The most poignant war memorial of all?

I think I may have done this once before, but what the hell.

It’s Remembrance Day, and as it happens I travelled to Lancaster today to stock up on coffee and tea at my favourite coffee shop (this one, since you ask. They do mail order but the shop itself is a little wonder in this day and age).

So I passed twice through the station ticket hall, and was once again reminded of this plaque to the men of the Furness Railway who fell in the Great War. It was displayed in the Barrow Central Station until the station was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in WW2. The bomb-damaged plaque is now in the new station.

Low tide

Fossilised remains of the Common Supermarket Trolley (Carrus tescoides) exposed by the retreating tide on the mud of Walney Channel. These specimens have clearly been there for some time, judging by the marine life which has colonised the skeletons.

Rainbow (double)

It was a showery, blustery kind of morning when I went into town today. When a low sun peeped through I just knew there should be a fine rainbow to the north-west. And there it was, hanging over Dalton Road. Look closely and you can see the second rainbow, with the colours reversed, outside the main one.

Autumn by the Dockside, with Sjælland

Twenty-five years ago the land where Morrisons stands was derelict. I know this because I came up to Barrow on a bus with the combined St Neots and Bedford CND groups to join the CND autumn demonstration that year, and this was where the buses were parked. When the driver asked when we wanted to leave, there was a loud chorus of “NOW!”

(My American friend and I made our way over to Walney for a pint or three of Hartleys in the Ferry, which was a reasonably good pub in those days)

Crane

Have you missed me? The bowls season is over now and things are less fraught.

Here’s that potent icon of Barrow the great shipbuilding centre, set against a dramatic evening sky.

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…