Roa Island
| Roa Island | ||
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| Waters | Irish Sea | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 4 '30 " N , 3 ° 10' 32" W | |
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| length | 300 m | |
| width | 150 m | |
| surface | 3 ha | |
| Residents | about 100 3333 inhabitants / km² |
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Roa Island is about 1 km south of the village of Rampside on the southernmost point of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria , England . The island has a size of about three hectares and is inhabited by about 100 people. For administrative purposes, the island was assigned to the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness .
The island is part of the South Walney and Piel Channel Flats Site of Special Scientific Interest , along with the southern part of Walney Island , Foulney Island and Piel Island .
history
Roa Island was a real island until 1847 that could only be reached by boat or on foot at low tide. John Abel Smith, a banker from London , bought the island in 1840. He had a dam built which, when it was completed in 1846, connected the island to the mainland. At the same time he also had a pier built, which was named Piel Pier and, with its 247 m length, offered the possibility of using steamships as a docking point in the deep water, which made a connection to Fleetwood . The jetty was connected to the Furness Railway . The rail connection was originally only planned as a freight route, but on August 24, 1846 a passenger connection was also added. In the following years there were disputes between the railroad company and Smith. The shipping connection was temporarily moved by the railway company to Barrow-in-Furness , but Smith forced the move back by a court order. Eventually the railroad and Smith agreed to sell the entire island. Before the sale could be completed, the investor was badly damaged by a storm and pushed the purchase price down in favor of the railway company. The pier was demolished in 1891 because the fairway was silting up. The railroad operated until 1936. Today the route of the railroad under the road link from Rampside over the causeway to the island has disappeared.
Since 1864 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had a lifeboat station with responsibility for Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea on the island.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ South Walney and Piel Channel Flats on SSSI List at Natural England