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110-672: Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park . It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom , covering a total area of 120 sq mi (310 km). In 1974, the second largest gas field in the UK was discovered 25 mi (40 km) west of Blackpool, with original reserves of over 7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) (200 billion cubic metres). At its peak, 15% of Britain's gas supply came from

220-500: A Special Area of Conservation , Special Protection Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest , and there is a bird observatory at Walney Island . Some of the surrounding land is also a protected area , forming the Morecambe Bay Pavements , home to rare butterflies such as the high brown fritillary . The bay has rich cockle beds, which have been fished by locals for generations. There are seven main islands in

330-448: A distance of ten miles! The slowest train being an hour and thirty-five minutes. These are the advertised times, but the trains are not infrequently late, consequently a good walker might almost accomplish the journey on foot in the time. The company chairman (the Duke of Devonshire) subsequently conceded that several of the stations "... until lately, were in a condition of which the public had

440-573: A harsh environment for organisms. Sediment often settles in intertidal mudflats which are extremely difficult to colonize. No points of attachment exist for algae , so vegetation based habitat is not established. Sediment can also clog feeding and respiratory structures of species, and special adaptations exist within mudflat species to cope with this problem. Lastly, dissolved oxygen variation can cause problems for life forms. Nutrient-rich sediment from human-made sources can promote primary production life cycles, perhaps leading to eventual decay removing

550-676: A joint line with the Whitehaven Cleator and Egremont Railway linking the WC&;ER at Egremont with the W&;FJR at Sellafield to simplify the movement of ore southwards; this line opened on 1 August 1869. In 1865, before the lease and amalgamation, the W&FJR and the FR had put forward rival Bills for crossing the Duddon estuary much lower down it than the existing crossing at Foxfield, thus usefully shortening

660-548: A location on Britain's west coast, lying between the Ribble and the Solway . The sixteenth-century scholar William Camden identified the locality as being near Silloth , hence the similar name of that bay but the eighteenth century antiquarian John Horsley who translated Ptolemy into English in 1732 favoured it being the bay on the then Lancashire — Cumberland border. In 1771 historian John Whitaker took up this latter suggestion and

770-550: A loss of 3s 6d per ton: England was the 'dumping ground' for German iron being sold at below its production cost. Vickers had taken over the Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897, and its construction of naval warships at Barrow (both as part of the Anglo-German naval arms race and for foreign navies) became an important prop of the prosperity of Barrow. Even with this prop, and the development of tourist traffic,

880-529: A number of coastal water bodies such as coastal lagoons and brackish seas. A more comprehensive definition of an estuary is "a semi-enclosed body of water connected to the sea as far as the tidal limit or the salt intrusion limit and receiving freshwater runoff; however the freshwater inflow may not be perennial, the connection to the sea may be closed for part of the year and tidal influence may be negligible". This broad definition also includes fjords , lagoons , river mouths , and tidal creeks . An estuary

990-538: A result of tax increases in the 2011 Budget which meant South Morecambe would be paying a rate of 81% tax; North Morecambe and Rivers would continue in production as they are taxed at 62%. Production resumed from the South Morecambe field in July 2011. In 2004, a proposal was made to build a bridge across the bay flanked by wind turbines and using tidal power . Proposals from Northern Tidal Power Gateways in 2019 outlined

1100-518: A right to complain ... On the Whitehaven section especially some of the stations were of the most inferior description, and such as the Board of Trade would not have allowed them to continue; they were mere temporary structure, scarcely more than wooden hovels." In 1881, revenue for the second half of the year was about £300,000 and the dividend 7% a year; second-half revenue declined to £216,000 in 1885 (with

1210-501: A sufficiently remunerative price for their pig iron in the market. Pure hematite iron, as such, was generally disliked in the trade on account of a certain amount of red shortness which it was known to give to all kinds of puddled iron produced from it; besides the red hematite was thought difficult to smelt by itself". It had been reported that in 1856, 464,823 tons of iron ore were raised in Furness "of which 445,013 tons were carried over

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1320-576: A tidal barrage with a road running along on top. Estuary Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000–12,000 years ago. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns. They can have many different names, such as bays , harbors , lagoons , inlets , or sounds , although some of these water bodies do not strictly meet

1430-408: A type of ecosystem in some estuaries that have been negatively impacted by eutrophication. Cordgrass vegetation dominates the salt marsh landscape. Excess nutrients allow the plants to grow at greater rates in above ground biomass, however less energy is allocated to the roots since nutrients is abundant. This leads to a lower biomass in the vegetation below ground which destabilizes the banks of

1540-550: A well-mixed water column and the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient . The freshwater-seawater boundary is eliminated due to the intense turbulent mixing and eddy effects . The lower reaches of Delaware Bay and the Raritan River in New Jersey are examples of vertically homogeneous estuaries. Inverse estuaries occur in dry climates where evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow of freshwater. A salinity maximum zone

1650-436: A wholly marine embayment to any of the other estuary types. The most important variable characteristics of estuary water are the concentration of dissolved oxygen, salinity and sediment load. There is extreme spatial variability in salinity, with a range of near-zero at the tidal limit of tributary rivers to 3.4% at the estuary mouth. At any one point, the salinity will vary considerably over time and seasons, making it

1760-470: A wide effect on the surrounding water bodies.  In turn, this can decrease fishing industry sales in one area and across the country. Production in 2016 from recreational and commercial fishing contributes billions of dollars to the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). A decrease in production within this industry can affect any of the 1.7 million people the fishing industry employs yearly across

1870-455: Is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides . The effects of tides on estuaries can show nonlinear effects on the movement of water which can have important impacts on the ecosystem and waterflow. The seawater entering the estuary is diluted by the fresh water flowing from rivers and streams. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on

1980-509: Is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus , meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: "a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which seawater is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage". However, this definition excludes

2090-411: Is formed, and both riverine and oceanic water flow close to the surface towards this zone. This water is pushed downward and spreads along the bottom in both the seaward and landward direction. Examples of an inverse estuary are Spencer Gulf , South Australia, Saloum River and Casamance River , Senegal. Estuary type varies dramatically depending on freshwater input, and is capable of changing from

2200-412: Is frequently so crammed that many people cannot get to the counter. Added to this inconvenience, travellers who have to wait here are oppressed with a sense of the general dirtiness of the station. The trains also run at inconvenient times, and the waiting for them at Carnforth involves great loss of valuable time. There is no train that takes passengers from Lancaster to Silverdale under forty-five minutes,

2310-560: Is less restricted, and there is a slow but steady exchange of water between the estuary and the ocean. Fjord-type estuaries can be found along the coasts of Alaska , the Puget Sound region of western Washington state , British Columbia , eastern Canada, Greenland , Iceland , New Zealand, and Norway. These estuaries are formed by subsidence or land cut off from the ocean by land movement associated with faulting , volcanoes , and landslides . Inundation from eustatic sea-level rise during

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2420-511: Is linked to the mainland by a causeway, while Barrow Island has been connected to the mainland as part of the docks system at Barrow-in-Furness . The extensive sandflats are the remains of a vast sandur or outwash plain established by meltwaters as the last ice age waned. Sea-level was still some 3m below present day levels at the start of the Holocene some 11,000 years ago. The Greek geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (died c170 AD) referred in his writings to Morikambe eischusis as

2530-650: Is the Colorado River Delta in Mexico, historically covered with marshlands and forests, but now essentially a salt flat. Furness Railway The Furness Railway (Furness) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England . In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested in a waggonway from their mines to Barrow;

2640-639: Is the whitefish species from the European Alps . Eutrophication reduced the oxygen levels in their habitats so greatly that whitefish eggs could not survive, causing local extinctions. However, some animals, such as carnivorous fish, tend to do well in nutrient-enriched environments and can benefit from eutrophication. This can be seen in populations of bass or pikes. Eutrophication can affect many marine habitats which can lead to economic consequences. The commercial fishing industry relies upon estuaries for approximately 68 percent of their catch by value because of

2750-719: The Holocene Epoch has also contributed to the formation of these estuaries. There are only a small number of tectonically produced estuaries; one example is the San Francisco Bay , which was formed by the crustal movements of the San Andreas Fault system causing the inundation of the lower reaches of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers . In this type of estuary, river output greatly exceeds marine input and tidal effects have minor importance. Freshwater floats on top of

2860-595: The Mandovi estuary in Goa during the monsoon period. As tidal forcing increases, river output becomes less than the marine input. Here, current induced turbulence causes mixing of the whole water column such that salinity varies more longitudinally rather than vertically, leading to a moderately stratified condition. Examples include the Chesapeake Bay and Narragansett Bay . Tidal mixing forces exceed river output, resulting in

2970-628: The Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast . Bar-built estuaries are found in a place where the deposition of sediment has kept pace with rising sea levels so that the estuaries are shallow and separated from the sea by sand spits or barrier islands. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations. These estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches ( barrier islands and barrier spits ). Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses

3080-560: The Rampside Gas Terminal . The South Morecambe Central Processing Complex is connected via a 36-inch pipeline to the South Morecambe terminal. North Morecambe gas has a different composition so the unmanned Drilling and Production Platform is linked by a separate 36" wet sealine to the North Morecambe Terminal, where it is stripped of water, CO 2 and nitrogen. The Rivers Terminal has a dedicated pipeline for sour gas from

3190-646: The Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border. The width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped (in cross-section) in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m (100 ft). Examples of this type of estuary in the U.S. are the Hudson River , Chesapeake Bay , and Delaware Bay along

3300-712: The Stainmore line and exported most of its ore to districts better served by the LNWR, but withdrew its objection on being offered the same powers as the Midland over the FR. The F&MJR opened for passenger traffic 6 June 1867; it was worked by the Midland. In 1867, the FR secured an act of Parliament for the construction of the Hincaster Branch from Arnside to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Hincaster . This single-track line

3410-755: The Times to query the absence of lifeboats on the steamers. The Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway was completed in November 1851, connecting the Furness Railway to Whitehaven and (on completion of the Bransty tunnel at Whitehaven in 1852) to the West Coast Main Line at Carlisle. In 1865, the W&FJR was leased by the Furness Railway, with a full amalgamation taking effect on 1 July 1866, being authorised by an act of Parliament of 1866. The secretary-manager of

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3520-478: The black-tailed godwit , rely on estuaries. Two of the main challenges of estuarine life are the variability in salinity and sedimentation . Many species of fish and invertebrates have various methods to control or conform to the shifts in salt concentrations and are termed osmoconformers and osmoregulators . Many animals also burrow to avoid predation and to live in a more stable sedimental environment. However, large numbers of bacteria are found within

3630-466: The gangmaster and his associates for manslaughter and aiding immigration offences resulted in terms of imprisonment. These events were covered in a drama film and a non-fiction documentary. The incident has had a lasting effect on the community and estuary harvesting regulations. Morecambe Bay is also home to several of the UK's offshore wind farms: West of Duddon Sands , Burbo Bank , Walney , Barrow , and Ormonde . Around 320,000 people live along

3740-533: The Calder field, which must be stripped of hydrogen sulphide before processing by the North Morecambe Terminal. The hydrogen sulphide is converted to sulphuric acid which is sold for industrial use. In 1991 a 229 MW CCGT power plant was opened near the terminals, on the site of the former coal-fired Roosecote Power Station . There is a support base at Heysham Port and personnel are typically moved by helicopter from Blackpool International Airport . Five rig workers and

3850-505: The Earl of Burlington had become in 1858) was its chairman; the FR took shares in it, and worked it. It opened for passenger traffic 19 July 1859, although its opening for goods and mineral traffic was deferred for some months as the provision was still incomplete. The Furness Railway obtained powers to amalgamate the Coniston Railway with it in 1862. A branch was built from (just west of)

3960-503: The FR dividend for the last twenty-five years of its existence (up to Grouping in 1923) averaged only marginally above 2% a year. The FR had been closely associated with the Midland Railway for many years; it was strategically important to the Midland as giving it access to an Irish Sea port and hence to Irish traffic. The Midland had repeatedly attempted to purchase the company, but these offers had come during periods of prosperity for

4070-662: The Furness Railway and shipped at Barrow, 16,290 on the Ulverston canal, and 3,550 consumed at the Charcoal Iron Furnaces and at the Low Furness Iron and Steel Works. Of the ore carried over the Furness line 200,000 tons are sent to Wales, and the remainder to the Staffordshire, Cleveland and West Riding Iron districts." A very small village at Barrow grew into one of about 2,000 serving the ore-export facility there, with

4180-498: The Furness Railway as one "which, though a comparatively small line, is noted for its enterprise and go-ahead management."; by the second half of 1899 the dividend had recovered to 4% per annum, "entirely due to the ability an exertions of their excellent general manager" according to the company chairman. The dividend, however, fell back to 0.5% in 1904 because of a renewed depression in iron and steel; Mr Aslett having previously reported that pig iron could only be produced in Furness at

4290-420: The Furness Railway bought the pier. The Kirkby branch was extended to Broughton, passing inspection for passenger traffic at the end of February 1848; when a Broughton to Barrow train was derailed by mis-set points in July 1849, it was noted that "nearly all the gates and points on the Furness line are attended by women" and that a woman had the management of the points which had been mis-set. The Dalton branch

4400-418: The Furness Railway effectively responsible for the settlement. The FR took over Barrow Harbour from its commissioners in 1863 to allow the construction of wet docks at Barrow; in 1864 it obtained powers to supply Barrow and the surrounding district with gas and water. Barrow grew rapidly in the 1860s, as The Engineer noted: "A town of about 20,000 inhabitants, grown up from a village of scarcely one-tenth

4510-449: The Furness and Midland Joint Bill reported that in 1862 over 535,000 tons of iron ore had been raised in Furness (in 1873 the market price of haematite ore was 24-30 shillings per ton) and over 90,000 tons of pig iron produced in local blast furnaces. In 1860, there were four blast furnaces in operation at Barrow, with the number increasing to seven in 1862, ten in 1866, and eleven in 1867. The Barrow Hematite Steel Company operating what

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4620-484: The Furness and Midland line (£100,000) and the construction of wet docks at Barrow (£200,000): an Act sanctioning the abandonment was obtained in 1869, but the FR had henceforth to charge on the basis of the mileages if the crossing had been built. After the discovery of a large hematite deposit in the Holborn Hill area, the line between Millom and Barrow was doubled throughout; the line between Seascale and Bootle

4730-462: The Furness went to law, the matter being resolved by the Midland buying out the FR's interest for £45,000, entering a traffic-sharing agreement for Belfast traffic and undertaking to continue the services from Barrow for seven years. The first locomotive superintendent, recruited from Bury, Curtis and Kennedy in 1846, was later to be knighted as Sir James Ramsden , a leading civic figure and first Mayor of Barrow. No locomotives were actually built in

4840-449: The Furness, whose directors had rebuffed the Midland's terms as insufficiently generous. The Midland's announcement of a planned extension of its Morecambe line to a new deep-water port at Heysham gave rise to concern about the future of steamer services from Barrow and the reliability of the Midland as a partner. Negotiations with the Midland led to a further offer to purchase the FR (with a guaranteed 3% dividend to FR shareholders) which

4950-449: The Kirkby branch was not yet being worked), and that 10,000 of the 12,000 passengers carried so far were excursionists from Fleetwood or Blackpool. Passenger services ceased after about two months, and the line between Dalton and Rampside Junction was doubled to remove the difficulties experienced in working both mineral and passenger traffic on a single track line. In 1847, differences between

5060-485: The Leven viaduct to Greenodd (allowing suppression of a swing bridge in the viaduct) then through Newby Bridge to a terminus beside Windermere at Finsthwaite; the locality had been known as The Landing, but the station was named Lake-side . The line opened June 1869; a company part-owned (after 1873 fully owned) by the FR ran Windermere steamer services in conjunction with the trains; a Bowness resident promptly writing to

5170-637: The Midland and the FR; a service to Douglas was also run in the summer months, but both services ran from Piel pier transferring to Barrow docks in 1881. In 1872, the FR obtained powers to build a third dock (the Ramsden); the spoil from the excavation of this was used to enclose an area of water intended for the construction of a fourth (the Cavendish). The original main line did not run through Barrow, though its headquarters and engineering works were adjacent to St. George's Square . Through trains had to run into

5280-400: The United States. Estuaries are incredibly dynamic systems, where temperature, salinity, turbidity, depth and flow all change daily in response to the tides. This dynamism makes estuaries highly productive habitats, but also make it difficult for many species to survive year-round. As a result, estuaries large and small experience strong seasonal variation in their fish communities. In winter,

5390-563: The W&FJR became secretary of the Furness Railway, whose general manager was promoted to the board of the company, retaining his salary but now being styled 'resident director'. The Furness Railway now extended to Whitehaven, with running powers to Workington, and to the iron works on the North side of the Derwent there. The FR also inherited the W&FJR's involvement in the Cleator and Furness Railway ,

5500-620: The WC&ER became a joint line of the Furness and the LNWR. The FR also bought shares in the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway, and worked the main line of the C&;WJR. The Furness Railway's prosperity came originally from the export of haematite ore, but the growth of heavy industry at Barrow became a significant contributor. In 1867, The Engineer explained why the demand for Furness haematite had formerly been limited: "The ironstone mines there had been worked for some considerable time, and

5610-513: The above definition of an estuary and could be fully saline. Many estuaries suffer degeneration from a variety of factors including soil erosion , deforestation , overgrazing , overfishing and the filling of wetlands. Eutrophication may lead to excessive nutrients from sewage and animal wastes; pollutants including heavy metals , polychlorinated biphenyls , radionuclides and hydrocarbons from sewage inputs; and diking or damming for flood control or water diversion. The word "estuary"

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5720-486: The bay but production is now in decline. Morecambe Bay is also an important wildlife site, with abundant birdlife and varied marine habitats. The rivers Leven , Kent , Keer , Lune and Wyre drain into the Bay, with their various estuaries making a number of peninsulas within the bay. Much of the land around the bay is reclaimed, forming salt marshes used in agriculture . The bay is known for its wildlife populations, being

5830-450: The bay, all to the west; Walney , Barrow , Sheep , Piel , Chapel , Foulney and Roa . Walney is substantially larger than the others, with its southern tip marking the north-western corner of the Bay. Sheep, Piel, Chapel and Foulney Islands are tidal and can be walked to at low tide with appropriate care. Local guidance should be sought if walking to Chapel or Piel islands as fast tides and quicksand can be extremely dangerous. Roa Island

5940-453: The bay, crossing the various estuaries. The London - Glasgow railway also briefly runs alongside the bay – the only place where the West Coast Main Line actually runs alongside the coast. The dangers presented by the bay were demonstrated in the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster when 23 undocumented immigrants from China were drowned by an incoming tide, after being cut off while harvesting cockles. Criminal prosecution of

6050-452: The bottom where they are harmless. Historically the oysters filtered the estuary's entire water volume of excess nutrients every three or four days. Today that process takes almost a year, and sediment, nutrients, and algae can cause problems in local waters. Some major rivers that run through deserts historically had vast, expansive estuaries that have been reduced to a fraction of their former size, because of dams and diversions. One example

6160-567: The coastline of Morecambe Bay, with the largest town being Barrow-in-Furness to the west. Morecambe was once a popular seaside holiday destination, whilst Barrow still relies on the seas for a large percentage of its economy in ship and submarine construction. The bay has Britain's second-largest natural gas field, in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone with a seal of Mercia Mudstone and a Carboniferous source. The South Morecambe Field, covering an area of 32 sq mi (83 km),

6270-409: The dissolved oxygen from the water; thus hypoxic or anoxic zones can develop. Nitrogen is often the lead cause of eutrophication in estuaries in temperate zones. During a eutrophication event, biogeochemical feedback decreases the amount of available silica . These feedbacks also increase the supply of nitrogen and phosphorus, creating conditions where harmful algal blooms can persist. Given

6380-449: The dividend being cut to 2%), but recovered to £275,000 in 1889, allowing a dividend of 5% a year. In 1892, there was no dividend for the first year-half (because of a prolonged strike in the Durham coalfield) this triggered a renewal of previous complaints from shareholders that the company had sunk between two and three million pounds into docks at Barrow, but refused to give any indication of

6490-401: The effects of modifying the estuarine circulation. Fjord -type estuaries are formed in deeply eroded valleys formed by glaciers . These U-shaped estuaries typically have steep sides, rock bottoms, and underwater sills contoured by glacial movement. The estuary is shallowest at its mouth, where terminal glacial moraines or rock bars form sills that restrict water flow. In the upper reaches of

6600-470: The end of the month, passenger trains were running from Dalton to Piel pier, connecting with a steamer to Fleetwood . At a celebratory excursion and dinner for the directors and friends held at the end of October 1846, it was remarked that the mineral traffic was limited by a shortage of wagons (which prevented the Dalton branch handling more than 2,000 tons of iron ore a day) and of locomotives (which meant that

6710-595: The estuary impacted by human activities, and over time may shift the basic composition of the ecosystem, and the reversible or irreversible changes in the abiotic and biotic parts of the systems from the bottom up. For example, Chinese and Russian industrial pollution, such as phenols and heavy metals, has devastated fish stocks in the Amur River and damaged its estuary soil. Estuaries tend to be naturally eutrophic because land runoff discharges nutrients into estuaries. With human activities, land run-off also now includes

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6820-424: The estuary, the depth can exceed 300 m (1,000 ft). The width-to-depth ratio is generally small. In estuaries with very shallow sills, tidal oscillations only affect the water down to the depth of the sill, and the waters deeper than that may remain stagnant for a very long time, so there is only an occasional exchange of the deep water of the estuary with the ocean. If the sill depth is deep, water circulation

6930-771: The estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters. Bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments and where tidal ranges are less than 4 m (13 ft). The barrier beaches that enclose bar-built estuaries have been developed in several ways: Fjords were formed where Pleistocene glaciers deepened and widened existing river valleys so that they become U-shaped in cross-sections. At their mouths there are typically rocks, bars or sills of glacial deposits , which have

7040-542: The first time in European waters. The combined gas reserves on discovery were estimated at 179 billion cubic metres (6.45 trillion cubic feet (tcf)). A further 0.65tcf is recognised in the satellite fields of Bains, Calder (Rivers), Dalton, Millom East and Millom West, and a number of smaller fields have been identified. The gas is landed at three terminals at Westfield Point in Barrow-in-Furness, collectively referred to as

7150-609: The fish community is dominated by hardy marine residents, and in summer a variety of marine and anadromous fishes move into and out of estuaries, capitalizing on their high productivity. Estuaries provide a critical habitat to a variety of species that rely on estuaries for life-cycle completion. Pacific Herring ( Clupea pallasii ) are known to lay their eggs in estuaries and bays, surfperch give birth in estuaries, juvenile flatfish and rockfish migrate to estuaries to rear, and anadromous salmonids and lampreys use estuaries as migration corridors. Also, migratory bird populations, such as

7260-405: The furnaces at short distances, and we get an average of only 1s. a ton, Therefore it is not the docks which have reduced our dividends, but the introduction of Spanish ore and the altered circumstances of the trade." In 1894, it was reported that only 33 of the 75 blast furnaces in Furness and West Cumberland were working. In May 1895, Sir James Ramsden, by now 73, resigned due to ill health. He

7370-400: The great biodiversity of this ecosystem. During an algal bloom , fishermen have noticed a significant increase in the quantity of fish. A sudden increase in primary productivity causes spikes in fish populations which leads to more oxygen being utilized. It is the continued deoxygenation of the water that then causes a decline in fish populations. These effects can begin in estuaries and have

7480-583: The great network of the rest of England", allowing a lucrative goods traffic: " A few days ago some 67 tons of pig iron, the produce of the new blast furnace at Harrington passed over the Whitehaven Junction and Whitehaven and Furness Railways en route direct to South Staffordshire by the newly-opened railway across the Ulverston Sands". In 1858, after completion of the U&;LR, modifications were made to

7590-420: The impacts do not end there. Plant death alters the entire food web structure which can result in the death of animals within the afflicted biome . Estuaries are hotspots for biodiversity , containing a majority of commercial fish catch, making the impacts of eutrophication that much greater within estuaries. Some specific estuarine animals feel the effects of eutrophication more strongly than others. One example

7700-541: The iron trade in the mid-1870s; capital expenditure on other projects was minimised, and the dividend was cut from 10% to 6.5%. This triggered complaints from shareholders that the directors were pursuing the development of Barrow at the expense of the profitability of the FR, and from passengers at the service provided – with the possible exception of fast trains serving Barrow (which did not stop at most stations) FR passenger trains were infrequent, inconvenient, unpunctual, uncomfortable, and slow. The Directors rely too much on

7810-527: The junctions at Foxfield (with the W&FJR) and at Millwood (where the Broughton and Ulverston branches met) to allow through running of Whitehaven-Carnforth traffic without reversing. From its opening, the U&LR was worked by the Furness Railway, which purchased it (with effect from July 1861) in 1862, taking over the Ulverston Canal Company in the same year. The line from Barrow to Ulverston

7920-463: The line was to be laid out to allow easy conversion to the use of steam power. A survey had already been carried out by James Walker . "The primary object of this undertaking" explained a subsequent advertisement "is to improve the present very dilatory provision for the transport of the valuable Mineral products of Furness and adjoining Districts to the Coast" but it was noted from the start that much of

8030-403: The line would form part of any coastal route north from Lancaster. The subscription to the company was largely taken up by the duke and the earl, and their associates; although there were some local subscribers – Henry Schneider was on the company's provisional committee – failure to attract local capital meant that the original intention to serve Ulverston was dropped. The company's bill

8140-744: The local works itself: they were generally standard designs, purchased from other manufacturers. By 1921, fifteen different works were represented. However, W. F. Pettigrew , who had taken over operations in 1896, was to introduce some measure of standardisation. There were also carriage and wagon-building shops, and repairs and maintenance was carried out on the equipment of Barrow Docks. Details given are those shown for 1912: Barrow-Fleetwood service - four paddle steamers; lake steamers - two on Coniston Water ; six on Windermere ; three Barrow steam tugs Capacity 780 passengers. Diesel engine fitted in 1958. Scrapped in 1998. The Furness Railway operated as an independent company until December 1922, when it

8250-525: The many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. Excess oxygen-depleting chemicals in the water can lead to hypoxia and the creation of dead zones . This can result in reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations. Overfishing also occurs. Chesapeake Bay once had a flourishing oyster population that has been almost wiped out by overfishing. Oysters filter these pollutants, and either eat them or shape them into small packets that are deposited on

8360-422: The marine environment, such as plastics , pesticides , furans , dioxins , phenols and heavy metals . Such toxins can accumulate in the tissues of many species of aquatic life in a process called bioaccumulation . They also accumulate in benthic environments, such as estuaries and bay muds : a geological record of human activities of the last century. The elemental composition of biofilm reflect areas of

8470-575: The marsh causing increased rates of erosion . A similar phenomenon occurs in mangrove swamps , which are another potential ecosystem in estuaries. An increase in nitrogen causes an increase in shoot growth and a decrease in root growth. Weaker root systems cause a mangrove tree to be less resilient in seasons of drought, which can lead to the death of the mangrove. This shift in above ground and below ground biomass caused by eutrophication could hindered plant success in these ecosystems. Across all biomes, eutrophication often results in plant death but

8580-439: The mineral traffic and ignore the cultivation of the passenger traffic. A glance at the timetables shows that it is almost impossible to reach some of the most beautiful places on Morecambe Bay in anything like reasonable time, and the accommodation at Carnforth, when the delay takes place, is most miserable. On the Furness side of the line there are two seats for about 200 passengers, one waiting room, and one refreshment room, which

8690-442: The name appeared on maps subsequently. The first recorded to do so being one associated with Father Thomas West 's Antiquities of Furness of 1774. Camden believed the name originated with two words meaning crooked sea whilst West offered up white/beautiful haven though current thought is that it refers to a curve of the sea . The bay has quicksand and fast moving tides . There have been royally appointed local guides (holding

8800-440: The now off-balance nitrogen cycle , estuaries can be driven to phosphorus limitation instead of nitrogen limitation. Estuaries can be severely impacted by an unbalanced phosphorus cycle, as phosphorus interacts with nitrogen and silica availability. With an abundance of nutrients in the ecosystem, plants and algae overgrow and eventually decompose, which produce a significant amount of carbon dioxide. While releasing CO 2 into

8910-507: The ore was carried by rail and by sea to the coal districts of Lancashire, to the Staffordshire blast furnaces, and to Wales. The mining operations were, of course, very limited, and the price of the ore subject to extensive fluctuations, owing to the circumstance that the red haematite ore was only used as an admixture to other ores to improve the quality of iron, and the ironmasters used a small proportion of this more expensive ore, or tried to do entirely without it, whenever they could not obtain

9020-607: The places to which hematite ore was carried" had allowed "extraordinary economy and consequent commercial success. ": "But there was another fact still more decisive and important for the prosperity of the Barrow blast furnaces and for the prosperity of the whole mining district surrounding them, and that was the adoption of the Bessemer process . No sooner had Mr. Bessemer's great invention got into practical use than there arose an almost unlimited demand for pure hematite iron. " Witnesses for

9130-592: The population in the short space of seven years is a unicum in European geography" ) It gave two reasons: "The stimulus to which in the first instance the rapid rise of Barrow-in-Furness has been due, is the erection of blast furnaces on that spot for the production of pig iron from the red hematite ore, belonging to the district near Barrow and Ulverston, and further north of both towns". The first blast furnaces had been brought into operation at Barrow in 1859. Proximity to mines, and to Barrow harbour, and "the advantage of obtaining coke and coal as return freights from

9240-568: The post of King's Guide to the Sands ) for crossing the bay for centuries; appointment of guides is now delegated to a trust. This difficulty of crossing the bay added to the isolation of the land to its north which, due to the presence of the mountains of the Lake District, could only be reached by crossing these sands or by ferry, until the Furness Railway was built in 1857. This skirts the edge of

9350-457: The post; the locomotive superintendent retired at the same time after forty-six years with the company. The new regime benefited from a recovery in the Furness iron and steel trade, and from a wholesale replacement of passenger rolling stock occasioned by the need to provide a continuous automatic brake, but also made strenuous efforts to develop passenger traffic, with day and weekend excursion tickets being introduced and advertised. Second class

9460-404: The profitability (or otherwise) of the docks. The additional complaint was now made that most of the directors were ornamental and deferred to Sir James Ramsden who had held managerial posts with the company since 1846, and had been the managing director since 1866. For the second half of 1892, despite the disruption to traffic and loss of an engine caused by subsidence at Lindal , a dividend at

9570-515: The project was adopted and expanded by the Duke of Buccleuch and the Earl of Burlington . Advertisements in 1843 announced a scheme, supported by their Lordships, for a Furness Railway to link Ulverston 'the capital of the district', iron ore mines (at Dalton-in-Furness ) and slate mines (at Kirkby-in-Furness ) with the coast at Barrow harbour and at Piel pier . Traffic on the line would be horse-drawn, but

9680-406: The rail distance between Whitehaven (and points north) and Barrow (and Carnforth). The parliamentary committee had decided in favour of the W&FJR, and the scheme was inherited by the FR. However, in 1868 the FR decided to abandon the project: there was a trade recession (the FR's dividend being consequently reduced to 8% from its accustomed 10%) and the FR had recently made major capital outlays on

9790-451: The railway company and the owner of Piel pier saw the Fleetwood steamer running to Barrow; it returned to Piel pier in 1848; subsequently, steamers also ran between Piel pier and Poulton-le-Sands , connecting with the "Little" North Western Railway . Periodic disagreements and reconciliations saw the steamer service terminal switch between Piel and Barrow on a number of occasions until (1853)

9900-413: The rate of 3% a year was declared; amendments seeking to force the resignation of Sir James were moved, but defeated. The secretary of the FR denied that its low dividends were caused by injudicious expenditure on Barrow docks; without them there would be no dividend at all: "The docks have led to the development of many industries in Barrow and the establishment of many feeders to our line". The problem

10010-427: The seawater in a layer that gradually thins as it moves seaward. The denser seawater moves landward along the bottom of the estuary, forming a wedge-shaped layer that is thinner as it approaches land. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the seawater upward with the freshwater. An examples of a salt wedge estuary is Mississippi River and

10120-411: The sediment which has a very high oxygen demand. This reduces the levels of oxygen within the sediment often resulting in partially anoxic conditions, which can be further exacerbated by limited water flow. Phytoplankton are key primary producers in estuaries. They move with the water bodies and can be flushed in and out with the tides . Their productivity is largely dependent upon the turbidity of

10230-472: The terminal station and then out again to continue their journey. In 1882, through working became possible when a new station called Barrow Central was opened on a new loop line; the Whitehaven-Carnforth passenger traffic now started to running over this section. The old station at the dockside was retained as the goods station. Heavy expenditure on the docks at Barrow coincided with a down-turn in

10340-416: The two pilots of a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin were lost when it crashed in sight of the platform on 27 December 2006. At peak production 15% of UK supply came from the two main fields. As of 2006 Centrica reckoned there was about 1.2tcf of economic gas remaining in them, and they planned to operate the fields for another 10–15 years. In June 2011 they announced the South Morecambe field would be suspended as

10450-456: The volume of freshwater, the tidal range, and the extent of evaporation of the water in the estuary. Drowned river valleys are also known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and the topography of the estuary remains similar to that of a river valley. This is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include

10560-453: The water and atmosphere, these organisms are also intaking all or nearly all of the available oxygen creating a hypoxic environment and unbalanced oxygen cycle . The excess carbon in the form of CO 2 can lead to low pH levels and ocean acidification , which is more harmful for vulnerable coastal regions like estuaries. Eutrophication has been seen to negatively impact many plant communities in estuarine ecosystems . Salt marshes are

10670-835: The water. The main phytoplankton present are diatoms and dinoflagellates which are abundant in the sediment. A primary source of food for many organisms on estuaries, including bacteria , is detritus from the settlement of the sedimentation. Of the thirty-two largest cities in the world in the early 1990s, twenty-two were located on estuaries. As ecosystems, estuaries are under threat from human activities such as pollution and overfishing . They are also threatened by sewage, coastal settlement, land clearance and much more. Estuaries are affected by events far upstream, and concentrate materials such as pollutants and sediments. Land run-off and industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste enter rivers and are discharged into estuaries. Contaminants can be introduced which do not disintegrate rapidly in

10780-606: Was abolished (1897) and new corridor bogie carriages introduced on Barrow-Yorkshire services were as good as anything to be found on major railways. To promote tourist traffic, the FR published guides to tours in the Lake District not only in English, but also in French and German. By 1903, passenger revenue was 40% higher than that for 1895, and passenger revenue per train-mile was 10d higher. The Railway Magazine of August 1898 described

10890-448: Was again rejected, and ended in an agreement that the joint Furness/Midland trains from Barrow would continue to run, and the same company which managed (and owned a third of the shares in) the Barrow trains for the railways would also manage the services from Heysham. When services began running from Heysham in 1905, the Barrow services became unprofitable: it became evident that the Midland was preferentially routing traffic via Heysham and

11000-573: Was already double-track, and the line between Ulverston and Carnforth was doubled in 1863. In 1863, in conjunction with the Midland Railway , the FR promoted a bill for the Furness and Midland Joint Railway between Wennington and Carnforth; the intention was said to be to give a more direct connection between the iron ore of Furness and Yorkshire ironworks and coal-mines. The London and North Western Railway cast doubt on this, pointing out that Furness got its metallurgical coke from South Durham over

11110-468: Was also doubled. The Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway was built by a separate company to link Ulverston with Carnforth , on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway thus giving a rail link southwards from Furness and West Cumbria to the West Coast Main Line so that – as the Earl of Burlington noted at a celebratory banquet marking the opening of the line on 26 August 1857 – they "were now joined in

11220-433: Was discovered in 1974 and the first gas came ashore in 1985. The North Morecambe Field, found in 1976, 8 mi (13 km) to the north, is 11 sq mi (28 km) and started production in 1994. Both are operated by Centrica Energy . They are 25 mi (40 km) west of Blackpool in 30 metres of water; the top of the gas reservoir is at a depth of just 900 m (3,000 ft), necessitating slant drilling for

11330-503: Was extended to Lindal (goods traffic running from mines there from early May 1851 ) and then on to Ulverston , eight waggons of coal being delivered there from Whitehaven in April 1854, even before the station was complete. Passenger services on that section began in June 1854. In 1854, 330,000 tons of iron ore travelled over the railway (as against 225,000 tons the previous year), other goods traffic

11440-466: Was foreign competition: "..the introduction of Spanish ore into England has led to a serious diminution of the receipts of the Furness Railway company owing to the reduction in price it has affected all over the country in pig iron and steel; and whereas we used to send away nearly half a million tons of ore to Middlesbrough and other places at rates which gave us an average of 3s. a ton, we are now carrying that ore – in less quantities, I am sorry to say – to

11550-421: Was intended to shorten the distance to Barrow for the coke traffic over Stainmore. In 1870, the FR brought forward, and then abandoned, a bill authorising abandonment of the project; construction was pursued with no great urgency, the line not opening until June 1876. The FR objected when in 1877 the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway agreed terms for its amalgamation with the LNWR; instead as of July 1879

11660-588: Was not opposed in Parliament and the act was given royal assent on 23 May 1844 as the Furness Railway Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. xxii). A further act in 1846 authorised extensions from Kirkby to Broughton-in-Furness , and from Dalton to Ulverston. Goods traffic began running between Dalton and Barrow in June 1846, operated by a single locomotive. The line was passed for passenger use early in August 1846; by

11770-506: Was not replaced as managing director. A new general manager (Alfred Aslett) was recruited from the Cambrian Railways , where he had 'worked wonders ... from being one of the most sluggish it has become one of the most enterprising lines in the kingdom'. The incumbent 'secretary and general manager' became 'secretary' only (his assistant, Ramsden's son, became 'superintendent of the line') before retiring in 1897 after thirty-three years in

11880-692: Was said to have been a director of the Furness Railway, the Barrow Hematite Steel Company, the Barrow Jute and Flax Company, and the Barrow Shipbuilding Company.) The docks at Barrow opened in September 1867. There were two wet docks; the Devonshire (30 acres) and the Buccleuch (33 acres). The Midland Railway's Morecambe-Belfast steamer service was replaced by a Barrow-Belfast service jointly owned by

11990-573: Was then "the largest Bessemer steel works in the country" and "one of the largest in the world". The Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch were both major shareholders in the steel company as was the managing director of the Furness Railway, who was also the managing director of the Hematite Steel Company and (following the incorporation in 1867 of Barrow) its first mayor. (Similarly, after the Phoenix Park Murders , Lord Frederick Cavendish

12100-462: Was up from 22,000 tons in 1853 to 40,000 tons, and there were 145,000 passenger movements (95,000 in 1853); the company declared a dividend at a rate of 6% a year. Copper mining interests at Coniston promoted the Coniston Railway , running from the Furness Railway at Broughton to Coniston and on to the copper mines. The line was nominally independent of the FR, but the Duke of Devonshire (as

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