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Singing for Love

At the Love Project event one of the highlights was the debut performance of the Barrow Love Song by Ulverston’s Ghyll Singers. …

Life and love in Barrow in Furness

Barrow's heritage through women's eyes.

The stories on this website are from women talking about their youth in Barrow, and their journeys in and out of love. Women from across Barrow, and across the generations, share their memories. Precious, poignant, funny ... these stories give glimpses of Barrow's past and reveal the tender tales of women's hearts.

As stories are added to the site, the most recent will appear at the top of the page. All stories appear on this page, and the stories are also organised according to the decades, so if you're interested in a particular time, you can go to that section.

And if you'd like to share a story or picture that might trigger memories for others, please get in touch.

1940s

1940s in the News

A decade coloured by the war and its passing

~1940 Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister
~1940 Churchill visits Barrow Shipyard
~1940 & 1941 Barrow Blitz
~1944 D-Day
~1945 Hiroshima, the end of World War II, and the formation of the United Nations
~1947 India gains independence from Britain
~1948 Gandhi assassinated

1940s Fashion

Dungarees and head scarfs of the Land Girls gave way to shoulder pads, belted waists, flowing skirts, bikinis and flowing trousers - all championed by beauties of the decade including Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Bette Davis and Doris Day.

1940s Movies

With stars including Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn & John Wayne

~Casablanca
~Citizen Kane
~It’s a Wonderful Life
~The Third Man
~Fantasia
~Meet me in St Louis
~Notorious
~The Philadelphia Story
~Gilda
~Red River

1950s & 1960s

1950s & 60s In the News

~1950 Petrol rationing ends
~1951 Festival of Britain
~1953 Sweets rationing ends
~1953 Barrow's Coronation Gardens established
~1953 Everest summitted
~1953 Queen Elizabeth's coronation
~1955 Churchill resigns
~1958 New Barrow railway station opens (original destroyed in the 1941 blitz)

~1961 John F Kennedy inaugurated in USA
~1961 Construction of Berlin Wall begins
~1962 Marilyn Monroe dies
~1963 Barrow Ironworks close
~1963 South Walney Nature Reserve established
~1963 Kennedy assassinated
~1963 Beatles First Number 1 Album
~1966 England wins World Cup
~1967 Donald Campbell breaks water speed record on Coniston Water, and dies
~1968 Martin Luther Kind shot dead
~1968 Barrow's high level bridge reopened
~1969 First man on the moon

1950s & 60s Fashion

With the end of clothes rationing and the emergence of Rock & Roll, the 50s saw a huge shift in fashion, and the term teenager began to be used. Teddy Boys, with their tight trousers, brlycreemed hair and slick jackets, modelled themselves on idols such as Elvis, Marlon Brando and James Dean. Meanwhile, waists became tighter for the girls, with skirts supported by petticoats, scoop neck blouses or tight polo neck shirts and cardigans (often back to front).

The 1960s took a bold turn with Mary Quant’s introduction of the mini skirt in 1965, and the spread of geometric Mod styles, before the end of the decade when fashion loosened up, moving towards ‘hippy’. The beehives and curlers of the 1950s hairstyles gave way in the 60s to bobs and flicks, and among some women, to shorter styles. By the late 1960s longer, loosely styled hair was like a statement of liberation.

1950s & 60s Music

The postwar music explosion on both sides of the Atlantic was rich and exciting with the advent of Rock & Roll, Soul, R&B. Bill Hayley and the Comets ‘Rock Around the Clock’ will never be forgotten, Little Richard had people dancing to Tutti Frutti, The Drifters, Hank Williams and Buddy Holly got pulses racing, with Jerry Lee Lewis, chuck Berry and of course Elvis joining in; and songs about love including Nina Simone (My Baby Just Cares for Me) and Dion & The Belmonts, with A Teenager in Love.

The 1960s were something of a revolution – Elvis still going strong, the Isley Brothers with Twist and Shout and the Beatles taking the world by storm. Bob Dylan’s sultry tones added a new sound, The Beach Boys sent out Good Vibrations and Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who stole the airwaves.

1970s & 1980s

1970s & 80s in the News

~1971 Decimalisation of UK currency
~1972 Power crisis in UK with long power cuts
~1972 Bloody Sunday; and direct rule imposed in Northern Ireland
~1973 IRA Bombs in London
~1974 Nixon resigns
~1974 County of Cumbria established (Barrow now in Cumbria, not Lancashire)
~1977 Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee
~1977 Elvis dies
~1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister

~1980 John Lennon is shot
~1981 Prince Charles and Lady Di wed
~1982 Bob Marley dies
~1982 Falklands war
~1983 Barrow's steelworks closes
~1984 Miners' strikes
~1985 Gas off Morecambe Bay: Rampside Gas Terminal built
~1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion
~1988 Devonshire Dock Hall opens, for building of vanguard submarines
~1989 Berlin Wall comes down

1970s & 80s Music

Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ is one of many memorable songs of an era that saw music ranging from the mellow sounds of artists like Neil Young to the thrash of the Sex Pistols, James Brown’s funk (who doesn’t know ‘Like a Sex Machine’?) and classics from David Bowie, The Who, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Blondie. Michael Jackson had everyone dancing and for the more moody love tunes, there was Fleetwood Mac.

The pace changed in the 1980s with Duran Duran, Prince and Culture Club, and bands like New Order, The Jam, The Specials and The Clash spreading tunes and lyrics reflecting unease at social pressures. Bands you might remember from the dance floors? Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Dead or Alive (You Spin me Round (Like a Record)), Salt N Peppa and George Michael ...

1990s

1990s & 2000s in the News

~1990 Barrow AFC (The Bluebirds) Win FA Trophy at Wembley
~1990 anti-poll tax riots spread through the UK
~1991 End of the communist party in what was USSR
~1992 Bill Clinton becomes US president
~1994 Kurt Cobain dies
~1994 Nelson Mandela becomes president of S Africa
~1995 Srebrenica Massacre
~1996 Massive crude oil spill off Pembrokeshire coast
~1997 New Labour comes to power, with Tony Blair as prime minister
~1997 Princess Diana dies in car crash
~1998 US troops to Iraq
~2001 Twin Towers attack
~2001 British invasion of Afghanistan
~2003 British invasion of Iraq
~2010 Tories come to power
~2010 Barrow win FA Trophy once more
~2010 Building begins of wind turbines off Barrow's coast

1990s & 2000s Music

Nirvana burst onto the scene in the 90s with ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ while Brit Pop was defined by Blur and Oasis, James, Happy Mondays and Pulp. Manic Street Preachers found their niche, while angrier sounds came from Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine, and DJing and rapping became more popular, with voices like those of Dizzie Rascal and JayZ seeping into the charts. Arctic Monkeys strode in with ‘Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor’ while Arcade Fire set the tone for big bands and big sounds. And love songs? How about Beyonce, ‘Crazy in Love’?

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