BARROW and Furness has always faced a battle to win over its detractors.

We and many others feel hugely passionate and proud of this town, this area and its people, but it has always suffered underhand jibes.

Reg Holdsworth, formerly of Coronation Street, once quipped that a visit to Barrow was ‘like going to the end of the earth and 20 miles on’.

Folk singer Mike Harding called the A590 the ‘longest cul-de-sac in the world,’ and the famous Cumbrian writer Hunter Davies did us no favours with his guide book which suggested visitors avoid the place.

Barrovians, being what they are, often joined in the joke.

The trouble is, many celebrities form an impression of the area based entirely on the journey and a quick nosey around the town centre.

Making a scathing remark is always effective for the publicity machine too.

So how refreshing is that the internationally-respected travel magazine, National Geographic, has take a different slant.

It has called on its readers to ‘resist the lure of the Lake District’ and give the Furness peninsula a try.

A magazine of this quality wields a lot of influence and will hopefully give its readers pause for thought.

It came about as a result of work with Cumbria Tourism to promote this area, which has clearly paid off.