Market muralis homage to town's history

Artist Bob Pickersgill has spent over 100 hours creating his masterpiece which is almost finished.

And the mural is all the more special because it is dedicated to the cafe owner’s son who died in 1986 at just 13.

Bob, 70, a Liverpudlian who came to Morecambe 10 years ago, said: “I came in the Star cafe by chance six or seven weeks ago and there was just a bare wall. I said to Joanne the owner ‘you need a mural’ and she said she wanted me to do it.

“I was on holiday in Spain and we had two and a half days of torrential rain, so I came up with some ideas for the mural.

“I sketch it first and then paint it “

The muralwhich covers one entire wall of the cafe, features a reproduction of the Eric Gill mural from the foyer of The Midland hotel, the rotunda bar of The Midland, a dancing woman and man, the Eric Morecambe statue, the clock tower, Eric Morecambe’s car, the last two shrimping boats in the bay, the birds in the bay, entertainment from the past and Vintage by the Sea, which still runs. as a festtival. Co-owner of the Star Cafe, Joanne Baxter, said: “My son Nikki Baxter died in 1986 at the age of 13 and he was an entertainer, hence the name of the cafe. The mural is dedicated to him as well.

“Bob said to me you could do with a mural and I said I wanted one. I didn’t know he painted either.

“It’s fantastic. We have a lot of regulars coming in and everybody loves it.”

Bob, who trained as a sign writer and studied painting and decorating at the Liverpool School of Art, also painted a mural at Carnforth Station in 2006.

He said: “The mural is celebrating all that’s good in Morecambe and I hope to have it finished by the weekend.”