North Scale

Human settlement in England

Barrow-in-Furness

Cumbria

Region

North West

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBARROW-IN-FURNESSPostcode districtLA14Dialling code01229PoliceCumbriaFire Cumbria Ambulance North West UK Parliament

Barrow and Furness

List of places: UK; England; Cumbria

54°07′11″N 3°15′18″W / 54.11978°N 3.25502°W / 54.11978; -3.25502

North Scale is a village and one of only four settlements on the Isle of Walney, Cumbria, England. It is the northernmost settlement, lying a mile north of Vickerstown.

History

North Scale was first identified as an agricultural settlement, owned by Furness Abbey, in 1247.^[1]

As a Parliamentarian stronghold in the English Civil War it was briefly sieged by Royalists.^[2]

In 1865, the Crown Inn opened in North Scale.^[3]

Before the Jubilee Bridge to Walney Island opened in 1908, people crossing on foot at low tide would arrive near North Scale. A causeway was built to make crossing possible for longer periods.^[4]

Modern development

The village grew with the development of the Red Ley estate in the 1960s and the Barnes estate in the 1970s.^[5]

North Scale has a community centre, and is linked by bus services to the rest of Walney Island, and to Barrow-in-Furness, via the Jubilee Bridge.

The village is home to the Lakes Gliding Club.^[6]

In popular culture

North Scale is mentioned alongside Biggar in the folk song 'Wa'ney Island Cockfight' as the origin of one of the groups of cockfighters.^[7]^[8] The song has been recorded by Fiddler's Dram and Martin Wyndham-Reed.

References

^ "www.walney-island.com".
^ Diary of Sir Henry Slingsby 1644. cited in Barrow and District Barnes 1951
^ "www.walney-island.com".
^ "The Lakes Counties: A Bridge Too Far?". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
^ "www.walney-island.com".
^ "Home".
^ Allan, Sue (2017). "FOLK SONG IN CUMBRIA: A DISTINCTIVE REGIONAL REPERTOIRE?" (PDF).
^ Wyndham-Reed, Martin. English Sporting Ballads, Broadside BRO128.