Snow on the Home Front, the Winter of 1940.

Winter 1940 and snow falls across the Furness Peninsula. The snow keeps falling, heavily, creating large snow drifts, blocking up doors and windows, preventing the use of roads and freezing ponds, rivers and even the sea! This was some of the worst snow the area had seen in recent memory.

"A perfectly unbelievable day! My husband could not open the garage door on the side of the house, and had to get out the dining-room window and dig four feet of snow from the back door - which opens outwards. Poor old Mr. Murphy* took a leap onto the garden and disappeared - and instead of keeping still, started to tunnel his way madly under the snow. Talk about 'lost in a fog'!" - Nella Last, 1940; Nella Last's War. *Mr. Murphy was a cat.

Whilst War began across Europe the people back home in Furness were up against a different kind of battle, one against the elements!

It was the first year of World War 2, rationing had just been introduced across the country and the worst snow fall of the recent times had fallen. As can be seen in the picture above and to the right the snow grew to large heights covering over doors preventing them from being opened. The picture above shows a dug out shelter in Barrow Park and right shows Dalton Road with the snow piled up at either side of the road. The snow at this time was hardly reported in newspapers for fear of letting the Germans know that the country was at a near standstill.

"All that is talked about is that the snow has brought most of the industry in the North and Midlands to a stop. Road transport is at a virtual standstill. The railway lines and tunnels are so blocked up they have to dig them out." Says Lilian Ryan who wrote her memories of the war in a book called 'Cos That's The Way It Was: A Child's Eye View of Wartime Barrow'. She also states that "Some people in villages near us are getting short of food and their pipes are so frozen up they have to boil snow to cook with."

Coast Road bus Snowed in at Aldingham

There was a wild blizzard on January 28th which caused roads and railways to be blocked. This made communication to other towns difficult. It also made it difficult for food to get through to shops. This, with rationing on bacon, sugar and butter, made life in the area, and across the country, pretty difficult. But as always through out the War people soldiered on and made do. 

"All of Morecambe Bay stretched a frozen waste and, far across, Morecambe itself looked as if it might be able to be reached on foot. The water had not frozen flat like water but, as it dashed on to any stone, had frozen in a smother like spun of sugar." States Nella Last in her War Time Diaries. It is not often that the sea fully freezes over but in 1940 the cold was so bad that it did and stayed frozen for quite some time. With all the roads blocked for transport many people, including Nella Last, would have to walk great distances through the snow to get to where they needed to be. Nella describes in her diaries how she walked all the way to Spark Bridge from Barrow to deliver her Aunts shopping for fear "she would be short on things". It's a true testament to the kindness and generosity of humanity that people would risk their own safety and well being to help others. It is something that was very apparent during the Second World War, as well as the First.

It is difficult to imagine exactly what everyone must have gone through at this time. What must it have been like to have no water due to frozen pipes and have to boil up snow? How hard must it have been to get around when the roads and railways were blocked? We are lucky in this day and age to have not suffered though such terrible weather. Granted we have had our fair share of cold and snowy winters but nothing seems to compare with what happened in 1940, especially with a War going on at the time! Life must have been very difficult. Thankfully weather like this was not seen again during the Second World War in Furness but other struggles would have to be over come...

Sunny Bank in 1940

The Main Road from Ulverston to Barrow blocked with
snow in 1940.

Above two picture Courtesy of M Tyson/North West Evening Mail.

Vickers Works at Devonshire Dock,
Winter 1940

Holker Street Stadium, Barrow.
January 1940

Duke Street, Barrow.
January 1940 

Ruined Walls of a Medieval Fortification, Gleaston Castle

On the road out of Gleaston, having past the water mill, a castle expands out from a farm yard into an adjoining field. This is Gleaston Castle, a structure erected sometime around the 13th Century.

The Castle is generally believed to have been started in the mid 13th century by John De Harrington I, who was a descendant of Michael Le Fleming the first Norman to settle in the area. He constructed the south west tower and part of the west wall. It was not until 1325, 28 years later that he or his son, John De Harrington II, continued construction at the Castle. This work was completed around 1340 and the De Harrington family took residence here for 118 years. It is in 1457 that William de Harrington, the last lord of Aldingham and Muchland, died and the castle was passed on. Eventually, by marriage, the castle passed to Thomas Grey, great grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, future Queen of England. In his ownership the castle fell into a state of decay and was a ruin by 1540. At a later date when the castle was in the ownership of the Preston's one of the South towers was made habitable for the family to live in until the early 1600s. Following this the Castle had many varying owners until being bought by a local farming family, the Websters, in 1926. The family still owns the Castle today and their farm sits right next to the ruins.

The Castle is set out with four tower buildings at the corners of four curtain walls. It, in a lot of ways, is much like your typical children's play set castle, if not quite as extensive. Gleaston Castle was never fully completed which may suggest its need as a fortification became obsolete. It is suggested that the Castle was built in reaction to the Scottish wars that were taking place at the time. Many castles were erected across Furness and Cumbria during this period including Dalton, Piel, Broughton, Millom and Sizergh Castles. Gleaston was probably built to replace an earlier castle that had been overwhelmed by the Scots. It is entirely possible that the Castle was built to replace the mote and bailey castle at Aldingham (which we will look at in a future post) that would have been of wooden construction. A new stone castle would have been a lot stronger and more able to withstand a Scottish attack. Also the positioning at Gleaston may have been more defendable than at Aldighman. Obviously this is purely conjecture on our part but it is reasonable to believe. With the Scottish Wars and raids not lasting particularly long the castle may have become redundant before even being finished, thus being left incomplete. As stated above the Castle was made fit for habitation in certain areas by later owners but as a working fortification it was unfinished.

Earlier we mentioned Thomas Grey, father of Lady Jane Grey, being in ownership of Gleaston Castle. Well it is thought that Lady Jane Grey herself visited the Castle not long before becoming Queen of England! The circumstances of her visit and if she really did are unclear but it is certainly nice to think that she may have. In the present day the Castle is in a very ruinous state with most of its curtain walls missing and it's towers being empty shells. It is hard to imagine the Castle today as it would have looked when it was fresh. The southern towers are the best preserved but the north western tower is slowly crumbling away and the north eastern has completely disappeared. Even being in such a dilapidated state the Castle certainly has a romantic and aesthetically pleasing look to it. The ruined walls with the ivy growing up them makes for some lovely photographs, even if the ivy won't be helping the structure in the long run. Although  it may be holding it together for now.

Gleaston Castle is unfortunately not open to the public as it is on private land but you can see it well from the road leading past it. You can easily find the Castle by foot or by car, head to Gleaston then head north past the water mill towards Scales and you will find it as you go. The Castle is a wonderful relic of a time gone by and is quite lovely to see. If you get the chance to venture past it take a moment to stop and look, think of its past and the people who once lived and visited here!

The next instalment of Furness Hidden Heritage will be released earlier than usual on Monday 23rd December. The blog will then go on a break over Christmas and will return on Tuesday 7th January.

Engraving by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck 1727.

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Water Reflecting an Industrial Past, Ulverston Canal

Stretching out from Ulverston town to meet with the sea at, the appropriately named, Canal Foot is Ulverston Canal. An 18th Century built canal made for the import and export of goods to and from Ulverston.

Today the canal has a number of footpaths leading to and along it for anyone to use. There is a footpath that runs along the whole canal and is a lovely walk to take. Walking along this path, if you look closely, you can see some interesting reminders of the once working canal.

The canal was once the shortest, deepest and broadest in Britain and was first started in 1793 with Thomas Sunderland cutting the first sod on June 1st. The company Pinkerton and Murray had won the contract to dig the Canal and basins. They earned 3 1/2d per cubic yard but a lack of funds ended in them being unable to complete the contract. A Mr H. Baird took over to complete the canal construction, which was now lagging behind. Originally intended to open around 1794 the Canal eventually opened over two years late in 1796. Locals gathered around the locks at Canal Foot to witness The Sally be the first vessel to enter the Canal. A further three vessels entered after including The Content which was pulled with rope along the Canal by the crowds. The Content managed to overtake The Sally and was the first to reach the top basin of the Canal at Ulverston!

The Canal was built for the import of coal, cotton, timber, spirits and sugar to Ulverston and the surrounding area. It was also used to export charcoal, slate and linen to the rest of the country. With the newly built Canal many industries sprang up along it's edge including an iron founder, a timber yard and appropriately a sail maker and a boat builder. The Canal opened up new possibilities for industry and trade providing a new platform to export across the country and even beyond.

Along the Canals edge you can come across interesting remnants of the past. The footpath on which you walk is the 'towpath' of the Canal, which, as its name suggests, would have been used to tow sail-less boats along the canal. Humans or horses could have used this path to tow the boats. Along the towpath there are small metal capstans, pictured to the left, which boats could be tethered to, to prevent them drifting off in the water. There will no doubt be many of these hidden amongst the undergrowth along the canal so keep an eye out for them. Running next to the towpath is the back drain, this would have been constructed to drain any excess water from the canal to keep it at a set level. It would have been important to keep the water level at a set point to avoid flooding at the many industrial sites springing up right next to the canal.

Trade hit its peak on the canal in 1846 with 944 vessels entering it that year. With the discovery of iron ore in Furness the need of a railway to transport the ore to Barrow became evident. It was in May 1844 that a Furness Railway Bill was passed and a railway opened in 1846. By 1854 the railway had reached Ulverston and with this came the decline of the Canal. In 1857 a new section of line opened that cut right across the Canal. As pictured to the right a viaduct, to take the new track, was built across the Canal, this prevented tall ships from reaching the top basin. Iron became cheaper to transport by rail than by boat, this along with the viaduct's construction saw the end of the Canals dominance in industrial transport. Eventually, in 1949, the Canal was empty of boats and the lock gates at Canal Foot were sealed with concrete never to be opened again. The lock gates still remain today, if in a state of disrepair, as a lasting reminder of the Canals glory days in the 18th and 19th century.

The Nahula sitting as the last boat on Ulverston Canal.

She was the last vessel to ever sail through the lock gates.

The Canal is easy to access and is great for a nice leisurely walk on easy terrain. There is plenty of space to park at Canal Foot and the footpath running alongside the Canal takes you for just over a mile to the top basin. If you go for an explore keep an eye out for the various hidden heritage including the lock gates, the capstans, back drain and of course remember that you are walking in the footsteps of our ancestors on the towpath! Also look out for some old rail tracks cutting across the path that would once have linked up to the Iron Works that was established across the Canal. There is even a red brick tower standing on the other side of the Canal that may have been part of the Iron Works.

The Act for the construction of the Canal
published on 8th May 1793.

Furness Ghost Stories - Halloween Special!

In this special blog post we will take a brief look at some of the ghost stories from around the Furness Peninsula. Be sure to read with the lights off!

Furness Abbey - Apparitions and Hooded Figures

Furness Abbey has been linked to many spooky tales since its dissolution in the 16th Century but we will only look at two here.

It was new years eve 1980 when a young man was peddling away on his bike to get home after finishing work at the Abbey Tavern. As he was in a rush to get to a party he decided to go home by cycling past the ruins, usually he would avoid the ruins by heading straight out onto Abbey Road. He quickly got by the ruins only glancing at them once. As he came to the junction he headed off up towards Rating Lane along a dark and poorly lit road. When he reached the ruins of the West Gate, that towers above either side of the road, a strange feeling came over him. He looked up to see the shadow of, what he believed to be, a cowled monk on horse back. The figure held his gaze for a moment until car headlights on Rating Lane broke his stare and he peddled off hard and fast! There have been several sightings of a monk wandering towards this broken archway over the years, who could this mystery monk be?

On many occasions apparitions of monks have been spotted amongst the haunting ruins of Furness Abbey leaving witnesses baffled and frightened.

Image taken from North West Evening Mail newspaper.

Original Image by Roy Chatfield

A photographer has even caught on camera what he believes to be a ghost in the Abbey grounds. The man had taken many images of the Abbey one day but when he developed the images he was shocked to discover one of them had a white hooded figure standing in it, near to the church tower. The photographer swears that no one was there on the day and he didn't see anything through the viewfinder on his camera when he took the picture. The image was also taken on a 8 second exposure which would blur someone who happened to be walking by! You can see the image to the right, what do you think? Is it a monk or is it something else all together?

The Custodian's Cottage/Abbey Mill Cafe - A Ghostly Face and Buried Body

The former Custodian's Cottage next to Furness Abbey, now the Abbey Mill Cafe, also holds some ghostly stories of its own. Many years ago when the cottage erupted in flames local firemen descended on the site to tackle the blaze. While they fought to tame the fire many of the firemen claim to have seen a young girl at the top window of the building. Due to this they were certain that they would find a body in the fire damaged carcass of the building but when they searched the rubble no body was found. Was the face they saw in fact the spirit of a long dead girl who once lived at the Cottage? Who can say! But what is interesting is that once, when a psychic visited the Cottage she could sense something beneath the floor. Today the large main room of the Cottage has a wooden floor but 7+ years ago you had to step down a few steps to reach a concrete floor. When this psychic came she stood on the concrete floor and could sense that, in the far right hand corner of the room, there was a body buried 4 feet under the ground. If you were to measure from the actual ground level outside this would be 6 feet. The interesting thing about this though is that she claimed it was the body of a child! It does make you wonder if this could possibly be the body of the young girl who was seen at the window when the Cottage burnt down!

Dalton-in-Furness - Haunted Pubs and Highways

It is thought that a building has stood in the place now occupied by the Brown Cow Inn in Dalton since the Middle Ages and this has led to several ghostly tales being told. One such story, which has not been noted since the 19th Century, is of haunting chanting being heard coming from the direction of the Abbey. This chanting was often accompanied by the sound of a church bell ringing which led witnesses to believe it was the Monks of the Abbey singing. Another story from the Brown Cow involves witnesses seeing a strange apparition. Back before the interior of the pub was open plan as it is today a man took his drink into one of the small rooms to sit at one of the wooden tables. On entering the room he was rather surprised to find an oddly dressed stranger sitting in a seat near the window, staring out through the glass as if he was looking and waiting for someone or something outside. The figure sat quite still not making a sound. The man who had entered the room greeted the stranger but was met with no reply. Later when the man left, returning to the bar he asked the landlord about the strange fellow in the other room. The landlord informed the man that no one, other than him, had entered the room that night. When the curious landlord accompanied the man back to the room they found no one inside, much to the mans surprise! There was no way that the stranger could have left the room without being seen or heard!

A young man of the name Tom, who lived in Dalton, once worked in the mines at Roanhead. One morning when he was cycling to work by Millwood he saw another man cycling towards him on the other side of the road. The other person was middle aged wearing a grey suit and a brown trilby hat, nothing too unusual for the time. Tom continued to cycle along not thinking much of it. Suddenly, when the two were only a few yards from one another, the other person suddenly steered his bicycle directly at Tom! Tom broke hard and almost fell off his bike swerving away from the other man. When he turned around to give the man what for he was shocked to find the road empty of life. There was nowhere the other man could have gone to hide; he had completely vanished!

Other Stories

Shadowy figures and loud bangs have all been associated by employees at BAE Systems, in Barrow, to the spirit of a worker who had killed himself.

A couple who were traveling through Leece one evening had to slam on the brakes and come to a stop. A large black creature was sat in the middle of the road stopping them from getting past. The creature stood about 2 meters tall and had bright yellow eyes! Eventually the beast stood and walked off the road allowing the couple to drive by. It stood on the grass verge watching as they went.

In 2009 the North West Evening Mail ran a small article about Abbots Wood house, which included a picture from inside the house. On publication though many readers wrote in as they had noticed something in the far right of the interior image. There was the ghostly shape of a woman stood behind a table! Could it be the ghost of a previous occupant? Who can say but with the house no longer standing her home is long gone. Here is the picture for you to view; can you see the ghostly figure?

Image courtesy of the North West Evening Mail
Originally printed in 2009

We hope you have enjoyed this special spooky edition of Furness Hidden Heritage, if you know of any other ghost stories from the Furness area please let us know and we may use them next Halloween! Business as usual with the blog will resume on 12th November so be sure to check back then for a post on the area surrounding Furness Abbey. Until then happy Halloween and sleep well!

Read more Furness ghost stories in our second Halloween special here - https://furnesshiddenheritage.blogspot.com/2013/10/furness-ghost-stories-halloween-special.html

The Hidden Heritage of Abbots Wood, Barrow

Set above the beautiful ruins of Furness Abbey lies the extensive Abbots Wood!

Abbots wood is a popular destination for locals with several well-trodden paths but look a little closer and the woodland, which takes its name from a Victorian Manor house that once stood proud amongst the trees, gives away some of its secrets.

Abbots Wood house was built sometime in the 1850s-60s for a young Mr. James Ramsden. The grand total of £2000 was spent to build the house and Mr. Ramsden was then allowed to live there at a rent of £205 a year. James Ramsden was a key player in the Furness Railway, which lead to the rapid expansion of Barrow from a small fishing village to the town it is today. Ramsden himself was knighted in 1872 due to his work in the area.

After his death in October 1896 the property had a number of owners and was even used by the military during wartime. It was in the 1960s that the house was eventually demolished due to having fallen into a state of disrepair. But the area was not left dormant as a large concrete structure appeared at the site during the Cold War years to act as a control center incase of a Nuclear war!

Today three lines of sandstone blocks, taken from the demolition rubble, mark the site of Abbots Wood house. Oddly enough these wall structures show nothing of the positioning or scale of the original building! The building would have been further forward and stretched across most of the grassy area seen to the left. You can see the size of the building in the image above.

Apart from these slightly obscure remnants of the former house there are some other interesting features to be discovered around the dense woodland.

Dotted through out the trees to the East of the main path through the woods, just before the stonewalls, there are several iron gateways to be discovered (see right). Some of these gateways are in better condition than others but even when broken they stay as reminders of a more formal time in the woods. The gateways are the remains of the gardens that once sat next to the mansion; these specific arches are believed to be where an orchard once grew. It is certainly hard to imagine an orchard or any kind of formal garden here today as the trees and undergrowth have grown wild destroying any evidence of formal planting. But to wander through the vegetation and discover these fabulous metal structures seemingly growing out of the ground is a fantastic thing. Even now, knowing where they are, it is still something special to find them; it's like discovering a secret garden amongst the trees.

At the far end of the wood some other interesting features can be found that are linked to the manor house. Just before leaving the woods into a large field you walk over a small bridge. This bridge does not cross a river or a stream but instead crosses the old servants passage/trenches. Servants would once have used a large trench to move through the woodland to get to the manor house with out getting in the way of any visitors. The main drive for the manor would have gone over the bridge having come through the large field from a gatehouse at the top of Mill Brow in Dalton.

The trench runs from outside the woods, under the bridge then around the back of the trees to open out at the clearing where the mansion once stood. This created a quick and easy route for servants to get to the house without crossing the main drive. Along the trench there are some gates and steps where the servants could access other areas of the houses grounds. You can easily find a set of steps leaving the trench near to the bridge structure. Presumably this was for servants to get to the driveway to greet visitors.

If you explore the woods you can find so many little reminders of the Victorian past. Along the bottom path through the woods you can find the demolition rubble where the house was bulldozed into a small valley. Else where you can find garden features like a small set of steps with a curved wall, old shed foundations and more.

With all the Victorian history that litters the woods it may be easy to miss some of the earlier history that lies in the area. Not far into the woods on either side of the roadway stands the remains of part of Furness Abbey's precinct wall. The precinct wall was a large sandstone construction that ran around the land surrounding and owned by the Abbey. This cuts straight through Abbots Wood heading down towards the Abbey itself. You can see the wall stretching across a field next to the woods as well. It is interesting to try and imagine how the landscape may have looked when the precinct wall was intact, was the woodland there in Medieval times or was it land that was used by the Abbey? Either way it is great to see these reminders of the Medieval past.

There is so much hidden heritage to be discovered in Abbots Wood from the Medieval walls to the Victorian Servants trench so why not take a trip and have an explore?

Check out a selection of other pictures taken around the woods bellow and look out for the next blog all about Birkrigg Common on 15th October!