Dock Museum

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The Dock Museum is situated in the British town of Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria). Its exhibits are largely based around the history of the town, especially the shipbuilding industry at VSEL (now BAE) and the Steelworks industry - of which Barrow once had the world's largest. There has been a museum in Barrow since 1907 and in its current location since 1994, when 50,000 people visited it in its first year. Visitor numbers are always increasing in the Dock Museum, and in 2001 it saw an admission 120,000. The museum has free entry, and is one of the Lake District's top attractions.

[edit] Exhibits

On initial entrance to the museum, the ground floors galleries are about the town's history, its rapid mushrooming, as well as how it was affected by World War II. The largest part of the museum is housed in a former dry dock, where 3 floors containing models of ships and submarines built in Barrow, along with other exhibits can be found. Interactive computers can be used to access the Vickers Photographic Archive, an archive of 10,000 glass plate negatives donated by the shipyard (also available online). There are interactive computers, changing temporary exhibitions, two historic, locally-built vessels as well as a filmshow illustrating the town's past and present on the very bottom floor. The museum takes its name from the dock in which it is built. This is the oldest part of the museum, opened in 1872, and is one of its main attractions. The Dock Museum is a museum showcasing the borough of Barrow-in-Furness. A common misconception is that it is a maritime museum.

[edit] Location

The Dock Museum is located in Barrow, England next to the Walney Channel. The Museum has a distinctive shape, and can been seen from the nearby intersection of the A590 road and Hindpool Road. For more information see the museum's site [1].

[edit] Facilities

The museum is home to the Bridge Coffee Shop, a Gift shop, a Maritime themed adventure playground, toilets, disabled access, a studio for hire as well as access to the Channelside Walk, which leads up to the towns old slag banks, with great views of Barrow, Walney Island, the Lake District and the Isle of Man on a good day. It is a fully accessible museum.

[edit] External links

• www.dockmuseum.org.uk

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