IN the days before the development of Barrow and its railway and dock system, Roa Island played a key part in the transport of Furness iron ore, slate and people.

Until 1840 the island was part of the Rampside Hall Estate, owned by the Reverend John Hutchinson, and was then bought by London banker John Abel Smith.

His aim was to run a ferry service from Piel to Fleetwood, linking to a rail service between Glasgow and London.

He made an embankment to carry a rail line from Roa Island to Concle “To connect Roa Island with the neighbouring Island of Great Britain.”

By 1847 he had built a pier from Roa into deep water.

From May 1848 Helvellyn was operating from Piel Pier to Fleetwood.

The service was daily in summer and three times a week in winter

In 1852 the pier was badly damaged in a storm and the Furness Railway was able to buy all Smith’s property holdings for a bargain £15,000.

Roa Island has also been the traditional base for the district's lifeboat stations.

The first was built in 1864 at what is now the Bosun’s Locker café.

The second was in the watch tower and the third on the front green.

The Duke of Kent performed the official opening ceremony at the latest base in July 2001 which replaced one closeby.

Roa Island's distinctive Watch Tower was under construction in October 1847 and was designed as a lookout post for Customs and Excise officials.

In 1879 the Customs authority was paying £30 a year rent for it.

Four officials were based on the island in 1886

It was reduced in height after the Second World War.

At one time it was in use as a lifeboat station and as a meeting room for Wesleyan Methodists

Barrow ironmaster Henry Schneider had strong associations with Roa Island and had a home there at Villa Marina or “Schneider Cottage”

It was bought by the London Midland and Scottish Railway and leased as a fisheries investigation laboratory until 1928

Roa Island also had an open air school for ‘delicate’ children to benefit from the healthy effects of good sea air. It closed in 1988.