Thursday, 15 October 2009

A Barrow of Laughs


Here I am in Barrow with Student Meisha Tranter. After travelling the 50-odd miles from Workington (it’s a little further as-the-penguin-waddles), I was not as pooped as I had anticipated. It seems this road-trip is keeping me trim, I certainly feel a healthier and more vital flightless bird for the experience.

I’m having a tremendously good time here in busy Barrow, a town with a lot to shout about. Not only does it have a very interesting history, it is also a centre of industry. The dockland construction yards don’t just make ships, they build submarines too. I think they’re of the type that we sometimes see in Antarctica, the ones that scare the krill. Frightfully bad form.

Once I conclude all this business of helping NHS Cumbria to encourage the good folk of Barrow to stop smoking, I certainly won’t be short of things to do here. There are seals to see just offshore, and the birdlife is excellent - Walney Island is in all the holiday brochures back home. This afternoon I’m hoping to get along to Barrow’s Dock Museum, I’ve heard excellent reports. It appears to be a striking design and I’m told that it’s built over an old dock – extraordinary!

Earlier today, I noticed a poster which indicated that the autumn conference of the Cumbria Industrial History Society will take place in Barrow this weekend. What a pity I’ll miss it, I do like history. My great-great-great-grand-penguin was a keen inventor, and became obsessed with constructing a machine which would allow us penguins to fly again. He developed a winged harness – but it never took off.

If you want to quit smoking, but you can’t get to Barrow today, call my Penguin Stop Smoking Hotline on 0800 032 7252.

Today is my last in Cumbria and, since I intend to make it one to remember, it’s appropriate I’ve ended up in bustling Barrow.

Cumbria, it’s been a pleasure. Au revoir!

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