Vintage Barrow sign restored to former glory
Last updated at 16:43, Thursday, 06 September 2012
ANOTHER gem of Abbey Road is being brought back to its former state as regeneration in Barrow town centre continues.
A massive hand-painted sign on the side wall of 102 Abbey Road has been restored and can now be seen clearly since scaffolding was removed.
It is one of several buildings in the area to be renovated using the Townscape Heritage Initiative, and Steve Solsby, assistant director of regeneration at Barrow Borough Council, said the fund is now coming to an end.
He said: “The work being carried out most recently directly relates to the external refurbishment.
“In terms of the internal refurbishment, we need to find funding for that to be able to happen.
“The council has received heritage community funding which is coming to an end this month and we have been able to carry out work on buildings such as Cookes, the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel and Furness Heating Components. The effect that this has had on the town is there for people to see.”
Mr Solsby said the £1m that the council had obtained had been helped by match funding that had been sourced by the owners of the buildings.
The former Travellers Rest building is one of several on Abbey Road which have been renovated using the English Heritage fund, with the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, the Cookes Building and Furness Heating components all being given a makeover after funding was found to carry out the projects.
Ann Taylforth, town centre and festivals manager, highlighted the amount of work that has been carried out.
She said: “We have obviously spent a lot of money doing 104, the Cookes building which now houses Signal Films, but we are also doing 102, the Travellers Rest, and have also used the scheme for the Duke and Furness Heating components.
“There was also money used from the shopfront grants to do the former Legends nightclub in Ramsden Square.”
The Travellers club closed its doors for the last time in December 2010 and the single-storey section of the ‘Travs’, as the club was known, was pulled down last winter with the land being used for a 10-space extension to High Street car park.
First published at 16:22, Thursday, 06 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
So good to see that.But sooo sad for me because I can remember when it was in good condition.;-))))
Have your say
This is "match funding" which means that for every £1 spent by the council, the private owners of the building have to spend £1. That's not such a bad deal and that entrance to Barrow has never looked better (in my 48 years living in the town). Still not sure about the Emlyn Hughes building, but the Cookes and Duke look fantastic now. A credit to the town and what a way for visitors on the train to take a first look at Barrow. I stepped off the train last week in the dark and the lit up Duke looked fantastic.
Posted by Carl Shaw on 7 September 2012 at 11:15