Rolling down to Rio

It’s Barrow Carnival day, and the streets are, well, not quite thronged but pretty busy all the same. Unlike the last two years, it didn’t rain although after a glorious week when I was much too busy enjoying the sunshine to take many pictures it was overcast and a tad muggy. Still, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of these local drag queens.

Ok, It ain’t Rio and it ain’t Notting Hill, but at least you can breathe.

A Variation on an Old Theme

It’s deeply ingrained in the local culture, this business of public banners to mark birthdays. The Walney end of the bridge and the Coffee House roundabout on Barrow Island are common sites because they can’t be missed. But this is the first time \I’ve seen one on a boat in the channel.

Abbey Road in the sunshine

There are days when one could almost believe that Jimmy Ramsden’s plan for an elegant boulevard leading all the way from Dalton to the centre of Barrow has managed to survive into a third century.

Long may the sunshine continue, by the way. We haven’t seen its like for three years now.

Horses on the beach

There’s a riding school on Walney which brings a touch of Surrey to these parts; something that may surprise those who don’t know us very well.

I’ve never been riding but I’d imagine that the beach on Walney, coupled with its lanes and grassy expanses, would make it a fine place to ride.

Look closely to see the Walney Wind Farm on the horizon.

Feet

I wasn’t registered for this month’s CDP theme day, but what the hell.

It’s been beach weather lately, and I couldn’t resist getting this picture before ditching the Nikoff in readiness for some serious swimming at Sandy Gap.

Yes, I know I have ugly feet…

That Railway Line again

A little further down Cavendish Dock Road, the tracks come to a ferocious-looking gate. It’s the gate to the berth on Ramsden Dock where the nuclear fuel ships, operated by James Fisher plc on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels Limited, are loaded and unloaded.

Summer on the beach

Summer is here at last – Monday’s stroll to Roa was on a wonderful late spring day but since yesterday it’s been distinctly summer in a way I can’t properly define. Something to do with the soft breeze off the Irish Sea caressing the skin.

Anyway, today was a day to head for the beach, and Rosie’s First Law states that “time spent on a beach is never time wasted”. Especially time spent on Walney beach. Here’s a shot of the buildings around Biggar Bank, as seen from far enough out for the water to come up to my knees. Look, I’m not swimming while holding the Nikoff. The season’s first proper swim in the sea came after I’d put everything a safe distance up the sand – the tide comes in very quickly here.

Remnants of Industry

I have a great affection for old industrial landscapes and there are plenty of those still around Barrow. This building is down the Cavendish Dock Road, a short walk from the town centre, and also carries a reminder of the days when the central areas of Barrow were riddled with railway lines. This one is still in use, for a purpose many may find somewhat sinister as I hope to reveal before too long.

Oystercatcher

If Barrow’s very own bird wasn’t the Lesser Black-backed Gull it would surely be the Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). Not that it’s more peculiar to Barrow than it is to any other bit of British coast, although it is very abundant locally and often to be heard flying overhead with its whistling cry. It just looks the part. It’s slightly comical in its ungainliness, and iron-stained in beak and legs, but it is sturdy and stubborn and very good at what it does. Which isn’t necessarily catching oysters – I mean, just how fast can an oyster run? But it does make short work of the many mussel beds around Barrow’s very lengthy shoreline.

Roa Island

Today being very far from the traditional English Bank Holiday, that is, sunny, warm and calm, I had a walk out to one of the outlying parts of the town. Roa Island is connected to the mainland by a causeway and most of it seems to be devoted to boats (so I get pangs of envy just looking around.)

I had intended to take the ferry across to Piel but I didn’t go through with this on the grounds that: a) it’s GBP 4.00 per person for the short return trip, and b) the number of people hanging round the slipway looking expectant suggested that it would be a long wait.

There’s not a lot on Roa Island so if you’re not going to Piel there’s not much point in hanging around apart from looking at boats and the spectacular views over Morecambe Bay and towards the Lakes. Today, although it was a tad hazy, it was possible to follow the Lancashire coast right down to Liverpool. They don’t show up well in photos though, at least not in the pictures the Nikoff takes.

Meanwhile, It would be forgiveable to assume that this little scene, with the Roa Island Hotel and its bit of green in front, were taken in Norfolk rather than North Lancashire. At least, I think so.