FURNESS & CARTMEL PENINSULAS:
Photographic Memories by ROBERT SWAIN
Published by Francis Frith, October 2004, paperback, 96pp, price £10.99

Images from North of the Sands over 125 years

Robert Swain is one of those eminently sensible writers who finds a métier, does it well, and sticks to it. His interests are walking, local history, nature and, perhaps above all, his beloved North-West England. He has produced a number of local-interest books, articles and pocket guides (click here to read our past reviews), and this new issue from Francis Frith last year is a welcome look across the bay to the foothills and settlements which hug the shoreline and stick out into Morecambe Bay.

Getting a sense of what and where the Furness and Cartmel peninsulas are, exactly, unfortunately isn't made clear in the book; there is no map! The ever-helpful www.multimap.com site can help here, with a convenient overview of Morecambe Bay.

That quibble apart, the photographs themselves – six of which are recent images taken by the author – are wonderful. Many are of beauty spots, such as Furness Abbey, beloved by Wordsworth and, says Swain, "the second richest Cistercian monastery in England.' Very few of the pictures seem deliberately posed, and many are casual-looking shots of everyday life: we see children playing, adults shopping or working, along with some fine townscapes, village and country scenes.

The contrasts between calm and urban clamour, industry and idleness are well illustrated here, from the filth of the Ulverston Iron Works to Barrow' fine Victorian/Edwardian municipal architectural pride, to Flookburgh's oddly angular church-on-a-sharp-hillside, and Grange's two piers. There are plenty of idyllic rural scenes too. The area covered by this book is not just a tourism trap: it is today, for example, the source of some of the excellent properly-reared beef, lamb and venison that can be enjoyed hereabouts. Grange potatoes are distinctive, too.

The photographs date from the 1870s, and cover the whole intervening period from then till the 1950s and 1960s. The inevitable nostalgia of such a collection will appeal to some, but their main interest, I feel, is as a historical record. So Robert Swain nicely amplifies the images with some fascinating text; he describes invasions by Robert the Bruce, the area's slate and iron exports, noting that "In 1859, Barrow had a population of around 800.'

Tiny indeed, and with a population growth to come which would parallel that in Morecambe. The coming of the railways to the area triggered the boom of investment. "The biggest iron works in Europe,' developed into a shipbuilding centre, though the town had no specific parliamentary representation at that time: its first (Liberal) MP was only returned in 1885 - and didn't last long!

Whilst the western end of the shores of Morecambe Bay were altars to the gods of industry and profit, the rest of the northern seaboard remained peaceful, beautiful, genteel and relatively neglected, though the Victorian fad for health-cures saw some early tourism development. Grange-over-Sands, with its present-day tranquillity (some have reported boredom), actually takes its name from its former status as ‘granary' to the other early commercial and spiritual powerhouse of Cartmel Priory. This latter village is now best known to some for its race meetings, the nearest in fact to our area.

The outstanding feature of Morecambe Bay is, of course, its sheer physical beauty. This collection is always in touch with that, and Swain rightly points out that "The Furness and Cartmel peninsulas have much to offer visitors, whether they want shops, history, walking, or peaceful relaxation.'

This book too has much to offer those listed above, and the general reader too, who want to know more about this attractive, fascinating and under-lauded area visible across the Bay.

Copyright © 24 February 2005 Michael Nunn

Furness & Cartmel Peninsulas: Photographic Memories is available in Waterstones, Tourist Information Centres, local museums and galleries, and local booksellers (please support them!).

It can also be ordered direct from the publisher's website by clicking here.