Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness
<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"></td></tr>
Statistics
Population:	71,980 (of borough)
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	SD198690
Administration
District:	Barrow-in-Furness
Shire county:	Cumbria
Region:	North West England
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Cumbria
Historic county:	Lancashire
Services
Police force:	Cumbria Constabulary
Fire and rescue:	{{{Fire}}}
Ambulance:	North West
Post office and telephone
Post town:	BARROW-IN-FURNESS
Postal district:	LA14
Dialling code:	01229
Politics
UK Parliament:	Barrow and Furness
European Parliament:	North West England

Barrow-in-Furness is a town in North West England, in the county of Cumbria, and within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. It is the main town in the borough of Barrow-in-Furness[1] and the largest town in Furness.

Barrow is a coastal town. It grew quickly from a small village in 1850 to a large town by 1870. In the late 1800s it had the world's largest steel-making facility, and later became the major shipbuilding centre that it remains today[2].

Ancient History

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 theCeltic word meaning "promontory".

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 villages on the Furness peninsula, relying on agriculture and fishing.

Modern History

In 1846 the Furness Railway was constructed and a rail ferry connected this to the national network at Fleetwood. Rapid expansion occurred thanks to iron ore mining, and resultantly 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 town became a municipal borough in 1867, and a county borough in 1889. [3]

Barrow remains one of the few planned towns in the United Kingdom, and is certainly 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. The planning was largely devised by James Ramsden, industrialist & civic leader of the Furness Railway company. At the time, the railway owned the gothic style Town Hall, areas of the newly developed shipyard and many of the local houses.

The docks were built, overseen by Ramsden, on Barrow Island, with the first steamship produced in 1870. During the two world wars, Barrow shipyard 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 shipyard.

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.

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.

Though Barrow remains a poor town—it has some of the lowest house prices in England—some regeneration is about to occur on the old dock land, with developments for a marina and dockside housing and entertainment complexes shortly to enter the construction phase.

Industry

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.

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.

Ship Building

HMS Invincible (RO5)

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 land owner in Barrow, constructing Vickerstown on the adjacent Walney Island in the early twentieth century.

During the two world wars, Barrow shipyard 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 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.

Mikasa in Japan in 2005

Geography

Barrow-in-Furness is situated on Morecambe Bay facing Walney Island, a part of which is connected with the borough via Jubilee Bridge, a lifting bridge of the Bascule type. Half an hour away is the English Lake District. Barrow's OS grid refrence is SD198690, and the dialing code is 01229. Barrow is at the very tip of the Shire County of Cumbria, but originaly was part of Lancashire. Furness is often described as the 'largest cul-de-sac in England' and is fairly isolated, some plans have included building a eco-friendly bridge across Morceambe Bay, but this is only a plan.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. Details of access are available from the Tourist Information Centre.

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.

Population

Barrow has changed from a small fishing village with a population of a few hundred, to a thriving victorian town with over 100,000 inhabitants, but over the years the population has decreased to around 70,000. Barrow and the surrounding area had a population 71,980 (2001 census), out of that 35,092 were male, and 36,888 were female. Barrow-in-Furness is the largest town in Cumbria, as Carlisle in the north is a city - Due to the Cathedral and larger size, overall Barrow is the second largest settlement in the county.

Places of Birth

Demographics

As Stated before, around 2,000 people were born outside of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

• Around 71,400 are White British
• Around 100 are Chinese - The Largest minority ethnic group in the town

Age

Other

• There are 30,525 households with residents
• There are 9.2 people per hectare (Most densely populated area in Cumbria)
• 28,084 are Employed, 2,168 are Unemployed

Religion

Boroughs/ Wards of Barrow Borough Council

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

Transportation

By Road

Barrow's principal road link is the A590 road, linking it to Ulverston, the Lake District and to the M6 motorway. Just north of Barrow is the southern terminus of the A595 road, linking the town to Whitehaven, Workington and eventually Carlisle. Although the M6 Motorway is around a 45 minute drive from the town, the Furness peninsula is served by several major A roads (Including the A590 road, A5087 road and the A595 road)

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. Barrow has a second railway station, called Roose railway station, which serves the suburb of Roose.

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.

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 sysem between Ireland etc, but in the future there are plans to create a new cruise ship terminal, along with the new Barrow marina village.

Sport

Barrow is a stronghold of rugby league, its team Barrow Raiders play in National League two. Barrow is also home to one of the best supported non-league football teams, Barrow A.F.C..

Education

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 centered there.

Secondary Schools

• Parkview School (Secondary) - 946 pupils
• St. Bernard's Catholic High School (Secondary) - 860 pupils
• Thorncliffe School (Secondary) - 817 pupils
• Walney School (Secondary) - 681 pupils
• Alfred Barrow School (Secondary) - 429 pupils

Total = 3,733

Private Schools

• Chetwynde School (Nursery to College)

Colleges of Further Education

• Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College
• Furness College

Other Schools in Furness

• Ulverston Ulverston Victoria High School (Secondary & Sixth form) - 1,296 pupils
• Dalton Dowdales School (Secondary) - 1,059 pupils
• Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands Cartmel Priory CE School (Secondary) - 417
• Coniston John Ruskin School (Secondary) - 172 pupils

Total = 2,944

There are 6,717 secondary school pupils in the Furness area.

Libraries and Museums

The towns main library is Barrow Public Library situated in the town center on the Abbey Road, Duke Street intersection. This is the main library in Barrow and holds such things as the town's archives etc. Two smaller local branch librarys are situated in Roose and on Walney Island. The Dock Museum, is Barrow's most famous museum, and depicts the history of the town, and the surrounding areas, especially shipbuilding and ironworks. The Museum is siuated right next to the dock where HMS Invincible (R05) was launched, and the wall of the old dock is still visible inside the museum.

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.

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 Shopping Centre is a more recent addition, leading off from Dalton Road. It is home to a Debenhams Department Store, W H Smith, New Look, JJB 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 and more; 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 and more. The nearby "Hollywood Retail Park" retail and leisure complex is home to a McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Superbowl and six screen Apollo Cinemas. Elsewhere there is a un-named retail park containing an Asda Superstore, and one of the largest furniture stores in the country - Stollers. The UK's fourth largest supermarket chain, Morrison's has also opened a branch in Barrow.

Public Services

The area is home to dozens of health centres, but the main hospital that services the area is Furness General Hospital (FGH), and is one five University Hospitals of Morceambe owned by the NHS. There are two fires stations in Barrow, the main fire station is located on Park Drive, at the end closest to the town centre. The other fire station is situated on Walney Island. The main police station is situated opposite the Town Hall on Duke Street.

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 tourists sites, and is often known as 'the gateway to the lakes' The Lake District is one of the most visited places in England, and refering to Barrow as the gateway - mainly by sea - has certainly helped. The new marina complex will certainly add to this status, and if the cruise ship terminal is constructed, even more so. Possibly the biggest toursit 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 zoo's in the country, and has recently seen new developments, and regeneration of the park. Wildlife and scenery is probarbly 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.

Not all the visitor attractions in Barrow are to be found in history or nature. The many sports opportunities, Portland Walk Shopping Centre, super stores, Hollywood Retail Park with its superbowl, multiplex cinema, health club and restaurants, and Forum 28 an award-winning theatre pleasantly surprise many visitors.

Media

Radio

Barrow is served by two commercial radio stations - The Bay at 96.9FM and Abbey FM. The Bay is available around the Morceambe 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 Furness. The BBC's local radio service is BBC Radio Cumbria.

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.

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.

Other

Barrow's centre of performing arts, is the newly refurbished Forum 28, right in the town centre. This building also houses to Tourist information centre.

Energy - Power

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 windfarms across the region. There are windfarms in the surrounding mountains, and a new 30 unitwindfarm has just been built in the Irish Sea of Walney Island. There have also been talk to build a bridge across Morecambe 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 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.

Famous Residents and Births

Births

• Television Newsreader and Journalist Steve Dixon (newsreader)
• Great Britain stand-off and Barrow RLFC rugby football captain Willie Horne
• England defender and Liverpool F.C. football captain Emlyn Hughes
• England and everton football club defender Gary Stevens
• Actor and scriptwriter Nigel Kneale
• Scientist and radio pioneer William Eccles

Residents

• Barrister and judge at the Nuremberg Trials William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
• Author and florist Constance Spry
• Swedish inventor and industrialist Thorsten Nordenfelt
• Actor and television presesnter Peter Purves lived and worked in Barrow when he began his acting career [4]

Trivia

• Barrow is home to the largest Marine Shipbuilding Hall In Europe (BAE Devonshire Dock Hall).
• By the 1870's Barrow had the worlds 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 is the busiest shipyard in England.
• 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.
• Sir James Ramsden was the first mayor of Barrow, and served 5 succesive terms in the town form 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 handeled in one year of the 1850's.
• 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 devestated by the bombs. The small town of Grange-over-Sands which is around 20 miles from the docks, and was mistken for Barrow and was also bombed in WWII.
• A new flagship ITV drama starring Victoria Wood has been filmed in barrow based on the wartime diary of Nella Last and her account of Barrow's bombings. The programme is called 'Housewife 49'.

External links

• Barrow Borough Council
• NW Evening Mail

Coordinates: 54°07′N 03°14′W

Categories

Find

Find