A BEWILDERING range of useful things have been made by the industries of South Cumbria through the decades.

Barrow’s ships and submarines are among the biggest and most expensive but factories, workshops and even the woodlands of Furness have seen the production of everything from stockings and shoes to brushes, bobbins and broom handles.

The growth of industry in mid-Victorian Furness drew in workers from all over the British Isles to produce iron and steel and make everything from paper and leather to chemicals and electrical goods.

On Thursday at 7.30pm there is an industrial theme to the meeting of Askam and Ireleth  History Group. All are welcome.

A film will be shown at the Duddon Road Methodist Church, Askam, called Charcoal Burning in the Rusland Valley.

It offers a fascinating insight into an ancient woodland craft.

There will also be a live demonstration of the skills needed for swill basket making by Gay Goodson.

Askam had its own craftsman called Bill Everett and the history group has two of his baskets and details on this work.

The Cumbria Industrial History Society hosts visits, talks and study days around the county to preserve information and pictures about the ways being in the county made a living through the centuries.

It is hosting a winter talk at Greenodd village hall from 7.30pm on Tuesday, November 19.

David Ellwood will be the speaker on his family's ropemaking business in Kendal.

The society held its autumn conference on Saturday at Whitehaven Golf Club with four talks in industries in Whitehaven and West Cumbria.

The Mail’s nostalgia writer Bill Myers gave a presentation on the search for coal and iron ore which saw mines opened from Aspatria down to Millom.

Celia Mackenzie, chief executive of the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, described how millions of pounds had transformed the town’s historic harbour and attracted both leisure sailors and visitors.

Brian Quayle outlined the rise and decline of a huge Whitehaven chemical plant called Marchon which once employed more than 2,000 people.

Barrow-born Peter Holmes took a look at the development of the Lowca Works and its railway locomotive – a few of which survive in places as diverse as Wales and Mauritius.