...in which we explore the industrial and social history of Barrow-in-Furness in the company of former mayor John Murphy and artist Maddi Nicholson. Overlooking Walney Channel and distant Black Combe, we delve into the Furness peninsula's deep past, when monks arrived in the secluded 'valley of the deadly nightshade'. We proceed to the discovery of iron ore, and Barrow's subsequent overnight transformation, from backwater farming hamlet into 'the Chicago of England'. In a whistle-stop tour of the town, we discuss the leaning tower of its remarkable town hall, the daily toil of workers in 'the Shed', the 'boilermaker's whisper' and the 'hellfires' that blazed above molten slag. Entering the war years, we consider Barrow's role in re-arming the nation, the realities of the Barrow Blitz and the construction of Barnes Wallis’ ill-fated dirigible ‘Mayfly’ – that did not fly. Finally, on a tour of the fabulous space at Art Gene, we learn about the social history of the town – through shops, hairdressing, meat pies and a moose.– before celebrating the forgotten women of Barrow and Walney, including Peggy Braithwaite, Britain’s only woman lighthouse keeper and a mean shot with a rifle.
For more information about the Re:discover Barrow Exhibition see art-gene.co.uk/place-rediscover-barrow-exhibition/
You can find out more about Maddi at art-gene.co.uk/artists-and-residences/maddi-nicholson/ and Art Gene generally at art-gene.co.uk
Countrystride #26: Piers Gill - A winter's ascent with Mountain Rescue
Countrystride #25: Smugglers, bombs and Plague Dogs - A walk on Wetherlam
Countrystride #24: Review of 2019 & AW's lost broadcast
Countrystride #23: West Coast Christmas - Voices from the past
Countrystride #22: Lost Words - Past and future in the woods of Wreay
Countrystride #21: Great Gable - Remembrance Sunday
Countrystride #20: Upper Eden - The fight to roam, with Kate Ashbrook
Countrystride #19: Pike O’Stickle - 50 years on the fells
Countrystride #18: The Pennine Way - Creation of a long, green trail
Countrystride #17: Beda Fell - with environmental campaigner Amy Bray
Countrystride #16: The Dales Way at 50 - A walk down Dentdale
Countrystride #15: John Ruskin - The Coniston visionary
Countrystride #14: A Pennine Journey - Life-changing walks
Countrystride #13: The Solway Coast - Wetlands, birdsong and lost lines
Countrystride #12: Great Langdale - A heritage landscape
Countrystride #11: High Stile – and the Buttermere skyline
Countrystride #10: Mardale Head - A walk on the wild side
Countrystride #9: Derwent Water: Creation of a landscape
Countrystride #8: Terry Abraham: Life on the mountains - A stroll on Helvellyn
Countrystride #7: A Grasmere Christmas - The Wordsworths and the coffin route
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