Eight strange but true facts about Lancaster and Morecambe from the city being the coldest place in the universe to rapper Busta Rhymes living in town with his aunt

By Michelle Blade

Published 13th Sep 2024, 12:56 BST

If you are Lancaster or Morecambe born and bred you may think you know your city or town really well...but do you really?

Here are eight fascinating facts about your wonderful city and town that may surprise you…..

Dave Spikey's book contains a strange story from Morecambe's The Visitor newspaper about a man who stole a Grim Reaper costume from Morecambe Town Hall. You may remember the court case from 2007 in which a man dressed as the Grim Reaper was arrested after a lads’ night out in Morecambe. Christopher Kelly lost his mates, who were celebrating a friend’s birthday and were also drunk, and wandered onto the beach where he got stuck in boggy sand and lost his shoes, trousers and jacket. Cold and wet, he staggered across the road to Morecambe Town Hall where, seeing a window open, he climbed inside. “Then he soiled his underwear which he threw into a black bin bag. He found a ‘Grim Reaper’ fancy dress outfit and put this on before leaving the town hall where he eventually arrived at the police station (and) stood there for three hours, still in the Grim Reaper gear, until police arrived.”

1. Dave Spikey's book contains a story from The Visitor about a man who stole a Grim Reaper costume from Morecambe Town Hall

Dave Spikey's book contains a strange story from Morecambe's The Visitor newspaper about a man who stole a Grim Reaper costume from Morecambe Town Hall. You may remember the court case from 2007 in which a man dressed as the Grim Reaper was arrested after a lads’ night out in Morecambe. Christopher Kelly lost his mates, who were celebrating a friend’s birthday and were also drunk, and wandered onto the beach where he got stuck in boggy sand and lost his shoes, trousers and jacket. Cold and wet, he staggered across the road to Morecambe Town Hall where, seeing a window open, he climbed inside. “Then he soiled his underwear which he threw into a black bin bag. He found a ‘Grim Reaper’ fancy dress outfit and put this on before leaving the town hall where he eventually arrived at the police station (and) stood there for three hours, still in the Grim Reaper gear, until police arrived.” Photo: submit

Sitting atop the outstanding headland at Heysham are the historic ruins of the Grade I listed St Patrick’s Chapel and alongside stone-cut graves. These are one of the oldest Christian monuments in the North-west, dating from 700AD when they were built, it is believed to encourage the act of religious pilgrimage. Built from sandstone blocks, the small chapel measures approximately 8 meters by 3 meters. Stone tiles in 1903 were used to consolidate the ruins. The eight stone-cut graves are believed to pre-date the conquest (10th and 11th centuries). Their portrait appeared on the cover of The Best of Black Sabbath Album in 2000.

2. Stone graves at Heysham.

Sitting atop the outstanding headland at Heysham are the historic ruins of the Grade I listed St Patrick’s Chapel and alongside stone-cut graves. These are one of the oldest Christian monuments in the North-west, dating from 700AD when they were built, it is believed to encourage the act of religious pilgrimage. Built from sandstone blocks, the small chapel measures approximately 8 meters by 3 meters. Stone tiles in 1903 were used to consolidate the ruins. The eight stone-cut graves are believed to pre-date the conquest (10th and 11th centuries). Their portrait appeared on the cover of The Best of Black Sabbath Album in 2000. Photo: submit

Legendary American rapper who cut some of most manic and greatest rap tunes Busta Rhymes has a past that is far weirder than any other rap star…he grew up in Morecambe. Sort of. The young Busta was sent to his aunt's in Morecambe to stop him getting in trouble and spent some time in the seaside resort. He stole a pair of trainers from the former Hitchens shop during his stay there and was sent back by his aunt to apologise. The shop made him clean the floors as a punishment!

3. Busta Rhymes

Legendary American rapper who cut some of most manic and greatest rap tunes Busta Rhymes has a past that is far weirder than any other rap star…he grew up in Morecambe. Sort of. The young Busta was sent to his aunt's in Morecambe to stop him getting in trouble and spent some time in the seaside resort. He stole a pair of trainers from the former Hitchens shop during his stay there and was sent back by his aunt to apologise. The shop made him clean the floors as a punishment! Photo: "Busta Rhymes" by minusbaby is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Lancaster is home to the coldest place in the world; this will come as no surprise to anyone, but it may surprise you that it is in fact the coldest place in the universe. In the cutting edge low temperature laboratory at Lancaster University they have reached temperatures as low as 0.001 Kelvin, which is a shocking -274.149 °C - a world record for the coldest temperature ever reached.

4. Lancaster University entrance

Lancaster is home to the coldest place in the world; this will come as no surprise to anyone, but it may surprise you that it is in fact the coldest place in the universe. In the cutting edge low temperature laboratory at Lancaster University they have reached temperatures as low as 0.001 Kelvin, which is a shocking -274.149 °C - a world record for the coldest temperature ever reached. Photo: submitted

Lancaster Morecambe