Lost Journeys on the Furness Railway 1846-1970

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund

We launched this new creative heritage project in September 2015 and have been busy conducting research into the Lost Journey’s on the Furness Railway.  Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project is being led by our trusty volunteers who are working with us to explore the important role that the Furness Railway played in Barrow’s thriving industrial past and find out how it is remembered today.

There were once 100’s of miles of track in Barrow and numerous train stations along the Furness line that no longer exist; we want to uncover where the lines ran and why, unearthing local memories and not so well known information along the way. Through the memories and hidden stories of the railway we will link the lives of local people to the grand history of the railway, and bring the era to life again for a new generation of people to experience.

The project runs until June 2016 and we are continuing to recruit teams of community volunteers to collaborate with us to unearth this wealth of information. As well as taking part in research activities, we are offering FREE training in oral history recording, archive research, creative photography and more exciting opportunities to be announced.

Research will be ongoing throughout the project, and a programme of activity aimed at training local people of all ages to creatively interpret the facts and stories uncovered by the research. Through hands on creative workshops with writers, artists and filmmakers, participants and volunteers will produce digital artworks, photography exhibitions, and a website to host our findings and leave a digital legacy of the Furness Railway. These free workshops will be on offer from January to March 2016, please check our news section of the website for upcoming announcements.

Rachel Capovila, Project Manager at Signal said, “ This is an amazing project for people to get involved in with us. They will find out some fantastic stories, which might go on to be made into short films or exhibitions! I was a volunteer on the previous Signal heritage project and it enabled me to go on to work on other fantastic creative projects.”

We also promise field trips, and community screenings during the course of this fascinating journey into Barrow’s past. Are you interested in volunteering for this project? Are you interested in learning new digital skills? Are you interested in meeting new people? Are you aged 10 – 100+ years old? To find out more about signing up as a volunteer and taking part in these amazing FREE opportunities, please contact Rebecca on 01229 838 592 or rebecca@signalfilmandmedia.co.uk

Read the blog posts for this project //HERE//

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