Island 138 - Sheep Island, Cumbria

Sheep Island is not the most exciting of islands.  It is located about 400 metres to the east of Snab Point on Walney Island and is accessible from there across the sand for 2-3 hours each side of low tide.  It has an area of about 6 hectares.  A pebble beach leads up to a flat top covered in scrub.  There is the remains of a stone wall but the centre of the island is fenced off.  However it does have a geocache and you can walk all the way round the outside.

Several sources say that there was an isolation hospital on it from 1892-1922, which was a wooden building erected by Barrow Borough Council for use by ships on their way into Barrow, whose crew members were suspected of having an infectious disease.

Sheep Island

Sheep Island with Piel Island in the distance

Sheep Island with some horse riders crossing to Piel Island and the mountains of the Lake District in the distance

Island 137 - Barrow, Cumbria

Barrow Island is no longer a true island because part of the channel separating it from the town of Barrow-in-Furness to the north has been filled in, thus linking the island permanently to the Cumbrian mainland.

 

In 1846 the Furness Railway opened, primarily to transport slate from mines near Kirkby and iron ore from mines in the Dalton/Lindal area to the coast at Barrow Harbour and Piel Pier on Roa Island.  Passengers were also carried.  The line was paid for mainly by the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch, who owned most of the land in Furness and some individuals such as the industrialist and politician Henry Schneider. The line was extended to Ulverston in 1854 and linked to the national railway network in 1857. 

 

The railway company bought Barrow Island and the area around the channel and in 1865, largely financed by the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch, work began on the construction of the first of two docks in the channel between Barrow Island and the mainland.   Devonshire Dock opened in 1867 and Buccleuch Dock to the east of it opened in 1872. 

 

The Ramsden Dock, to the east of Barrow Island was constructed between 1872 and 1879.  This was named after Sir James Ramsden, who came to Barrow in 1846 as the Furness Railway's locomotive superintendent and went on to become managing director of the Furness Railway and to play a major role in the development of Barrow.  He was the town's mayor five times.  The Ramsden Dock is linked to the Buccleuch Dock.  Its construction incorporated the small island called Ramsey into the dock complex and reclaimed land from the sea in the south east corner of the island. 

 

A fourth dock, Cavendish, was constructed in 1879 to the north east of Ramsden Dock as a timber pond.  It was named after William Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire.  It never had direct access to the channel and is now used as a reservoir by a power station for cooling water and as a popular fishing location.

 

In 1870 the Barrow Iron Shipbuilding Company was founded on Barrow Island and the first ship was launched in 1873.  Over the years warships, merchant ships and submarines were built there.  It is now owned by BAE Systems.

 

Tenement housing was constructed on Barrow Island in the 1870s to house shipyard and steelworks employees, including Devonshire Buildings on Michaelston Road (1875), which are now listed buildings.  Tenements in Sloop and Steamer Streets are also listed.

 

In the 1980s the western end of Devonshire Dock was filled in and the Devonshire Dock Hall was constructed 1982-6 on the reclaimed land for Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering.  It is a huge indoor shipbuilding and assembly complex and has mainly been used for the construction of submarines.  At this point Barrow Island ceased to be a true island.  

 

The Port of Barrow is currently owned  and operated by Associated British Ports.  At some time after 1938 the Timber Dock at the western end of Ramsden Dock was filled in, thus increasing the land area of Barrow Island further.

 

St John's Church, Island Road
This church was built in 1934-5 on the site of an earlier church.  It is made of concrete and is a listed building.

Devonshire Pub and tenement housing, Michaelston Road



 Entrance to the Port of Barrow and Port Office, Ramsden Dock Road

Island 136 - Foulney Island, Cumbria

I thought Foulney Island was going to be a bit boring, as it is very flat and is composed entirely of pebbles from the Lake District, which were deposited by glaciers during the last Ice Age.  However on a sunny summer day it was a very pleasant walk.  

There are lots of wildflowers on the island, including meadow saxifrage, yellow horned poppy, sea campion, birds foot trefoil, sea kale, viper's bugloss, sea lavender and thrift.  Some of these were still in flower when I visited in late August 2011.  The island is important as a breeding place for Arctic and little terns in the spring.  Ringed plovers, oystercatchers, eider ducks, skylarks and meadow pipits also breed on the island.   Slitch Ridge is closed during the birds' breeding season. The mudflats are crowded with wading birds in the autumn and winter, e.g. dunlin, knot and curlews.  The island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The island has been leased and managed as a nature reserve by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust since 1974.  It is tidal, although the causeway is only covered for a couple of hours around high tide.

Foulney Island has been connected to the Roa Island Causeway by a stone causeway since the 19th century.  The causeway was built to prevent the Walney Channel from silting up.   It isn't very clear anymore where the real island starts. The island has an area of 17.5 hectares.  There is a small car park a third of the way along the causeway from Rampside to Roa Island.

Rampside Salt Marsh 

- this has developed over the last 100 years as a result of the building of the causeway.

The tower says AGA on it but I'm not sure what sort of cooking you can do with it!  According to a warden I spoke to it is a navigation light.  The shed beyond it is derelict.

Looking towards Rampside

Roa Island from Foulney



The Causeway
The causeway isn't in the best state of repair in places.

Island 135 - Piel Island, Cumbria

Piel Island is a small low lying island, which can be reached on foot over the sands from Walney Island at low tide or by boat at all stages of the tide from Roa Island.   I went by boat and spent a couple of hours wandering round the island.  I found the only geocache, had a look at the castle ruins, a wander along the beach and a drink in the pub.  You can camp on the island and there is a public toilet.  A notice in the toilet said that paper towels and other rubbish should not be flushed down the toilet, as it would upset the SCEPTIC tank - obviously a toilet for unbelievers!

The earliest inhabitants lived on Piel about 3,000 years ago.  The island was originally called Foudray or Fotheray from the Old Norse for 'fire island' - meaning a fire beacon to guide ships.  

The island was sold to the town of Barrow in 1919 by the Duke of Buccleuch.

Looking north towards Rampside

The Ship Inn

The menu looked appetising but I didn't have time to stop for a meal, as I had another 4 islands to visit that day!  The Inn is thought to be over 300 years old and may have developed out of a ships' chandlery, which was established on the island in the 17th century.

  The houses

 One was up for sale when I visited and the notice stated that it doesn't have concrete cancer. I think it is a terrace of 8 houses.  The houses were built in 1875 to house pilots.  They were previously housed in a converted barn.

 Back of the Ship Inn

 Castle looking towards Walney

The castle was built by the monks of Furness Abbey on the SE corner of Piel Island in the early 14th Century to protect Barrow from raids by pirates and Scotsmen.  The Abbey was itself involved in the smuggling business.  The castle was already falling into disrepair by the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537.  The keep, inner and outer baileys and curtain wall are still standing.  It is now in the care of English Heritage.  A salt works was recorded on the island from 1662.  In the late 17th and early 18th Century Piel was important as a place where customs were collected.

 Castle at low tide

 

 King of Piel's seat in the pub

There is a tradition that says that each new pub landlord is crowned King of Piel. That involves sitting in this seat wearing a helmet and holding a sword while alcohol is poured over their head! The ceremony is said to be due to Lambert Simnel (pretender to the throne of England) landing on the island in 1487.
 

Leaving Piel

 Piel Ferry at Roa Island

Island 42 - Roa Island, Cumbria

Roa Island is linked to the Cumbrian mainland at Rampside to the east of Barrow in Furness by a 1 km long causeway. The ferry to Piel Island leaves from Roa.

Roa Island was built bought by a London banker called John Abel Smith in 1840.  In 1846 he had the causeway built to the island and a 247 metre deep water pier reaching out to the west of the island into the Piel Channel.  The Furness Railway, which made use of the causeway, opened in 1846.  Steamers sailed to Fleetwood and later to Liverpool, Belfast and the Isle of Man from Piel Pier.  

The pier and the causeway were damaged in a storm in 1852 and John Smith sold the island to the Furness Railway in 1852 because he couldn't afford the repairs.  The pier was rebuilt in 1868 but closed in 1881 when the steamer services moved to Barrow. The area around the pier gradually silted up and the pier was dismantled in 1891.  The railway closed in 1936.

There are 2 main roads on Roa Island lined with houses, a café, a telephone box, a yacht club and a lifeboat station.   It was pouring with rain the afternoon we visited in June 1999, so we didn't explore it properly.    I came back in August 2011 for a second visit in order to catch the ferry to Piel Island.  The sun was shining and it was a lot more pleasant. 
  

 Roa Island from Foulney

 Beach at Roa Island

 Café with Roa Island House behind
 

 Watch Tower and Customs House
This was built c1849
 

Lifeboat Station

Island 41 - Walney, Cumbria

Walney Island is apparently England's 8th largest offshore island.  It is 10 miles long by over a mile wide.  It is linked to Barrow in Furness by the Jubilee Bridge, which opened in 1908.  The island has been inhabited since the Stone Age.  From the 12th century until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, the island was farmed by the Cistercian monks of Furness Abbey.  In 1631 half the population died of plague.  The islanders supported Parliament in the Civil War and the Royalists burnt down the village of North Scale in the north east of the island.  In the late 19th century a salt extraction industry was set up and the shipyard at Barrow expanded. 

In 1898 the Isle of Walney Estates Company began to build a housing estate for the shipyard workers.  The company was taken over by Vickers, who owned the shipyard, in 1899 and the housing estate became known as Vickerstown.  It was enlarged in the 1930s.

There was a ferry across the Walney Channel until the Jubilee Toll Bridge opened in 1908.  The tolls were abolished in 1935.  

In 1913 Vickers built a huge shed in the north of Walney to construct airships.  The shed was shelled by German U-boats in the First World War.  During the Second World War there was an RAF airfield and camp at the north end of the island.  This closed in 1946.

Walney has a golf course, a caravan site and 2 nature reserves - North and South Walney, which are managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.  It is a great place to watch birds and the North Walney Reserve claims to have 25% of England's population of the rare natterjack toad.  South Walney Reserve is frequented by greater and lesser black backed gulls, common & little terns, eider ducks, oystercatchers and shelducks.  The whole island is very flat.  It has a variety of terrains - sand dunes, salt marsh, mudflats, heathland and pasture.

Walney South End looking towards a ruined farmhouse and a caravan site.  This is the highest point on Walney - 16 metres above sea level!

 Hare Hill showing crumbling cliffs

 

 Looking towards Vickerstown

 North Walney