Mail Weekly Column: 03 October 2021
We're in recess as the various political parties hold their party conferences, and so it's been great to head back home and spend more time in Furness, and less in London.
On Friday I was one of the speakers at the launch of a train bearing the name 'Pride of Cumbria' at Barrow Railway Station. Preparing some thoughts ahead of that event, I was struck by why it was so apt that the event was taking place at Barrow Station, rather than elsewhere in Cumbria.
The story of Barrow is the story of the Furness Railway. The discovery of iron ore showed the potential of Barrow to the world, and Henry Schneider’s railway opened it up.
175 years ago Barrow was a hamlet – with a dozen families rearing sheep. Twenty-five years after the discovery of iron ore and the birth of the Furness Railway, some 40,000 people were living and working in what was then called 'the Chicago of England'.
That amazing growth was driven by the iron and steam of the Furness Line.
Today, this sleepy hamlet at the end of a peninsular is responsible for producing world-class boats, rivalled in complexity by only one thing – the international space station. Those boats – made by Cumbrians, by Barrovians – keep their crews safe under immense pressure, and keep our country and our allies safe under immense pressures of a different sort.
Ten thousand people are employed in that national endeavour and it is no exaggeration to say that without the Furness Line, without 175 years of rail in the region, Barrow’s role in the world would be very different indeed.
I was fortunate enough this week to be at two other events that made me feel a good degree of pride at what is achieved in our community.
Immediately prior to the naming ceremony, I spoke at the launch of the Barrow Youth Hub at Project John - this is a fantastic project that brings together dozens of organisations from Furness and beyond from DWP to Inspira, Barrow Council to the library team, to ensure that young people have access to the skills, training and support to get them into decent jobs and meet their potential. This is all part of the Government's Plan for Jobs, and it is great to see something that I was in the chamber of the House of Commons to hear being announced, turn into a reality that is helping young people here and now.
Finally, I also volunteered at the vaccine clinic at the Alfred Barrow Health Centre on Wednesday. That night alone over 400 people received their COVID-19 booster jabs - all supported by the amazing team of clinicians, staff and Rotarians who made it happen.
Those 400 jabs delivered on Wednesday are a drop in the ocean to the 69,000-plus that have been delivered at that site with the support of Rotary volunteers and Dr Sarah Arun's amazing team, and with each injection our local community gets a little bit safer. My thanks go to them.
