Holiday lets inject new life into old Morecambe Battery

Work to refurbish a neglected landmark building in the West End of Morecambe is taking shape.
The Battery in MorecambeThe Battery in Morecambe
The Battery in Morecambe

The Battery in Marine Road West is being renovated from top to bottom, and is expected to be completed by late 2019.

Owner Ian Bond said it is likely the 17 brand new rooms in the building would be marketed as holiday lets.

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Ian said: “I’m aiming for luxury holiday flats which I’d like to think would be on a par with The Midland.

Ian Bond at The Battery in MorecambeIan Bond at The Battery in Morecambe
Ian Bond at The Battery in Morecambe

“Something unique and luxurious, a home from home really.”

Ian, who grew up in Wennington in the Lune Valley, bought The Battery four years ago, and has already converted the white building next to it into residential flats.

The Battery, which was built in 1900 by Thwaites Brewery and run as a pub and latterly a club for decades, has certainly seen better days.

But Ian said he’d already repaired and refurbished the roof, added dormers to the huge attic space, and was working from the top of the building to the bottom, creating two bedroom flats of around 100sqm in size.

Inside The Battery in Morecambe.Inside The Battery in Morecambe.
Inside The Battery in Morecambe.
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“I’m taking my time over it because I want it to look right,” he said.

Morecambe is short of hotel accommodation, people are holidaying at home more, so it just seemed to make sense to go down this route.

“I’m using a new type of insulation which will bring it virtually up to passivhaus standard, there are solar panels on the roof, under floor heating, and I’m putting around 10 tonnes of masonry back in that had previously been stripped out.”

A new car parking area will be accessed through gates on the right hand side of the building, New balconies have also been incorporated into the top floor flats.

The Battery in MorecambeThe Battery in Morecambe
The Battery in Morecambe

“I want it to be absolutely perfect,” Ian said.

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“I’ve felt more and more priveliged to be working on such a historic building.”

Built in 1900, The Battery, which took its name from an artillery battery stationed there during the late nineteenth century when Britain feared a French invasion, is not a Listed building.

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