Barrow-in-Furness

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A view of Barrow's Central Skyline with the Town Hall and BAE Devonshire Dock Hall.
A view of Barrow's Central Skyline with the Town Hall and BAE Devonshire Dock Hall.
Barrow-in-Furness

Coordinates: 54.1108° N 3.2261° W

Barrow-in-Furness (United Kingdom)
Barrow-in-Furness
Population 71,980 (of Borough)
OS grid reference SD198690
District Barrow-in-Furness
Shire county Cumbria
Region North West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BARROW-IN-FURNESS
Postcode district LA14
Dial code 01229
Police Cumbria
Fire Cumbria
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament Barrow and Furness
European Parliament North West England
List of places: UK • England • Cumbria

Barrow-in-Furness or simply Barrow is a town in the county of Cumbria, North West England with a population of around 71,000. Until 1974, it was in the county of Lancashire. It is the largest town in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness[1] and the largest town in the peninsula of Furness.

Barrow, as it is colloquially known, is a coastal town along Morecambe Bay and is bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. Barrow expanded rapidly from a small hamlet in 1840s to become a large town by 1880. The original impetus came with the development of the Furness Railway Company, but by the late 19th century it had also developed the world's largest steel-making facility, besides becoming the major shipbuilding centre that it remains today.[2] With the largest shipyard in England, and the only submarine building complex in Great Britain.

Contents

[edit] Geography and administration

Barrow's iconic Town Hall at sunset.
Barrow's iconic Town Hall at sunset.

Barrow-in-Furness is situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula on the north-western edge of Morecambe Bay. To its west lies Walney Island, which is connected to the mainland by Jubilee Bridge, a lifting bridge of the Bascule type. Twenty miles to the north-east is the English Lake District. Barrow's O.S. grid reference is SD198690, and the dialling code is 01229. Barrow is at the very south-western tip of the shire county of Cumbria, but originally was part of Lancashire. Furness is often described as the 'largest cul-de-sac in England' and is fairly isolated. The possibility of a bridge link over Morecambe Bay is occasionally raised, with fesability studies currently underway.[3]

[edit] Wards

Barrow Borough Council and Cumbria County Council are the two local authorities that are responsible for services in the area. Within the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, the town is divided into wards for election purposes. The thirteen wards and their populations are shown below:

Barrow Island Ward 2,606

Central Ward 5,585

Dalton North Ward 6,599

Dalton South Ward 6,200

Hawcoat Ward 5,308

Hindpool Ward 5,515

Newbarns Ward 5,913

Ormsgill Ward 5,961

Parkside Ward 5,742

Risedale Ward 5,663

Roosecote Ward 5,501

Walney North Ward 5,604

Walney South Ward 5,784

[edit] Walney Island

Walney From Barrow-in-Furness
Walney From Barrow-in-Furness
Main article: Walney Island

Walney Island is reached by the Jubilee Bridge from Barrow Docks. It is a 10 mile long island and the 8th largest marine Island in England, reputedly the windiest lowland site in Britain, containing two important Nature Reserves. The North Nature Reserve has an area for preserving Britain's rarest amphibian, the Natterjack Toad. Over 130 species of bird have also been recorded there. The South Nature Reserve has the largest nesting ground of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gull in Europe. Around 13,000 people live on Walney Island. Walney is also home to a district named Vickerstown, which was built to accommodate the workers of Vickers/ VSEL (now BAE).

[edit] Barrow Island

An aerial view of Piel Island.
An aerial view of Piel Island.
Main article: Barrow Island (England)

Barrow Island is home to around 2,606 people, and a large part of BAE Systems in Barrow.

[edit] Piel Island

Main article: Piel Island

Between Walney Island and Barrow is the tiny Piel Island, on which is Piel Castle, built by the monks of Furness Abbey to protect their harbour from the Scots. It can be reached by a ferry from Roa Island, a few miles south-east of Barrow

See also: Islands of Furness

[edit] Climate

The lowest ever recorded temperature in Barrow is -11.1°C (12°F) and the highest recorded temperature is 33.3°C (92°F). October is the wettest month for Barrow, with an average of 11.05cm of precipitation (predominantly rain).

Precipitation in Centimetres
Month Average precipitation (cm)
January 7.12
February 6.74
March 6.35
April 5.42
May 5.51
June 6.14
July 5.64
August 6.83
September 8.61
October 11.05
November 9.19
December 8.53
Temperature in Celsius/ Fahrenheit
Average Record
Month Min Max Min Max
January 4/ 39.2 7/ 44.6 -10/ 14 12.7/ 55
February 4/ 39.2 8/ 46.4 -8.9/ 16 13.9/ 57
March 4/ 39.2 9/ 48.2 -9.4/ 15 18.9/ 66
April 6/ 42.8 12/ 53.6 -4.4/ 24 22.2/ 72
May 9/ 48.2 15/ 59 -1.7/ 29 27.2/ 81
June 10/ 50 19/ 66.2 2.2/ 36 31.1/ 88
July 11/ 51.8 17/ 62.6 3.9/ 39 32.8/ 91
August 13/ 55.4 19/ 66.2 2.8/ 37 33.3/ 92
September 12/ 53.6 17/ 62.6 0/ 32 26.7/ 80
October 9/ 48.2 14/ 57.2 23.3/ 74 -5/ 23
November 7/ 44.6 10/ 50 -6.7/ 20 16.1/ 61
December 4/ 39.2 7/ 44.6 -11.1/ 12 13.9/ 57

Sources:

For Barrow's current forecast see below:

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Population

Barrow changed from a small village with a population of a few hundred in 1842, to a peak population of around 100,000 (Including the surrounding urban areas) after World War One. Since then the population of the town itself has decreased to around 60,000. The Barrow council district, which includes the surrounding area, had a population 71,980 (2001 census), out of which 35,092 were male, and 36,888 were female. Barrow-in-Furness can be regarded as the largest town in Cumbria, since Carlisle in the north has city status - owing to its cathedral and larger size. So Barrow is the second largest settlement in the county. Infant mortality in the town is at an all time low with 4 deaths per 1,000 births, whilst 1911 saw 110 per 1,000 and 180 in 1851. The people of Barrow are known as 'Barrovians'.

Year Population
1801 (Census) 1,958
1850 (Approx.) 5,000
1901 (Census) 67,354
1950 (Approx.) 77,000
2001 (Census) 71,980

[edit] Density

Barrow-in-Furness is a fairly densley populated town, as can be seen below:

[edit] Ethnicity

P.O.B Percentage (%) Total of Population
England 93.56 67,345
Scotland 2.86 2,061
Elsewhere in the world 1.49 1,071
Northern Ireland 0.68 486
Wales 0.63 451
In other EU countries 0.47 335
Republic of Ireland 0.32 231

Approximately 94% of Barrow's citizens are indigenous to the area, whilst around 6% of people were born elswhere in the United Kingdom, the European Union or the world. Around 99% of Barrovians are classified as white, but this includes White British and White Europeans The largest minority ethnic group in the town are Chinese which make up 0.14% of the population (roughly 100), and there has been an increase in people from the eastern European Union since 2002. There is a small but distinct Filipino population in the town as well as one of the most renouned Kosovan populations in the United Kingdom. In addition there are average sized South Asians and Afro-Caribbean populations in Barrow. Over the last 10 years, the ethnic minority population in Barrow has doubled from around 0.5% in 1991. [1]

2001 Census of Ethnicity in Barrow

Ethnic Group Percentage (%) Total of population (approx.)
White British 97.98 70,523
White Other 0.73 528
White Irish 0.50 362
Multiracial/ Mixed 0.3 212
Asian or Asian British 0.22 161
Chinese 0.14 101
Other 0.07 50
Black or Black British 0.06 43

[edit] Age

Age Range Total Males Females
0 - 4 4,125 2,173 1,952
5 - 9 4,872 2,452 2,420
10 - 14 5,021 2,590 2,431
15 - 19 4,361 2,155 2,206
20 - 24 3,263 1,600 1,663
25 - 29 4,248 2,051 2,197
30 - 34 5,332 2,603 2,729
35 - 39 5,452 2,717 2,735
40 - 44 5,012 2,592 2,420
45 - 49 4,545 2,224 2,321
50 - 54 5,244 2,686 2,558
55 - 59 4,443 2,261 2,182
60 - 64 4,047 2,039 2,008
65 - 69 3,350 1,677 1,673
70 - 74 2,906 1,282 1,624
75 - 79 2,449 984 1,465
80 - 84 1,936 644 1,292
85 - 89 955 273 682
90 and over 419 89 330
Totals 71,980 35,092 36,888

[edit] Religion

Religion Total Population
Christian 58,322
No Religion 7,700
Religion not stated in survey 5,465
Muslim 1820
Other 93
Buddhist 72
Hindu 46
Jewish 260
Sikh 6

[edit] History

[edit] Etymology

The name "Barrow" is possibly a corruption of the Old Norse meaning "Barren Island", which would have originally referred to Barrow Island (now subsumed into the mainland). Another theory says that the name came from Old Norse Barrey = "Barr Island", where barr is the Celtic word meaning "promontory".[citation needed]

[edit] Early history

Furness Abbey
Furness Abbey

During the Middle Ages the area was dominated by the powerful monks of Furness Abbey, just outside the modern Barrow. By the 15th century the abbey had become the second richest and most powerful Cistercian abbey in England, after Fountains Abbey. Until 1845, Barrow was one of several small hamlets on the Furness peninsula, within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, being dependent on agriculture and occasional fishing.

[edit] Growth from a hamlet to a town

In 1839 H.W. Schneider (who later had a home at Bowness-on-Windermere and commuted to Barrow via steam yacht and rail) came as a young speculator and dealer in iron. In 1846 the earliest portion of the Furness Railway was constructed and a rail ferry from Roa Island connected it to the national network at Fleetwood. In 1850, Schneider finally discovered large deposits of iron ore, and he erected blast furnaces at Barrow, which by 1876 formed the largest steelworks in the world. The mining and steelworks caused Barrow to grow from a sleepy hamlet to have a population of to 47,000 by 1881, just forty years after the railway was built.

During the boom years of the 19th century, Sir James Ramsden, superintendent of the Furness Railway, devised a plan for the town. There are few planned towns in the United Kingdom, and Barrow is one of the oldest. Its town centre contains a grid of well-built terraced houses, with long tree-lined roads leading away from central squares. Ramsden later became the first mayor of Barrow, which had become a municipal borough in 1867, and a county borough in 1889. [2] The Town Hall was built in a neo-gothic style in 1887. Prior to this , the Borough Council had met at the railway headquarers: the railway company also operated the local docks and provided many of the local houses.

[edit] Submarine and shipbuilding

The Barrow Docks, supported by Ramsden, were largely constructed between 1867-1881, using the channel facing across to Barrow Island. They came to be largely used for shipbuilding. The Barrow Iron Shipbuilding Company was founded in 1870 and a first steamship was launched in 1873. In 1897 the shipyard was taken over by the Yorkshire firm of Vickers, soon to become the town's best-known employer. They developed the Vickerstown area of Barrow for their workers. During the two world wars, Barrow yard continued to grow, with the town's population peaking at 74,000 in 1931. Following World War II, the town's fortunes remained linked to those of the shipbuilders.

The town also began to specialise in submarines. The Royal Navy's first submarine had been built in Barrow in 1901 [3], and by 1914 the UK had the most advanced submarine fleet in the world, with 94% of it constructed by Vickers. The first nuclear submarine in the UK, HMS Dreadnought, was also built in Barrow, as was the entire Astute class of submarines and the UK's current nuclear submarine fleet.

[edit] Post Cold War collapse

Gas found in Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea has been piped to Barrow since 1985, entering the National Transmission System in the Roosecote area of Barrow. Wind turbines currently being built in the Irish Sea off the coast of Walney Island will send their electricity to Heysham, rather than Barrow, due to a lack of capacity at the Barrow terminus.

The end of the Cold War marked a reduction in the demand for military submarines and ships, and the town entered a period of decline. Emplyoment figures for the shipyard fell from over 20,000 at the start of the 1980s to just 3,000 in 2000. However, it remains a key employer and any renewal of the Trident submarines would occur in Barrow. The dock area has also seen development with retail parks, new industrial estates and Furness College constructed in them. A new marina development is in its early stages.

In 2002 Barrow suffered the UK's worst outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease. Six women and one man died as a result of the illness, another 172 people also contracted the disease. The cause was found to be faulty air conditioning at the town's Forum 28 Arts Centre.

[edit] Industry and commerce

Mikasa in Japan in 2005
Mikasa in Japan in 2005

The industrialisation of Barrow began in 1846 when the Furness Railway was constructed and a rail ferry connected this to the national network at Fleetwood. Though shipbuilding is now the major industrial employer, a number of other industries have been involved in the area.

[edit] Iron & steel

Iron ore, mined in Roose, Dalton-in-Furness and Lindal-in-Furness, was brought to Barrow to be transported by sea. Steelworks soon followed, making use of coal from the Cumberland mines. The iron and steel works were the largest in the world and from being a sleepy hamlet, Barrow's population grew to 47,000 by 1881, just forty years after the railway was built. The steel works grew on the back of the ship building industry, but post World War II and particularly the end of the Cold War, the iron and steelworks, suffering from overseas competition and dwindling resources, continued to decline. The ironworks closed in 1963, three years after the last Furness mine shut. The then small steelworks followed suit in 1984.

[edit] Shipbuilding

HMS Bulwark of the Albion-class landing platform docks.
HMS Bulwark of the Albion-class landing platform docks.

The docks were built, overseen by Ramsden on Barrow Island, to export iron ore. The first steamship was produced in 1870. Ramsden also founded the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, which became Vickers in 1897. The shipyard took over from the railway and steelworks as the largest employer and landowner in Barrow, constructing Vickerstown on the adjacent Walney Island in the early twentieth century and building Abbey House as a guest house and residence for the managing director.

During the two world wars, Barrow shipyard continued to grow, with the town's population peaking at 77,000 in the 1950s. Following World War II, the town's fortunes remained linked to those of the shipyard. Famous ships built in Barrow include the Mikasa, Japanese flagship during the Russo-Japanese War and the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, though the yard gradually specialised in submarines. The Royal Navy's first submarine, Holland 1, was built in Barrow in 1901, and newer ones such as HMS Resolution were developed from the 1960s. The Vanguard-class and Trafalgar-class submarines, were all built in Barrow. Several of the new Astute class attack submarines have been scheduled to be built in Barrow.

[edit] Devonshire Dock Hall

Barrow has one of the largest shipyards in Britain, and BAE's Devonshire Dock Hall has dominated the Barrow skyline for over 20 years. At 51m/ 167ft, it is the tallest building in the county of Cumbria, and at a length of 268m/ 879ft it is longer than Europe's tallest building is tall (Triumph-Palace in Moscow, Russia - 264m/ 866ft). Devonshire Dock Hall is the largest shipbuilding hall/ undercover shipbuilding site in Europe at 25,000 sq/m /269,097 sq/ft.

Vanguard-class of four Trident ballistic missile submarines

HMS Manchester, one of three Type 42 destroyers built by VSEL

HMCS Chicoutimi, Victoria-class attack submarine

HMS Invincible

SS Oriana Cruise Liner, seen in Sydney, Australia

HMAS Melbourne

HMS Sheffield

HMS Albion

[edit] Nature

Walney Island is reached by a bridge from Barrow Docks. It is a 10 mile long island, reputedly the windiest lowland site in Britain, containing two important Nature Reserves. The North Nature Reserve has an area for preserving Britain's rarest amphibian, the Natterjack Toad. Over 130 species of bird have also been recorded there. The South Nature Reserve has the largest nesting ground of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls in Europe.

[edit] Transportation

Transport Usage
A590 Road 5,110,000 vehicles per year (recorded between High and Low Newton)
A595 Road 1,660,750 vehicles per year (including 166,075 large vehicles)
Barrow-in-Furness railway station 508,000 passengers per year
Barrow/Walney Island Airfield 6,000 passengers per year (BAE Employees) to parts of England
B5281 Road 467,200 vehicles per year

[edit] By road

Barrow's principal road link is the A590, linking it to Ulverston, the Lake District and to the M6 motorway. This road enters Barrow's northern edge and runs south into the town centre and on to Walney Island, its terminus. Just north of Barrow is the southern terminus of the A595, linking the town to Whitehaven, Workington and eventually Carlisle. The other A road in the town is the A5087, which goes south out of Barrow to Rampside and then along the northern coast of Morecambe Bay into Ulverston via Bardsea.

[edit] By rail

Barrow-in-Furness railway station provides connections to Whitehaven, Workington and Carlisle to the north, via the Cumbrian Coast Line, and to Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands and Lancaster to the east, via the Furness Line, and annually handles half a million passengers (approximately four return journeys per citizen of Barrow per year). Barrow has a second railway station, called Roose railway station, which serves the suburb of Roose.

[edit] By air

Barrow is also home to a regional airfield (Barrow/Walney Island Airfield), owned and operated by BAE Systems (IATA airport code: BWF, ICAO: EGNL). It is one of two airports in the county, the other being Carlisle Airport. Otherwise the closest international airports are Manchester Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Blackpool International Airport.

[edit] By sea

Barrow-in-Furness is one of England's major ports, and after the major shipbuilding industry, and the opening of Vickers (Now BAE Systems Submarines) the town has become even more linked with the sea. Currently there is no ferry system between Ireland etc., but there are plans to create a new cruise ship terminal, along with the new Barrow marina village.

[edit] Sport

Club Sport League Venue Logo
Barrow A.F.C. Football Conference North Holker Street, Barrow-in-Furness Club logo
Barrow Raiders Rugby league National League Two Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness Club Logo

[edit] Football

Main article: Barrow A.F.C.

Barrow is home to Barrow A.F.C., a former football league club who have traditionally been one of the best supported non-league football teams in the UK since their demotion in the 1970s. Barrow A.F.C. was founded in the year 1901 and the team are known by their fans as "The Bluebirds", owing to their blue and white kit. In 1990 they won their most prestigious competition, the FA Trophy, beating Leek Town 3-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. Their current manager is Phil Wilson and they play in the Conference North.

[edit] Rugby

Main article: Barrow Raiders

Barrow is a stronghold of rugby league, its team Barrow Raiders play in National League Two.

Until 1995, the team was simply titled Barrow RLFC, but they adopted the nickname Barrow Braves to coincide with rugby league’s switch to a summer season. In 1997 they merged with Cumbrian rivals Carlisle Border Raiders to form Barrow Border Raiders. The new team played all its matches in Barrow; the merger was essentially a financial arrangement only. In 2002, the Border part of the name, which was never that relevant to Barrow, which is in south Cumbria, was dropped.

Under the coaching of Peter Roe, they were National League Two champions in 2004 and promoted to National League One. However, they were relegated back to National League Two at the end of the 2005 season. The financial situation at the club forced a review of the coaching structure and the position of head coach was made part-time and the club parted company with Peter Roe.

In October 2005, local ex-player Paul Crarey was recently appointed as the new head coach.

Honours

[edit] Cricket

Barrow Cricket Club plays in the Northern League Division One (1st XI) and Division Two(2nd XI). Their ground is on Abbey Road next to Furness General Hospital, and is the town's main cricket team. The Chairman is Ged Kermode and star players include Christian Nicholson

[edit] Media

[edit] Radio

Barrow is served by two commercial radio stations - The Bay at 96.9FM and Abbey FM. The Bay is available around the Morecambe Bay area, and serves Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal and Ulverston. Abbey FM is a recently launched station at 107.3 FM. This broadcasts solely around Barrow and the Furness area. The BBC's local radio service is BBC Radio Cumbria.

[edit] TV

Barrow is in the Granada TV/ North West England region, and the television available in the area is usually transmitted from Manchester and Liverpool - although the transmitter at Millom is used for the northern area of the town and villages to the north.

[edit] Newspapers

As well as national newspapers, the regional newspaper for Furness is called the North West Evening Mail. There is also a free shorter version of it called the Advertiser, which is delivered to most households. This contains mainly advertisements, but is run and owned by the North West Evening Mail.

[edit] Culture and attractions

The rustic entrance to The Canteen
The rustic entrance to The Canteen

[edit] Venues

  • Forum 28 is Barrow's main theatre and arts venue. It is situated directly across from Barrow Town Hall. Forum 28 hosts a lively and varied programme of music, dance, comedy and drama events, staged by touring and local companies.
  • The Canteen Media & Arts Centre - known simply as "The Canteen" is a multi-purpose venue facility. It is a new media and arts centre venue for Barrow-in-Furness.

[edit] Tourism

Situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula, and only 20 minutes from the English Lake District, Barrow-in-Furness projects into the Irish Sea with Morecambe Bay to the south and the Duddon Estuary to the north.

Barrow has many well known tourist sites, and is often known as 'the Gateway to the Lakes' The Lake District is one of the most visited places in England, and referring to Barrow as the gateway - mainly by sea - has certainly helped. The new marina complex will definitely add to this status, and if the cruise ship terminal is constructed, even more so. Possibly the biggest tourist attraction in the area is the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, this zoo is located just off the A590 road, past Barrow and near Dalton. It is one of the best conservation zoos in the country, and has recently seen new developments, and regeneration of the park. Wildlife and scenery is probably the biggest draw to the area, and the Walney nature reserves contribute to the tourism. There are lots of walks that can be made around the area, along beaches, up mountains etc, and this is another factor that contributes to the tourism.

In the Town, Barrow is home to many shopping opportunities on Dalton Road and Portland Walk Shopping Centre, whilst Hollywood Park is home to fast food outlets, a Multiplex Apollo Cinema, a health club (Cannons), a bowling alley and bingo hall. As well as 'The Wacky Warehouse' Custom House on Abbey Road is home to a huge kids indoor adventure playground, the Custom House also house's the Unique tagging game - Lazer Zone.

[edit] Nightlife

Barrow is often described as having the best nightlife in the Lakes, Barrow's main entertainment district is to the west of the Town Hall, where Cornwallis and Duke Street hold host to dozens of bars, pubs and clubs. There are many restaurants in and around the Town centre (Dalton Road) such as The Italian favourites: Paulo Giannis and Salvana's and many other Chinese and Indian restaurants: The Diamond and Mithali, to name a few. The Furness Railway and Yates' Winebar are also local favourites. As well as Cornwallis Street (often nicknames 'The Gaza Strip'), a new floating restaurant in the Towns Quay is home to one of the regions most unique nightclubs (The Blue Lagoon). These are only nightlife locations, and there are many other restaurants and bars that are visited throughout the day.

[edit] Education

[edit] Schools and colleges

See also: List of Primary Schools in Barrow-in-Furness

The main secondary schools and colleges in Barrow are listed below. These are only the places of further education. In addition to this, some of the University of Cumbria's education will take place in Barrow from 2007, though the university is not to be centred there.

Secondary Schools

Private schools

Colleges of further education

Other schools in Furness

[edit] Libraries and museums

The town's main library is the Central Library in Ramsden Square, situated near the town centre on the Abbey Road-Duke Street intersection. The present building dates from 1922, when it replaced earlier accommodation within the Town Hall. A branch of the County Archive Service, opened in 1979 and containing many of the town's archives, is located within adjoining premises, whilst until 1991 the library also housed the Furness Museum. Smaller branch libraries are currently provided at Roose, Ormsgill, Barrow Island and on Walney Island. The Dock Museum is now Barrow's leading museum: its displays depict the history of the town and the surrounding areas, with a particular emphasis on shipbuilding and on the iron and steel industry. The museum is situated right next to the dock where HMS Invincible (R05) was launched, and the wall of the old graving dock is still visible within the museum.

[edit] Significant employers

The following corporations employ a significant amount of workers:[citation needed]

  • BAE Systems in Furness employs 5,000 staff members, and in that respect is the largest employer in the area.
  • The National Health Service has approximately 3,000 staff members.
  • The Tesco Extra supermarket employs 500 people.
  • 470 employees work at the Kimberly-Clark Paper Mill.
  • Approximately 400 people are employed by Asda supermarkets.
  • Morrisons, another supermarket, has around 380 employees.
  • McBride [4], soap factory employs around 300 people.

[edit] Retail

Barrow is one of the major shopping districts of the North West, and is home to many well known high street names as well as local businesses. The main and original shopping street in Barrow is Dalton Road, home to hundreds of stores, banks etc. Portland Walk, a second shopping street, dates from the 1990s. It leads off Dalton Road and is home to a Debenhams department store, WH Smith, New Look, JJB, Boots, Body Shop, Waterstones and many more large shops. At the bottom end of Dalton Road is one of the area's largest markets. Barrow Indoor Market is home to hundreds of self-owned stalls. In addition to the town centre, there are 4 main retail parks. "Cornerhouse Retail Park" is home to a large Tesco Extra store, Homebase, Halfords, Iceland, Pets at Home and Au Naturale; a new JJB health club/ fitness centre and B&Q are soon to be built there too. Just opposite is "Hindpool Retail Park" home to Aldi, Blockbusters, NEXT, Brantano, Carpet Right, Harvey's and Bensons for Beds. The nearby "Hollywood Retail Park" retail and leisure complex is home to a McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Super Bowl, Top Ten Bingo, Currys, JJB Sports, Comet, Klaussner, a nearby PC World and the six screen Apollo Cinemas. Elsewhere there is a un-named retail park containing an Asda Superstore, Matalan and one of the largest furniture stores in the country - (110,000 sq ft.) Stollers. This area also used to have an MFI/Allied Carpets store but this was destroyed in a fire on 5th November 2006. The UK's fourth largest supermarket chain, Morrisons has also opened a branch in Barrow, as well as having Aldi, Netto, Lidl, SPAR, Iceland, Marks & Spencers, Co-op, Londis and Kwik Save Stores,

[edit] Public services

The area is home to dozens of health centres, but the main hospital which serves the area is now the Furness General Hospital (FGH), which is one five University Hospitals of Morecambe owned by the NHS. There are two fire stations in Barrow, the new principal fire station, opened in 1997, being located on Park Road, at the end closest to the town centre. A smaller fire station is situated on Walney Island. The main police station is situated opposite the Town Hall on Duke Street.

[edit] Energy/power

The Sellafield facility on the Cumbrian coast
The Sellafield facility on the Cumbrian coast

Parts of Barrow (including Walney Island) are some of the windiest places in Britain, and it is because of this that there are vast amounts of wind-farms across the region. There are wind-farms in the surrounding mountains, and a new 30 unit wind-farm has just been built in the Irish Sea off Walney Island. There has also been talk of building a bridge across Morecambe Bay between Rampside and Heysham, that would produce tidal power. Renewable energy is one of the main priorities energy wise, as currently the main energy source in the area is gas from the Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay gas fields. These come onshore at the National Grid Gas Terminal at Rooscote, often called Rampside Gas Terminal. Barrow is also around 25 miles from Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant, one of the largest nuclear plants in the country. Previously owned by BNFL, it is now owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Sellafield houses the Thorp Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant, the Magnox Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant, the inactive Calder Hall Magnox Nuclear Power Station — the world's first commercial nuclear power station and other older nuclear facilities.

[edit] Notable residents and births

[edit] Births

Sport

Media

Other

[edit] Residents

[edit] Chronology

[edit] Trivia

  • Barrow is home to the largest marine shipbuilding hall in Europe (BAE Devonshire Dock Hall).
  • By the 1870s Barrow had the world's largest steel-making industry.
  • By the fifteenth century Barrow's Furness Abbey was the second richest, most powerful and grandest Cistercian monastery in the UK.
  • Barrow Borough Council became the first public body in the UK to be charged with corporate manslaughter, as a result of the UK's worst Legionnaires' Disease outbreak. With 7 deaths (ranking 6th worst outbreak in the world) and 172 cases (ranking 4th worst outbreak in the world).
  • Barrow has the largest shipyard in the United Kingdom with up to up to 7,000 sq m of warehousing, it is even larger than the Port of London (once the world's largest).
  • Walney Island is reputed to be the windiest lowland site in Britain.
  • Walney's South Nature Reserve has the largest nesting ground of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in Europe.
  • It is considered that Barrow was home to the first Japanese Restaurant in England, which was built in the town in the early 1900s to feed the Japanese Navy.
  • Sir James Ramsden was the first mayor of Barrow, and served five successive terms in the town from 1867 onwards. The British civil engineer, industrialist, and civic leader, played a dominant role in the development of Barrow, including the Furness Railway and many other industrial projects.
  • In 1851 around 1,900 vessels entered and cleared the port of Barrow. The first ship to be built in Barrow was the 'Jane Roper' which was launched in 1852.
  • Around 160,000 tons of iron ore, copper and slate were handled in one year of the 1850s.
  • Barrow bus depot was known for its role in a 1960's commercial for Chewits sweets
  • Barrow was a major British target for the Germans in World War 2. Vickers Ship building yards (now BAE) were the main target, and parts of the town were devastated by the bombs. The small town of Grange-over-Sands which is around 20 miles from the docks, was mistaken for Barrow and was also bombed in WWII.
  • ITV's Housewife, 49, starring Victoria Wood, was set and filmed in Barrow based on the Second World War diary of Nella Last who lived in Barrow.
  • In December 2006, Steve Beall caused outrage by describing the town of Barrow-in-Furness as a s***hole in his online MySpace blog. Mr. Beall's comments, who had been relocated from his native Tyneside to Barrow to manage the new Thornton's chocolate shop, gained significant local media coverage and led to him being driven out of town by the local population, some of whom had prompted Mr. Beall's outburst by burgling £1000 worth of stock a day before the shop had even opened.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Cumbria's Population in Urban Areas 2003. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
  2. ^ Barrow Museum Mission Statement, The Dock Museum Website. URL accessed December 11, 2006.
  3. ^ Hetherington, Peter. "Council gives thumbs up to 12-mile bridge for Morecambe Bay", The Guardian, May 19, 2004. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.

[edit] References

  • Barrow and District by Fred Barnes, Barrow-in-Furness Corporation, Barrow-in-Furness (Lancs) 1968

[edit] External links

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