Barrow village hall still serving its community 140 years on

The team at Rampside Village Hall has recently been sharing the site's history, chronicling its origins in 1888 up to the modern day.

While other local institutions have closed their doors over the years in the coastal village, the hall has battled through a tricky existence to still be going.

The original parish building that started the hall's legacy (Image: Rampside Village Hall)

The original building was formed in 1888 when a redundant school was dismantled and transported to a patch of donated land.

A member of the hall's current committee said: "The running of this building was formalised in November 1896 by the formation of Rampside Parish Rooms Management Committee consisting of volunteers from the local community.

"Over this period of time, the community had included five working farms, two post offices, a council school, an 'open air' school, a train service from Barrow and beyond to Roa Island, and regular bus services.

"Most people did not own cars and most women did not work so the Parish Room was an integral part of village life."

The village played host to a number of groups - including the Rampside badminton team (Image: Rampside Village Hall)

However, after being deemed 'unviable', the original site was demolished in the 1970s with the second iteration opening in 1977.

By 2001, though, interest in the hall was flagging, not helped by the reduction of bus services and the closure of local amenities, resulting in its closure in 2003.

The hall captured in its second iteration in the 2000s (Image: Rampside Village Hall)

All was not lost, with the third and current hall opening in 2005, thanks to a grant of £300,000.

"[Our] Management Committee has returned to being comprised solely of volunteers made up of representatives of some regular user groups and up to seven residents voted on at the Hall AGM," said a spokeman.

"This period of time has seen the temporary closure of the hall due to Covid restrictions, the loss of the Stagecoach bus service to be replaced by a limited bus service funded each year by fares, grants, donations and fundraising, the closure of St Michael's Church, and there now remains only one working farm."

But, despite those closures around it, the hall continues to be a community hub, with the committee hoping that that same community can support the site heading into the future.