The Story of the Furness Abbey Hotel and Station
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- čas přidán 9. 10. 2015
- The best way I have to share my enthusiasm about things nowadays is to make a film... so, here is the story of the Furness Abbey Hotel and its railway station.
Furness Abbey in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, is a popular tourist attraction under the care of English Heritage. Founded in 1127, in the secluded valley of Beckansgill, it soon became one of the largest and richest monasteries in England. After its dissolution in 1537 the ruins remained largely neglected until the 19th century when the abbey became a focus of the Victorians' new interest in landscape and ruins. The opening of the Furness Railway in 1846 and the hotel soon after put Furness Abbey firmly on the tourist trail.
I was vaguely aware of all this history growing up in Barrow in the 1960s but for us it was also an adventure playground in the days before English Heritage. However, it always commanded our respect and I love the place very much.
I saw a one minute film clip recently from the BFI showing the abbey, hotel and station filmed from a train in 1900.
player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-phantom-ride-on-the-furness-railway-1901-1900/
I was suddenly enthused and, over the last 12/18 months, have been collecting archive photographs and permissions to make a short film to share the story.
Yet there seemed so much to include; a brief history of the abbey, The Furness Railway Company, the building of the hotel and station, Sir James Ramsden and his home at Abbotswood, the famous locomotives and the legacy of the Furness Railway which lives on in the work of The Furness Railway Trust. So, this is a 20 minute film.... a lot to fit in!
This film has been one of my 'hobbies' over recent months. It's time to share it.
Thank you for this excellent film!
Thankyou for bringing back so many memories. I was 4 years old from Glasgow and lived in Egremont gardens with my parents and remember being down at the Abbey on many occasions.I also remember being lifted to look over a wall into large gardens to see the peacocks . This was back in 1970 so i may have a few memories muddled .I will have to dig out the photos i have
@@johnrodgers2505 Thank you John. I’m very pleased that my film has prompted some memories for you. It’s good to hear.
Always enjoy watching History of my town, despite all the ridicule it receives I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else. Great film.
Thank you very much. Barrow is a unique place, and yes, we should love it!!
Love this. Was born nearby.
Barrow a real Lancashire hidden gem
Such a shame that the hotel isn't there today.
Gary's film is very well made and very accurate. I am fortunate to have studied the same subject in the past and I know how limited the researcher is by the lack of official and factual record.. There is nothing assumed of implied in this film and Gary has gone to great lengths to put this together and best of all, its free of charge. Enjoy it , its a very interesting subject and very well produced, nothing assumed or misleading. I am very fortunate to feel so at ease make such a comment. . Well done Gary, its brilliant.
Oh no... its four years since you made this wonderful comment... I've read it and only just now realised I never said thank you personally. Thank you... Gary
This little film has reinforced my passion for wandering (fairly aimlessly) around CZcams. I visit Barrow fairly frequently, and have strolled around the grounds of Furness Abbey -but little realising the history you have uncovered about the Hotel, house and Railway. Thank you for the last 20 odd minutes . Thoroughly enjoyable.
Sorry for the delay but thank you very much!! Gary
Quite excellent, Thankyou. Filled in some local knowledge for me. I must have a walk up to the Abbots Wood site.
Just found this...Excellent Very well done. Makes me proud to be Barrovian. What a shame all of this has disappeared from view . Thanks very much for this. I will be looking for more of the same .
Thank you Sandra. Glad you found my film. There are other films about Barrow on my youtube channel where you found this on czcams.com/users/theyellowfactory
You should have a browse through. Thank you.
I've only just come across this video -which is excellent. I live in the former Porter's Lodge, now Abbey Vale Lodge, just across the railway line from the old Abbey Tavern. I assume one of the duties of the Porter was to receive and load packages and goods from/to the private siding where Sir James kept his private coach. Remnants of the platform and track bed are still visible by the little bridge which crosses the Mill Beck.
There is incidentally a short but very atmospheric 'moving picture' in the BFI collection of this section of the line -filmed from the footplate of a Furness Railway engine c.1910. As the train passes through through Furness Abbey station, this shows, among other waiting passengers on the up-platform, a very grand Edwardian lady with her bicycle. Pity the station is no more. It also suffered bomb damage in 1941 and was demolished, I believe, in 1953.
English Heritage now own the only remaining structure from the old station/hotel which was formerly the Abbey Tavern. Hopefully, they will eventually restore it -perhaps as a railway museum or a railway-themed restaurant?
Hi Bob. Thank you for this comment. I replied to this yesterday but now my reply seems to have mysteriously disappeared. So I’ll reply again.
I’m glad you enjoyed the film. It’s quite a few years old now. I have a great interest in everything to do with Furness Abbey. I’m a member/committee member of the friends’ group The Furness Abbey Fellowship which runs the medieval fair which you will have seen last September. There are playlists on my Yellow Factory channel here about the history of Barrow and Furness Abbey… I seem to have made quite a lot of films over recent years. Living so close to the abbey you may enjoy Cattle In The Quarry which looks at the stone quarries close by. I’ve looked over the gate and line many times towards your house and wondered what it was like on the other side. I did once climb the gate to actually stand on the site of the platform but felt very guilty about it and didn’t stay long. I’m a Barrow lad who has ended up living in Preston but I’m often in town. Your mention of remnants of Ramsden’s track and platform by the bridge is appealing and very interesting, something I would like to see. Yes, I have seen the BFI film extract too, it’s very haunting. EH are trying to come up with a future plan for the Tavern but haven’t quite found it yet. It’s in quite a state isn’t it? If you don’t think I’m too barmy I would love to meet you one day for a chat over the gate or even maybe come across to stand on James Ramsden’s private side of the track. Please get in touch, I’d love to talk more. Best email address for me is garycunliffe@me.com
Regards, Gary
Great video buddy love to learn about barrow keep up the GREAT work fo you know any thing abot the tunnel that links up to piel castle would love to hear more about it 😆
Thank you for liking my film. The tunnel might prove hard to find... Ha
@@theyellowfactory they seem to hide that sort sort of history 😉
Well Sir, that was magnificent. I particularly enjoyed the Abbey Ghost train (audio) right at the start.
I have heard it said there was a bunker under the Abbotswood site, is that so?
Now look here folks; 2.9k views and only one comment, with 22 likes (as I find it). People need feedback and praise for creating such well researched, edited, and marvellously composed local history videos such as this, and he's gone to a lot of trouble here to produce a very informative and fascinating piece. Give the guy a blinking thumbs up.
Excellent footage, historic imagery, and soundtrack, many many thanks.
Kind Regards.
I'll answer my own question there having just been presented with the answer. Nostalgia page of the N.W.E.Mail dated Thurs 21/12/17 says that there was indeed a nuclear bunker beneath the mansion at Abbotswood.
Why thank you sir. I am just uploading a new film and have come across your kind comments. Very much appreciated.
@@onanysundrymule3144 I went in that bunker as a kid in the 1960s. The Civil Defence were having an open day which was also some kind of informal exercise during which it was locked down with some of we members of the public inside.
@@lancasterlancashire6668 Thankyou for that. We can perhaps take that as confirmation then that there was indeed such a place.
That is rare and important testimony as not many 'ordinary folk' will have been inside. It would be fantastic if you could perhaps recall how many rooms there were, was it on two or more levels, or any descriptive at all of the place, just for the historic record. Kind regards.
@@onanysundrymule3144 Thanks for your response. I remember few details as I was only fairly young and it was many years ago - the mid 1960s.
It must have been on more than one level as I remember a bare concrete staircase within (I remember that clearly as there was a real emergency when an elderly lady fell down them). It was open to the public for just that one day, though it was still operational. They tried to simulate real operation by informing us we'd have to decide whether to enter or be locked out as, once we'd entered, the bunker would be sealed and we'd be locked in (but only for a short while!).
I think there were quite a few WRVS workers as part of the operation.
I guess we must have walked there, or got the 'bus, but it was exciting to be given a lift home by army-type Civil Defence Land Rover.
one of the photos here of Abbotswood shows a low concrete flat-roofed structure with what looks like the top of a ventilation shaft. Perhaps this is the above-ground entrance part of the bunker?
Elsewhere on CZcams is more information about the bunker. I think it explains that it was originally constructed when Abbotswood was occupied by the military during the war - perhaps some sort of air defence command and control centre?
The whole place was well situated, hidden away in a remote wooded area, which saved the abbey for a short while during the dissolution.
I am currently transcribing my great-grandfather's journal of a walking holiday in the Lake District in 1876. He and a friend stayed at the Hotel, which he describes as being connected to the railway station by "a Glass covered way leading right into the latter building". Does that appear in any photographs?
Sorry about the delay. I believe there was a short tunnel leading from the hotel and ticket office and under the track to the opposite side. It may have been that? But I know of no photos. However there was a canopy at the front of the ticket office area and leading to that subway tunnel. If features as a photo in the film. Could it be that canopy?? Gary
@@theyellowfactory We still used that tunnel to pass under the tracks when trainspotting there as kids in the late 1960s
@@lancasterlancashire6668 I played around the abbey as a kid in the 60s and didn't know that the tunnel was still there then. Drat!!
Several years ago I made a video, "Morecambe Bay Our Heritage Part 3", which included Barrow and Furness Abbey. Congratulations on getting to original postcards and photographs and I like the research that you have done. I would have loved to have seen more modern video but your script is excellent. Keep making heritage videos as you obviously have a flair for it. Well done and I think that your programme is better than mine.
You might like to visit www.heritagevideoproductions.co.uk or www.vimeo.com/chrisrichardsonbrand.
Sorry for the long delay but thank you! Gary
It is frustrating how few pictures and buildings exist to show you the history of barrow. People coming to the area now would have no idea what it once was, and what used to be here. It would be great if any memorabilia that people have could be saved and put into a proper museum charting barrow. This video however, is fantastic!
Thank you Matthew. I have been working on a new film idea for 12 months now called "From Pastureland To Port" The 150 year dock celebration got to me and I thought the same thing.... what was Barrow like before the railway and the docks? So I've been working on that. It's turned into 3 films. Two are finished and the third is on the way. Please watch this space! Kind regards, gary
It 's a real Lancastrian hidden gem
Haha my sister tried to get a job there.