THE battle to get a safe place for pedestrians to cross the busy A590 at Swarthmoor and Pennington stretched back to the 1970s and took more than 20 years before victory was achieved.

It was linked to a wider protest about speed limits on theA590 and a campaign to give Swarthmoor a bypass.

Pennington Parish council campaigners Ray Braithwaite, Bill Balderstone and Bill Tyson - who had taken part in protest marches in the 1990s- were among the first to try out a new £70,000 puffin crossing in 2002.

The Mail on May 15 noted: “Campaigners who fought for years to have a pedestrian crossing installed at Cross-A-Moor, near Swarthmoor, have been to see how it works.

“The crossing has made life much safer for pupils at Pennington School who have to cross the A590.”

It was the end of a very long campaign.

The Mail, on March 12 in 1979, noted: "Angry Swarthmoor residents may resort to hard-line tactics in their campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in the village.

"Pennington parish council clerk, Eileen Ramsden has revealed that members have considered the possibility of blocking the road as a means of focusing the highway authority's attention on their cause."

She said: "We do not want to do this sort of thing but it may well have to come to something more serious than letters."

A series of protest marches were held in 1992 which reduced rush-hour traffic to a crawl – seeking a crossing and a lowering of the speed limit from 60 to 40mph.

The Department of Transport was described as dragging its heels.

In February 1993 Lindal and Pennington residents met transport officials to call for safer crossing places to cope with traffic coming off the new Dalton bypass at Melton Terrace.

News came in November 1996 that the government had ditched a major road improvement scheme between Dalton and Ulverston - which would have included a bypass for Lindal and Swarthmoor.

Despite this, councillors met highways chiefs a few days later to discuss a proposed site for a pedestrian crossing outside the Red Lion pub at Swarthmoor.