In the News

It's no fun to swallow your swozzle. Ask Martin Scott Price, the Fylde's own Punch and Judy Professor, and one of the best known in the business.

Indeed, after some three and a half centuries, Mr Punch is still fighting his nagging missus, a sausage-fixated crocodile, a ghost, a policeman, and political correctness. He is, after all, the world's best known wife beater, but as Martin points out, "Judy always has the last laugh."

Which brings us to Martin's great quest … for a stand-alone museum devoted to Punch and Judy in the Fylde.

Fi Glover is joined by Lucy Worsley, the Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and poet Murray Lachlan Young. There's a surgeon who's separated over a dozen sets of conjoined twins, a father and daughter who swam to safety from a sinking ship, and of course a man (me) who extols the virtues of Punch and Judy!

I was off to BBC Lancashire Radio for a chat with their host Sally, an ex Tiller Girl who did a splendid job linking the news and chat from the panel of three.

The panel consisted of myself — Punch & Judy man and magician — a young lady from the Showzam team from the Council, and another young lady, Melanie, talking about bright ideas for young people starting out in business.

It was an amusing two-hour programme with Mr Punch up to his usual antics and the panel discussing whether children have changed watching entertainment and whether the show has changed.

It's the busiest time of the year for entertainer Martin Scott Price.

There was once a time when no seaside holiday was complete without a happy interval spent watching a hook-nosed hunchback, his nagging wife and a chuckling crocodile with a hankering for sausages. Today Punch and Judy shows may be less common, but with the help of a number of dedicated puppetry 'professors' they are just as loved.

Among them is Martin Scott Price, a puppeteer who has been in the business for more than 35 years.

Morecambe was packed with people. Entertainment marquees outside The Platform helped create the perfect seaside holiday atmosphere with acts including Punch and Judy.

Visitors to the festival were asked to complete a survey. Two thirds of those who took part were from outside the district and almost all rated it as 'very enjoyable'.