlin, 41, together with sons Mark, 21, and Daniel, 19, were the first people to be banned from the county following the imposition of an anti-social behaviour order.

Police presented magistrates with an extensive bundle of documents which included more than 900 incidents reported to police covering the behaviour of the family since 2000.

SHRIMPS were on their way to Wembley, after Wayne Curtis netted twice to send their fans singing into the Morecambe streets and contemplating their trip to the new national stadium on May 20.

It had been a nervy affair from the kick-off of the first leg at York, until the moment the referee prompted the wild celebrations at Christie Park, by blowing the whistle that signalled victory for the home side.

Plans got underway for a mass exodus of thousands of Morecambe fans to London.

MORECAMBE reached the promised land, with a win at Wembley which was witnessed by more than 10,000 Shrimps fans.

All the Morecambe players were united in their joy at achieving the club's ambition of reaching the Football League.

The whole of Morecambe got the chance to give the Shrimps' players a rousing welcome home and thousands lined the streets as the team and officials took an open-top bus tour round the town.

JUNE
POLICE were planning to visit schools to warn of the dangers of swimming in rivers, following the death of a teenager.

Jason Lupton, 17, from Skerton, was swimming with friends in the Lune when he got into difficulties.

Despite a major rescue operation he could not be saved and his body was recovered later.

A WOMAN could have been blinded when a balloon filled with ice was thrown through the driver's-side window of her car.

Hairdresser Samantha Wormwell was left with glass embedded in her skin near her right eye. It took hospital staff two hours to remove the glass.

Police said that this type of crime was extremely devastating and could have caused a very serious accident.

A DISTRAUGHT cat owner who witnessed her beloved pet being savaged to death by two dogs issued a warning to parents and other pet lovers.

Jane Houghton's cat Tinkerbell died after two cross bull terriers attacked her in the front garden of Jane's home on Schola Green Lane.

The RSPCA were investigating and said failure to keep a dog under control was an offence enforceable by the police, dog warden services and in some cases the RSPCA.

CHANCES of a bypass being built from Heysham to the M6 fell to an all-time low with the new look Lancaster City Council withdrawing its support for the northern link road.

In one of the first major decisions taken by the council following the recent elections, a close vote saw councillors decide that while still supporting a link to the M6, they opposed a northern route.

As a result the council did not take part in the public inquiry on the road, where it was due to support the county council's case for the route.

Next week – July-December