BARROW will soon be hosting servicemen from Down Under as part of the AUKUS deal in which BAE will help the Royal Australian Navy develop a nuclear submarine arsenal. 

And for the first time a group of people from the navy participated in the arduous 40-mile Keswick to Barrow (K2B) walk earlier this year. 

Despite the future link between Barrow and Australia's nuclear fleet, Captain Doug Theobold, who spoke on behalf of the Aussie Walkers team at the K2B evening on Monday, said he found out about the event by searching the internet for competitive walks. 

When he realised that the annual walk has a link to Barrow, he realised that this was the 'perfect opportunity.' The day before the walk, members of the team met each other for the first time to take on the challenge. Captain Theobold had done some initial training in London to prepare for the event,  fore being told by his northern English naval colleagues that London 'did not have hills.' 

During his speech, the captain said that he was one of the few people to bring sun-cream to the walk and that every time he came to the Lakes the weather was glorious despite being warned by locals that it might rain.

Afterwards, he said: "All our team are Royal Australian members, all uniform members. It was such a great opportunity, it wasn't through navy or anything like that it was through googling good walks or competitive walks we can go to." 

Almost £4billion of funding has been awarded to the Barrow BAE Systems for the next phase of the SSN-AUKUS programme by the Ministry of Defence. 

In March, leaders from Australia, the UK and the United States announced the AUKUS deal. Australia and the UK will operate SSN-AUKUS submarines, incorporating cutting-edge military technology from all three nations. 

The funding will cover development work until 2028, and manufacturing will start towards the end of the decade.

The first SSN-AUKUS boat is due to be delivered in the late 2030s. More than 5,000 people will be recruited at the BAE Systems site in Barrow.