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Barrow-in-Furness A History and CelebrationSelected extracts and photosReturn to Book | Search for another Book | View all photos for Barrow-In-Furness | Barrow-In-Furness homepage |
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 Barrow-In-Furness, Biggar Bank Swimming Pool 1934 (ref. 86197) | Officially it is designated Her Majesty's Submarine Torpedo Boat No 1. Many at the Admiralty still considered the new- fangled machine a shameful and un-British device. Despite these early doubts, by the outbreak of the First World War Britain had the largest and most advanced submarine fleet in the world, and Vickers were responsible for building 69 of the 74 submarines in the Royal Navy. However, it was not all good news. An industrial town's prosperity ebbs and flows with the vagaries of the world market. Stewarts rope works, along with the iron foundries at Waddington, Longbottom, Briggs, and Beveridge all became defunct. The decline in iron ore mining continued, and the iron and steel industry was being affected by foreign competition that began to increase in the early 1900s. The Furness Railway Company needed to look to other ways to expand and enlarge; it examined a number of different business opportunities, and selected an option that has echoes that ripple through to today - the tourist trade. Following the First World War, many changes took place once again around Britain, and in Barrow and Furness in particular. The market for the iron and steel industry collapsed; this had devastating effects on the Furness iron manufacturers, and therefore unemployment increased dramatically. In 1919 the Paper Pulp Company was reorganised. It finally became known as Barrow Paper Mills Ltd, and it was still a major employer. In 1923 special rail transport was provided to take Barrovian families who decided to leave to find a new life in Canada, the USA, and South Africa. A large number of the remaining out-of-work men were employed on special projects; these included the making of a new road following the coast to link Ulverston and Barrow, and the construction of a public swimming pool at Biggar Bank, which was opened in 1931. |  Add your own Memory Add to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, Victorian Graving Dock and Museum 2004 (ref. B26722k) | The highly skilled workforce is still here; it is the scale of operations that has been reduced, as the industrial complexes in Barrow-in-Furness have slimmed down to remain competitive and efficient. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, North Vickerstown, Walney Island 2004 (ref. B26708k) | They converted the entire tram system to electric traction, as their usual practice was, and the grand opening to the public was on 6 February 1904. Between 1900 and 1905 Vickers built Vickerstown on Walney Island, an estate to house shipyard workers. Some of the streets of Vickerstown were named after renowned people from the recent Boer War (1899-1902). Baden- Powell, who served with distinction in South Africa, and Lord Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in South Africa, are both honoured in the street names of Vickerstown. Other street names were taken from ships that had been built at Vickers shipyard in Barrow. The housing complex also provided the overall community with all of its needs, including shops, public houses, a public park, churches, and even a farm, which allowed it to become an independent community from Barrow itself. Vickerstown was described as 'a Marine Garden City'; there were great similarities between it and Bourneville in Birmingham and Port Sunlight on Merseyside, which were both built later, suggesting that Vickerstown was a prototype. The first tenants of Vickerstown set up home in Latona Street in November 1900, which must have meant that the majority of the area was nothing more than a huge building site. The Isle of Walney Estates Company acquired a notorious reputation at this time for their strict adherence to the allocation of housing according to the tenant's status in the shipyard, regardless of ability to pay. Included in the tenants' rules were strict instructions about not changing the original colour scheme or the external appearance of the houses. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, St George's School 2004 (ref. B26705k) | The vicar of St George's envisaged a need for a hospital, and so in 1866 he set up a hospital in a house on the corner of Cross Street and Albert Street - it became known as St George's Hospital. When it expanded, the hospital moved to houses that make up the three-storey terraces in School Street (B26706k, above). Even today it is still possible to see the large sign built into the bricks of the houses that made up this hospital: it reads 'Barrow Hospital supported by voluntary contributions'. By 1874 the main North Lonsdale Hospital had opened, and it continued to serve the Barrow community for over 120 years. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, Walney Bridge 1908 (ref. 60048) | At the outset, the tenants of Vickerstown found that the only ways to gain access to Walney Island were to ford the channel at low tide - that way across is still possible; I used to use it when I lived on the island in the 1960s - or to use the Furness Railway Company's Walney Ferry. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, Portland Walk 2004 (ref. B26716k) | Chamber and the Queen's Hall with its stunning panels of stained glass on its western side. The three top windows feature Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Edward Cavendish. Below them are six rectangular windows depicting the genealogy of the Cavendish family. The Council Chamber, the setting for the formal meetings of the full Borough Council, is immediately off the Queen's Hall; this imposing room also has stained glass windows, a gift from H W Schneider, and directly opposite is a portrait of Sir James Ramsden. The ground floor entrance hall is the official access point to the interior of the Town Hall, and it contains a reception and information desk for public enquiries. Displays of various kinds decorate the entrance hall; these may include photos of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who made numerous visits to Barrow to launch ships from the Vickers shipyard. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, view acrooss to Morcambe Bay 2004 (ref. B26702k) | Furness inhabitants have always enjoyed protected isolation from the sweeping changes that took place throughout the rest of Britain, but the greatest events in British history sent ripples across the entire peninsula. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Barrow-In-Furness, Hospital 2004 (ref. B26706k) | The vicar of St George's envisaged a need for a hospital, and so in 1866 he set up a hospital in a house on the corner of Cross Street and Albert Street - it became known as St George's Hospital. When it expanded, the hospital moved to houses that make up the three-storey terraces in School Street (B26706k, above). Even today it is still possible to see the large sign built into the bricks of the houses that made up this hospital: it reads 'Barrow Hospital supported by voluntary contributions'. By 1874 the main North Lonsdale Hospital had opened, and it continued to serve the Barrow community for over 120 years. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
