Barrow and Heysham - Why no marina?

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B-Rob

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Dear All

Over the years there have been various proposals put forward to build a marina in Barrow in Furness, Millom and other ports along the north Lancashire and Cumbrian coast. None have come to fruition.
Barrow in furness council have a 'marina village' development plan which is currently seeking developers, and whilst the original plan (20+ years ago) included a 400 berth marina in Cavendish dock, this has been dropped from any more recent iterations. There was a proposal for a small Marina in Millom, and talk anecdotally of one in Heysham where the ferry goes to IOM.

Barrow and Heysham are more or less accessible at *most* states of tide thanks to dredging.

Do the learned members of this forum have views on why none of these proposals have taken off, or is it simply the case that the Irish Sea is lumpy, grey, wet and increasingly covered in wind turbines.... and any boat money gets diverted to Windermere?

Best wishes
 
Considering that there are marinas around the NE of England, Sunderland and Hartlepool for example, where the coast is just as lumpy and grey, I doubt that the water is to blame. The Cumbrian coast is far more beautiful than than around Sunderland. Also with Wales, Isle of Man, Ireland and Scotland just a short sail I would suggest that it is an also a good base and decent cruising area. Probably there is some economic reason that means there is insufficient profit, or a perceived high risk of an enterprise failing.
 
It has always been a problem, I used to moor at Skipool creek, it involved picking the right tide to make your way out via Fleetwood, it was not for the nervous skipper, many spent the night aground, then I moved to Fleetwood, once you left the marina you could have a couple of hours sailing in the river before you had to return before the gate closed, if you wanted to go further afield you were committed once you left the marina, the only safe venue was near to piel island, it would have been very handy to have had a marina near Barrow, the best marina is probably Whitehaven, but the local tides at up to 10 metres can test the best of sailers from the Fleetwood area, the tidal flow is very strong and an ebbing tide combined with a strong south westerly can produce some interesting conditions.:)
 
Don’t know the area but usually now, marina development is dependent upon housing (or other) development and this in turn dependent upon the market. I assume that such development in this area is currently unprofitable.
 
Last time I was in Fleetwood a couple of years ago there seemed to be plenty of spare berths, although it isn't as cheap as it used to be. I had a stint out of Glasson SC some years ago and I would say that the area has little to recommend it. A very tidal and exposed lee shore with limited sailing options.
 
Heysham is a very busy ferry port. There is no spare space in the harbour for marina pontoons.
Whilst Barrow has plenty of room in the old docks it's a long way by road from any sizeable population centres, and not that attractive a town when you arrive, so I can't see there being enough demand to make a marina viable.
There was a lot of public money needed to develop Maryport and Whitehaven marinas.
 
Mud Lark said:
Heysham is a very busy ferry port. There is no spare space in the harbour for marina pontoons.
Whilst Barrow has plenty of room in the old docks it's a long way by road from any sizeable population centres, and not that attractive a town when you arrive, so I can't see there being enough demand to make a marina viable.
There was a lot of public money needed to develop Maryport and Whitehaven marinas.
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Barrow is at the end of the longest cul-de-sac in UK (A590) Worse than getting to Gosport. 🥴 🥴
 
Barrow is currently expecting a considerable regeneration package, Team Barrow.
When / if this all comes to pass, a marina is to be included as I understand it.
However, sailing in this area has its drawbacks. Harbours are tidal, there is little or no all-tide shelter, passage distances are generally long and the whole coast is a lee shore to the generally south-westerly wind. Family sailing in this part of the Irish sea can be character-building.
 
ridgy said:
What about it. The access is so restricted that it can only be regarded as a storage facility rather than a functioning marina.
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I believe the lock gates have been out of action entirely since 2004 now.
Or something along those lines, I was looking at a boat at a nearby SC earlier in the year & when I researched to see if I could get it lifted in Glasson, it was not even possible to get into the dock.
 
The outer gate at Glasson was removed last year but there are plans to replace it this winter and presently access to the marina is available on spring tides via the inner gates with prior notice. Fleetwood is in dire need of being dredge with only part of C section and the fish dock usable; A,B and D sections dry by a couple of meters and have no pontoons. Rumour has it ABP are selling this marina to a company called Fox. There have been several plans for a marina at Barrow that have come to nothing but, I suspect, this has something to do with the MOD and the fact BAE is now a nuclear facility. The marina plan is now just for a housing estate; there is a shortage of housing locally caused by the need of BAE to recruit thousands more workers. I'm a member of a boating club at Barrow where we race dinghies every Saturday and Cruisers ever Sunday and love the area. There are deep water mooring as well as drying ones but they are laid by their owners. If anyone would like any advice about visiting this area please get in touch - I've sailed this area for over 60 years.
 
Davy_S said:
It has always been a problem, I used to moor at Skipool creek, it involved picking the right tide to make your way out via Fleetwood, it was not for the nervous skipper, many spent the night aground, then I moved to Fleetwood, once you left the marina you could have a couple of hours sailing in the river before you had to return before the gate closed, if you wanted to go further afield you were committed once you left the marina, the only safe venue was near to piel island, it would have been very handy to have had a marina near Barrow, the best marina is probably Whitehaven, but the local tides at up to 10 metres can test the best of sailers from the Fleetwood area, the tidal flow is very strong and an ebbing tide combined with a strong south westerly can produce some interesting conditions.:)
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The biggest drawback to Whitehaven is the roads leading to it, Good Marina. The public slipway has a problem at the bottom when you are reversing a trailer there is or was a big drop.
 
SteveA said:
The outer gate at Glasson was removed last year but there are plans to replace it this winter and presently access to the marina is available on spring tides via the inner gates with prior notice. Fleetwood is in dire need of being dredge with only part of C section and the fish dock usable; A,B and D sections dry by a couple of meters and have no pontoons. Rumour has it ABP are selling this marina to a company called Fox. There have been several plans for a marina at Barrow that have come to nothing but, I suspect, this has something to do with the MOD and the fact BAE is now a nuclear facility. The marina plan is now just for a housing estate; there is a shortage of housing locally caused by the need of BAE to recruit thousands more workers. I'm a member of a boating club at Barrow where we race dinghies every Saturday and Cruisers ever Sunday and love the area. There are deep water mooring as well as drying ones but they are laid by their owners. If anyone would like any advice about visiting this area please get in touch - I've sailed this area for over 60 years.
Click to expand...
About 18 years ago when I was interested in the proposed Barrow Marina I read that there was a business located in the area which they wanted to develop and the owner would not sell the site.
 
They have been talking about a new marina in Penzance for the last 30 years It's in prime sailing waters, would be hugely popular and would boost an ailing town economy.
In that time about 5 large, brand new marinas have been built on the opposite coast, in France.

Now they have unveiled plans to uprate the existing harbour including a new pedestrian crossing, resurfacing the quay, showers and a pontoon for visiting yachts. Sad, not a clue how to explain it.

.
 
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