Welcome to this exhibition of winter scenes, a new exhibition curated and researched by volunteers from Signal Film & Media’s heritage project Seeing the North with Sankey. This is our present to the people of Barrow and Furness, and elsewhere; a small, enthralling gift in these difficult times.

These scenes were captured by Barrovians Edward Sankey, and his sons Raymond and Eric, who ran a photographic business from the late 1890s to the early 1960s. They took thousands of images around Furness, Cumberland and Westmorland (which now make up Cumbria), as well as North Lancashire – and occasionally even further afield.  These photographs, often taken in very tricky weather conditions, show how intrepid, determined and innovative the Sankeys were. 

They have given us a legacy of winter visions; from icy mountain tops in the Lake District, to Abbey Road in Barrow looking resplendent in white. We owe them much.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the time covered by these images, heavy snowfalls and periods of extreme cold were far more common than in the winters we experience now. Some deep freezes, such as that in 1929, lasted for months and turned even large lakes into ice rinks. These early decades also witnessed the First World War, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and the Great Depression.

Against this backdrop of hard weather and difficult times, people had to go about their day-to-day lives; no easy task with little motorised transport. There was no central heating either, and few people had a change of work clothes. Wet leather boots (stuffed with newspaper) and sodden woollen clothes, had to be dried in front of fires – as long as the coalman could get his horse and cart up hills, and along streets coated with thick ice. There was no double glazing; many will remember a thin layer of ‘fern frost’ on the inside of their bedroom windows on a cold winter’s morning.

The folks in rural and remote areas had even more to contend with; many places didn’t have electricity, wood had to be found for burning; country roads easily became impassable meaning food could run short. Most families had to be self-sufficient.

Yet people did get to revel in these times; you’ll see the joy on many of the faces of those photographed. No wonder this is so. The ice these people encountered was strong and deep – and exciting:  an invitation for them to set their cares aside, and go skating or play curling.

As for snow! What else can quieten the world like snow? What else can blanket a whole town, lighten the darkest of nights; or make a clear day absolutely dazzling? 

We’ll say no more. Come in, enjoy the views for yourself.