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Anyone lived or Worked in Barrow-in-Furness?
morcus - 5/5/14 at 03:00 PM

I've been offered a six month work placement from October to march but no one seems to have anything nice to say about the place and I'm unsure on the work (I'm seeing the boss next week about that).

It looks like I could have a decent place to live and that there's pretty countryside around.

Is it really as remote and desolate as people make out?

trextr7monkey - 5/5/14 at 03:38 PM

Hi it is all relative might be a bit of a culrure shock
but certainly not the worst place. In recent years it
has had lots of investment and boasts Kfc and usual
bowling alleys. On a more positive note it is great for
accesing he more remote south west corner of the lakes
and worth taking the chance just for that
There is also some decent coast lines and a fast road
out to the M6 which puts youjust about an hour from
Scottish Border. If you have a half decent car or bike
there's some great drives uup here too- you are pretty
close to the northern Yorkshire Dales as well as Alston
and north penninesM across the year there's several rallies
that use Grizedale Forest about 30 miles from Barrow.
My brother went there to help fit out the Invincible and
finished up marrying the bar maid!!
Life is what you make it not about your post code
Atb
Mike

morcus - 5/5/14 at 04:08 PM

Thanks, I've still got to find out how good the work will be for completing my training, but you make the actual location seem more appealing.

Volvorsport - 5/5/14 at 04:50 PM

much like anywhere , good and bad places .

barrow is within commuting distance of a lot of places .

my cousins live in haverigg , ive been travelling/staying/living/working up there most of my life .

i have to say ive some serious drinking sessions in barrow and had no problem , but then ive always been surrounded by rugby players ....Rugby League is still quite big there too .

i would commute if it was me .

the pubs stay open in haverigg until youve finished.

Barbon Manor / kirkby lonsdale is easy travelling from there too .
lots of places to go walking/running especially up corney fell . Of course the lakes are easy too , but thatll be full of tourists , ambleside is good too.

i think what im saying is , when you get in the local crack , youll be fine

Sam_68 - 5/5/14 at 05:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
... you make the actual location seem more appealing.


Really?!

The best that can be said for a place is that it's got a KFC and a bowling alley and you find it appealing!?

The proximity to the Lake District would be fine if it weren't for the fact that your stay is from October to March. Unless you're a hardcore (masochistic) fellwalker, even the Lake District doesn't hold all that much appeal at that time of year: a lot of the businesses are closed or wound down, and the constant rain becomes cold constant rain. Wrong time of year for Barbon Manor: no hillclimbing over the winter months.

If you want to be hopelessly positive about things, there's the Coniston Record week just after you arrive (2nd week in November this year, I think), so you can stand around in the (cold) rain watching speedboats streak up and down the lake, and there's a very slim possibility that if Bill Smith pulls his fat Geordy finger out of his arse, you might see Bluebird K7 return while you're up there.

I'd be negotiating a serious 'hardship' allowance for the placement, if I were you...

trextr7monkey - 5/5/14 at 05:20 PM

Lived ovr here for nearly 30 years now and there are somecracking days inthe winter months the KfC stement was to indicate that
It is a bit behind with modern devellopments lol I'm not employed by the Barrow tourist board but just like many of the posts on here people are looking for something beyond the obvious and thge net work has never failed. Yet!
Atb
Mike

Sam_68 - 5/5/14 at 06:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by trextr7monkey
It is a bit behind with modern developments


Oh, I dunno; I'd say it has kept perfect pace with the rest of civilisation over the last couple of thousand years. Which is to say about four steps behind...

The OP's profile gives his current location as Ashford in Kent.

Let's be honest, a placement in Barrow, in winter, will feel much the same today for a Southerner from the Home Counties as it would have for a Roman bureaucrat to be posted up to Hadrian's wall!




On the bright side, us Northerners are much more friendly. If they suss your accent when you're out drinking on a Saturday night, they'll probably beat you to a pulp, mind, but there won't be any malice in it.

snapper - 5/5/14 at 06:40 PM

If Trident replacement gets go ahead you'll be in the right place and early enough in you career to have great options in 5 to 10 years

Volvorsport - 5/5/14 at 06:49 PM

Sounds like u have personal experience of beating up soft southern shandy drinkers?

Barrow can be grim , be thankfull its not Whitehaven....

if your a family man it wont be too bad , if yer single then itll probably be the same as any other shithole down south

trextr7monkey - 5/5/14 at 06:49 PM

Aye Hadrian's Wall could be getting rebuilt shortly if the Scottish Indepedence plans back fire
I guess when I wrote the first sentence I was referring to the first 17 years of my life spent in a coastal mining village between the one where Billy Elliot boxed and where the body from "Get Carter" was dumped out of the 0bucket into the black north sea onto what for a while was labled the dirtiest beach in Europe! Thinking about it a bit more Barrow might have a bit more going for it. Only beeb through Ashford on way to Tunnel so canKt comment on that but point taken!
Atb
Mike

morcus - 5/5/14 at 06:58 PM

I lived in Glasgow for a few years so I'm not too worried about the cold. Kfc and bowling is enough entertainment for me.

Sam_68 - 5/5/14 at 06:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
If Trident replacement gets go ahead you'll be in the right place ...great options in 5 to 10 years


Now that's just nasty - I wouldn't wish 10 years in Barrow on my worst enemy. :shudder:

You think that once he's there, they might just forget about him, like?

fishywick - 5/5/14 at 08:05 PM

The A590 was not nicknamed the longest cul de sac in the world for nothing.
Atcually I have lived and worked there on and off for 30 years, it was a hard drinking, shipbuilding, grimey, northern town a long way from civilisation. It also featured in the top 100 Crap Towns book.
However......
I still frequently visit family there and it is now much the same as or better than any other northern town and I have much affection for it. Straight forward folk, reasonable prices of everything, huge swathes of industrial land now covered with the usual leisure and retail.
As others have said, within striking distance of the lakes and the improved cul de sac means it is now only 30 mins from the M6. Lots of inhabitants went for temp contract work at BAE and have stayed. I remember one even commented in the local paper that the girls were "very accommodating"!