Walney Memories

Isobel Troughton has lived on Walney all her life. When the BBC Bus visited Walney, Isobel brought some of her photos and keepsakes to show Suzanne.

Left: Isobel, centre, with her brothers Ron (on the left) and Eric (in her arms). The photo was taken in the year Eric was born, 1940. They are sitting in front of a tree behind the Vickerstown Institute. On the left, you can see the entrance to a bomb shelter.

Left: Walney Bridge pass for working men. (See below for more.) It belonged to Isobel's uncle by marriage. Right: Isobel's father-in-law (on the right) with two friends in Biggar. For the full size original image, click here.

Left: The inside of Mr Troughton's Walney Bridge Contract Pass for the four weeks ending 7th March, 1935. It cost 1 shilling and 6 pence (7.5 modern pence).

Above: (l-r) Josephine, Isobel, Jane (Isobel's mum's sister), baby Eric, Rose, Ron. (Josephine and Rose are Jane's daughters.)

	Left: A little card token to commemorate the wedding of Mr & Mrs William Troughton. It is shown here actual size! See below...
	Left: The wedding souvenir unfolds to reveal the text inside. William Troughton is Isobel's uncle by marriage (her husand's fathers's brother). He married Jenny Gilliland. Both these surnames are old Walney names. The date is 'Oct 18th 1906'.

Isobel's husband, brother and son are all called Ron! Sounds a little confusing...

Isobel also told me some fascinating stories about her childhood on the island.

Biggar Bank pool

At Biggar Bank, there is now nothing but beach, grass and The Roundhouse. Isobel told me about the open-air baths which she enjoyed visiting.

There was a yachting pool too, for toy boats, and a paddling pool, all clustered around the Victorian 'Pavillion Café'. Isobel remembers running up the four steps to buy ice-cream or pop. The tiled floor would become covered in soggy children's footprints!

Isobel feels that the pools are greatly missed and she thinks they should never have been demolished.

Behind The Roundhouse, there is evidence of a circular structure with several square patches in the grass (see the Biggar Bank 360 tour). This was an old shelter which was left standing for longer than the other buildings.

Natal Street theatre

Another Walney feature (which is also now demolished) was the theatre on Natal Road. Isobel used to visit on Saturday afternoons, paying 2d to sit on a wooden seat. Her grandad told her not to sit in the 3d 'furry seats' because, "you never know what you'd come with"!

Sometimes, free snacks like Maltesers or oranges would be thrown out to the children in the theatre. The children felt very lucky if they caught one!

Selling products

Isobel remembers the Walney peanut seller who would come over to the island with a huge sack of nuts. He'd walk to Biggar Bank shouting, "Peanuts! Penny a bag!"

When she was about nine years old, an aeroplane flew over Walney, sky-writing the word 'Persil'. It was an amazing event and people remembered it for many years.

Many thanks to Isobel Troughton and her daughter Shirley Comish for taking the time to share these memories with us.

Do you have old photographs of life on Walney that you'd like to share? Please email Suzanne on cumbria@bbc.co.uk.

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