Life Was A Beach Traditional Cache

This cache is located on the new dockside development. Nice place to sit and look at the boats on a sunny day.

This area was a natural stretch of water separating Barrow form Barrow Island prior to the building of the docks. All of the land on the dockside was originally a beach. The docks were created by building the dock walls either side of the channel then backfilling the land sides of these walls burying the beaches and bringing the ground up to its current level. The depth of the water in the docks is kept at 22 feet.


Barrow docks opened in 1867 on the 19th of September. The dock in front of this location is Buccleuch Dock and Devonshire Dock is located on the other side of the bridge on the right. This is Michaelson Rd bridge which joins Barrow mainland to Barrow Island. This area prior to the dockside waterfront development was once railway sidings, dockside buildings which included warehouses.

The Oberon class submarine located on the opposite side of the dock is called the Onyx. The Onyx was built in 1966, commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in 1967 and decommissioned in 1991. The boat was bought to be exhibited at the local museum, the plan was to locate it in the graving dock behind the museum but it has been put on hold due to a shortage of funds.

This is a nice place for a stroll or a bike ride along the dockside which also includes a numerous seating areas along its length. The path joins the road where you can head along the tarmacked paths to the Coast Road via the old railway line (now tarmacked). From here you can walk or bike ride to Roa Island and view Piel Island with its ruined castle. Its approximately 4.5 miles to Roa Island so you’d be looking at a 9 mile round trip (you can turn back at any time). The dock side is a flat area which is good for prams and wheelchairs etc. Children should be supervised at all times due to the deep water, there is a handrail along the dockside.