Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is in Cumbria. It lies within The Historic County Boundaries of Lancashire. Get in Train journey from the South crosses Morecambe Bay on two viaducts. A beautiful thrilling train journey, one of England's best.The main road in the town is the A590 which leads to the M6 motorway at junction 36. Trains run to Barrow from Carlisle, Manchester and Liverpool. Get around The town centre is easily accessible on foot from the train station. Regular bus services run throughout the town, covering most areas. See Furness Abbey is a ruined monastery, originally founded in 1127 to the Savigniac order by King Stephen before being granted to the Cistercian order in 1148. The abbey was ruined in 1536 during the dissolution of the monasteries under Thomas Cromwell. South Lakes Wild Animal Park [1] BAE Barrow Sports Club, home of BAE Rugby, Football and reigning double winners BAE Barrow 'B' cricket team [2] Dock Museum for a history of Industrial Barrow [3] Do Visit local beaches at Roanhead and Walney. The former has magnificent views over the Duddon Estuary and Western Lakeland fells. One of the finest views in England. It also has a fine unspoilt beach that stretches for a couple of miles, sandhills and nature reserve. Walney Island also has impressive views and sandy beaches. At the southern end is a bird sanctuary - the largest herring and black-backed gull colony in Europe, and a light house. To the north is another nature reserve - home to the endangered natterjack toad, and a sandhill system. Although there is nothing there that acknowledges this, the geographical location of Walney Island is the same as part of the fictional Island of Sodor - home to Thomas the Tank Engine. Visit Piel Island. Piel can be reached by ferry from Roa Island connected to the mainland by a causeway, or on foot at low tide from Walney. Piel has a ruined castle and pub. On a sunny day pure bliss. If walking from Walney, please be careful to check tide times and make sure you leave plenty of time. If in doubt do not use this route. Visit Furness Abbey. The red sandstone ruins of a fantastic 12th century Cistercian abbey set in a beautiful quiet vale, with lovely walks in all directions. Join the fun at Barrow & Furness Striders. Meet 7.30 Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Holker Old Boys football club, Rakesmoor Lane for a gentle run in friendly company. Don't forget to bring some pennies for a drink afterwards. Visit Holker Street home of Barrow AFC.Undefeated at Wembley, eat your hearts out MUFC fans. Visit Prince of Wales pub at Foxfield, £3.50 return train fare from Barrow. Best pub in England immediately opposite stop in Foxfield. Real ales, home cooked food. Please note not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. Drive or cycle the coast road from Barrow to Ulverston. Hugs the northern shore of Morecambe Bay, with magnificent views, sandy beaches, frequent picnic spots and watering holes. Dock Museum for displays and stories of local history. Combine with walk around industrial area to see Europe's most advanced shipyard and also along Walney Channel promenade. Visit Dalton, much loved neighbouring town. Has its own castle and zoo. Entrance into zoo is expensive but can be reduced to £6 per adult by bringing a receipt from local Morrisons supermarket. Buy a newspaper get entrance for £6. Offer ends 31st Dec 2009. Not available Bank Holidays. Outlying attractions, include Holker Hall (Motor Museum, Gardens, Stately home), Grange-over-Sands (genteel Victoran seaside resort), Ulverston (busy market town, traditional cinema, loads of real ale pubs, Laurel & Hardy museum), Broughton (small market town, brilliant pubs), and South Western lakes, Coniston, Langdale, Dunnerdale, Eskdale, Wasdale for England's best walking Buy Portland Walk in Barrow town centre hosts a range of shops, most of them branches of a national chain. The Body Shop has recently opened, as has a large New Look store. Other shops include Debenhams, Marks&Spencer, Topshop, Evans, Game, WHSmith, JJB Sports and Clarks. Barrow also has Tesco, Morrison's and an ASDA. For more interesting purchases, it is probably better to visit Ulverston. Eat Pies. Local delicacy baked on premises at local outlets Drink Drinking in Barrow is a very northern (English) experience, it contains a wide variety of pubs bars and resturants, catering to most tastes, and is generally cheap compared to UK standards. In the town centre there is a Weatherspoons and a Yates, aswell as other local pubs that serve good quality pub food. You can also find excellent chinese resturants, some of a buffet style, where you pay a set fee, usually £5 to £8 to eat all you like. Night life is Barrow is centred around Cornwallis street (ajacent to the town hall) where most of the music pubs and night clubs are situated, most, but not all, charge an entrance fee to a maximum of £5 and the main night club (Club M) at the end of the street is open till 5am. All other clubs on the street are open till 3am. It can get very lively in the early hours of the morning at weekends when locals and out-of-town contractors ( usually Scottish) mix, although fighting does happen it alot rarer than it once was, the street no longer justifies its name "the Gaza strip" which locals still use to identify the street. It is now more than likely that you will have a trouble free night, provided you don't cause it yourself!! On the whole it's possible to have a good night on a relatively small budget, and meet people from all over the UK and the Canadian navy who are working in the towns world renowed shipyard, you will find the locals on the whole friendly and warm and will easily talk to strangers (unlike in London and the South East ) especially after a few drinks! Sleep High End Accommodation - N/A Mid-range Accommodation - Abbey House Hotel, Duke of Edinburgh Hotel Budget Accommodation - Travelodge Get out This article is an outline and needs more content. 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