A WHOLE new chapter was started in the long history of higher education in Barrow in 1991 as the town’s college was given a fresh start

The Mail, on Thursday, April 25, noted: “The new renamed Furness College throws its recently completed Channelside high tech centre open on Saturday when it hosts an all-day carnival.

“And the college’s oldest student - 79-year-old Alma Oldham - is to open the carnival for the college.

“Furness College Carnival is designed to mark a milestone in the history of the old Barrow College of Furness Education.

“The carnival promises outdoor entertainment as well as exhibitions and displays in the brand new Channelside Annexe building.

“Furness Building Society is providing tethered rides in its own hot air balloon, the Red Admirals drum majorettes are to give a display and music will be provided by Askam Town Band.

“RNLI Barrow lifeboat crew are to simulate a rescue in Walney Channel alongside the annexe and there will be a display of windsurfing.”

The new Channelside building complex was the highlight of the open day and the carnival provided an opportunity for people to look at what it had to offer."

Visitors could tour the motor vehicle workshops and watch electrical and science demonstrations in the laboratories.

Bricklaying, joinery and painting skills were on show at the construction building.

You could also see displays on instrumentation and control.

Industrial action sometimes threw a spanner in the educational process and the Mail on May 20 in 1993 reported on a picket line outside the college entrance.

It noted: “Furness College was at a standstill today as lecturers staged a one-day strike over conditions of work. Pickets were on duty at all the college’s entrances on Howard Street, Barrow, and reported that not one member of the lecturers’ union crossed the line.

“Only one employee entered the college, they said, and he was not a union member. Students also supported the strike by staying away.”