Latest news with #BarrowinFurness
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
BAE Systems fire improvements ordered at Barrow shipyard
BAE Systems has been told to improve its safety practices following a fire which broke out at its nuclear submarine shipyard last year. The blaze struck in the early hours of 30 October at the firm's site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, where the UK's nuclear submarines are built. No-one was seriously injured and Cumbria Police said at the time that there was "no nuclear risk", but the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said five staff members had entered the site of the blaze while it was still ONR has told the company to put arrangements in place "to ensure the protection of workers in the event of a fire". BAE has been approached for comment. Of the five workers who entered Devonshire Dock Hall, two were then taken to hospital. However the pair were then soon discharged and able to return to work the same day, the ONR said. The ONR said BAE's procedures to ensure workers did not enter places of danger without "appropriate safety instructions" were "inadequate".There was also a lack of guidance to inform staff about what they should do in the event of a fire, it regulator said the firm needed to demonstrate suitable emergency arrangements in the event of a fire were in place by 12 September. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
13-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Nick Ferrari: ‘I was a bit of an arse at school'
School Days is a regular series by author Danny Danziger in which acclaimed British names and faces share the childhood stories that shaped them. This week, LBC radio presenter and broadcaster Nick Ferrari, 66, talks about learning the ropes early on at his father's press agency and playing the class joker. My father, Lino, arrived in this country from Switzerland at the age of four. He met and fell in love with my mum, Joyce, a police officer from Barrow-in-Furness who was the original Northern Rock. They produced three boys, Lino, Simone and Nicolo, which is what I was christened. I was the youngest, and there was quite a gap in age: my brothers were 11 and nine years older than me. Dad ran a press agency, and at a very young age I would be answering phones to news desks, which probably toughened me up a bit. Christiaan Barnard, the pioneering heart surgeon, was taking a heart from someone who had lived in our patch, and I took control of that story. But I also remember another one: a bus driver had driven into a collection of schoolchildren, and I went down there and saw all these school caps lying about on the side of the road. A load of kids had lost their lives. Education was always very key in my family. My middle brother, Simone, had been to Eltham College and absolutely loved it, and done very well there. I'd passed the 11-plus, so I could have gone to a grammar school, but my parents wanted to send me there. Eltham is a high-achieving school – I don't know if I'd ever get in now! I'd been there to visit my brother, so I was prepared for it, but it was still daunting. It had very strict discipline. Eltham had been set up as a school for the sons of missionaries and its most famous old boy was Eric Liddell, who was the subject of the film Chariots of Fire. There was a strong religious streak, with chapel every morning. The nibbos (new boys) went into chapel first and there was absolute respect and deference accorded to the older boys as they filed in. The prefects would proceed in last and sit in special seats at the back wearing gowns while the rest of us were in pews. The thing I loved about Eltham is it was a really good mix of kids. Of course, in a fee-paying school there are parents who are exceptionally wealthy, and some of my peers would arrive in the latest Volvo estate and have these amazing foreign trips during the holidays. My dad did well but he didn't have that kind of wealth: we were more middle or upper middle with our income bracket. I started as a clear A-student. I loved history and was good at it. Mr Chambers was the teacher who made the light bulb go on and it was just a joy to sit in his class. He wore his glasses down on the end of his nose, and looked like a wise old owl. I still use things he taught me today on the radio. Also, I led my house to win the debating society prize. The motion was: This House Believes the Monarchy Should Be Abolished, and I had to argue in favour of that, which was not my view at all because I think the monarchy is fantastic. I must have made a very cohesive argument. Sports were important to me. Eltham was a rugby school, there were a lot of playing fields, and I really enjoyed the game and was the right build for it. I ended up a very solid second- or third-XV player. The only reason that I started acting was because they did a production one year of a play called The Italian Straw Hat with the local girls' school, Farringtons in Chislehurst, and suddenly all these girls arrived. I realised the only way to talk to them was to join the drama club, but all the main roles had been filled, and I was made an extra with just two lines. I was desperately in love with the leading lady but I didn't get anywhere. I was popular within the school, had a good circle of mates, and was known throughout as Enzo, after Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Ferrari, the founder of the Ferrari marque. Fatty came in there too, sometimes. After a couple of years, my attention in lessons began to wander: I was always looking out of the window, and was easily misled. I think my parents felt a degree of disappointment about that. The thing is I just wanted to entertain people, and entertaining people was so much more fun than studying, and I was good at it. Put me in a classroom and I'm going to try to be the entertainment, larking about, trying to impersonate the teachers, just basically being a bit of an arse. I was hopeless at anything to do with numbers. There was a maths teacher called Mr Seddon, and every lesson, I would call out, 'Sir, sir, I don't understand this equation' – it was almost like pantomime, and the class would all laugh, 'Good old Enzo, getting it wrong again.' But I had a very good relationship with Mr Seddon, and he gave me some decent reports which I probably didn't warrant. Any science I was also terrible at, and that was a shame because I had wanted to be a vet. We lived in a little village in Kent and had a bit of land on which my dad kept a few lambs, donkeys and chickens, and I absolutely loved being around animals. The minute I got home, I would be driving a bale of hay across the fields in a pick-up truck feeding various hungry donkeys. I've also delivered a foal, and can shear a sheep. I'm probably the only breakfast presenter who can shear a sheep now that John Humphrys has retired. I was sad to leave school as it had been part of my life for seven years. But I was ready to leave. I toyed with the idea of university, but then I got a job on a local paper in Woolwich, and off I went. Quite honestly I loved having cash in my pocket. A couple of years ago, I went back to Eltham to give a careers talk. I hardly recognised the place. The quad I used to walk around is all classrooms now, they have built out and back and on top and across. I couldn't believe how vast it is now, it's like the Tardis. When I picture myself from those days, I'm walking through the quad with a collection of my mates around me, Anthony, Chris, the other Chris, Mark and Mike, and I'm eating a bag of those sherbet flying saucer sweets which I'd just bought from the tuck shop, I've managed to scrape through some exam, and we're all having a great laugh and are in a good place. My feelings for the school while I was there were ones of enormous affection, and I realise those feelings haven't changed, all these years later.
Sky News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Unreliable Witness: Sky News podcast series about false grooming accuser Eleanor Williams takes prestigious award
A Sky News podcast series about a woman who was jailed after making false sexual abuse accusations has won first prize at the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards. Unreliable Witness, which took gold in the investigative journalism podcast category, told the story of Eleanor Williams, who was sentenced to eight and a half years for lying about being groomed, trafficked and abused by an Asian gang in Barrow-in-Furness. Williams was 22 when she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after a jury found that she had lied, fabricated evidence and inflicted wounds upon herself to support her claims. She was jailed in March 2023. The series was spearheaded by home editor Jason Farrell and specialist producer Liz Lane, and produced by the Sky News podcast team. 23:40 Accepting the award during the virtual ceremony, Jason Farrell said: "The podcast offers a really powerful platform for investigative journalism and audiences really want to listen to it." Sky's head of audio, Dave Terris, said the award "recognises Sky News' investment in the story, and in the narrative podcast space, to create a premium product which has engaged our audiences, topped the podcast charts and now, won an award".
BBC News
18-05-2025
- BBC News
Millions using Bay Cycle Way 10 years after launch
A cycle route that was launched ten years ago is now attracting more than three million people annually, the charity that created it has said. Bay Cycle Way connects Walney Island in Barrow-in-Furness with Glasson Dock, Lancaster, offering coastal views along its stretch. Morecambe Bay Partnership, which created the route with National Cycle Network custodian Sustrans in 2015, said the path had become very popular over the past decade thanks to its variety. Its 10th birthday will be marked with four fundraising challenges encouraging people to explore the route. The 81-mile (130km) path was created to help people take in the coastal views and bring tourism to the Cooper, from Morecambe Bay Partnership, said the route had been "a great success". More than one million cyclists are believed to have used Bay Cycle Way last year - up form about 67,000 when it launched. More than three million people in total used parts of the path over 2024, including walkers and cyclists. Alex Miller, Network Development Manager at Sustrans, said: "It's no surprise that the Bay Cycle Way has been such a success, and we're thrilled it continues to be so popular after ten years."He said a recent survey had shown more than 90% of people using the path had said it had improved their levels of physical activity and wellbeing. Ms Cooper said the beauty of the route and the fact it was not to strenuous contributed to its success."I think the landscape speaks for itself," she said. "You can hear the waves, you can see the sea birds but then it also takes you on quiet country lanes up to headlands and viewpoints and from there you get these amazing panoramas, enormous skies over the bay and shining sands."Morecambe Bay Partnership is celebrating the 10th birthday of the cycle way with a series of challenges. It is hoped the initiative will help raise more than £5,000 and establish the path as a potential location for fundraising events."We want people to take their time to explore this place and all the amazing scenery," Ms Cooper added. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
