Talk:Furness

Comments
I wonder whether a merge with Furness is the right way forward. The current Furness article is about the Furness peninsula (also known as Low Furness). The area of Lancashire, north of the sands, on the other hand, includes not only Low Furness, but High Furness (the area generally within the Lake District) and the Cartmel peninsula. I supppose the question could be asked 'does the Furness peninsula' deserve its own article? Personally I would support the view that it does, with a separate article for Lancs, north of the sands. This latter article could be aimed more at the historical context, together with the current issues concerning Lancs vs. Cumbria - that was my intention. Other views? Arcturus 20:01, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * No one has seen fit to touch this article in the last few weeks so I merged it with Furness. The fine distinctions between Low Furness, High Furness and Cartmel do not seem notable to me but they can be explained in the Furness article if anyone wishes. -- RHaworth 17:24, 2005 Apr 6 (UTC)


 * It seems to me that the article cited as a reference for Cartmel being included within Furness has been misinterpreted. Having read widely about the area and being local, I have never heard of the Cartmel peninsula being a part of Furness.  If there are no objections, I will remove the references to places east of the Leven; they may be included in a separate article about the Cartmel peninsula if anyone feels inclined Psammead (talk) 14:30, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Iron industry
The Furness iron industry could do with being written up. -- RHaworth 17:26, 2005 Apr 6 (UTC)

Notable inhabitants/Factual innaccuracies
The current notable inhabitants section is a bit of a joke. The following entries I have issues with-
 * Beatrix Potter- She did not live in Furness, Sawry is not part of Furness, it is far, far too north. I don't have a reliable source, but I implore anyone who knows the area to take a look at this, and use a little common sense. Broughton is about as far north as Furness goes (well, it may go a little further) and Sawrey is a long way to the north east, when we are talking about such a small area.
 * St. Patrick- Do we have a source for that? I am local, I have lived in Ireleth all my life, and have an interest in local history. I have never heard it... I tagged it as needing a fact check, and should be removed if a decent source can't be found.
 * William Wordsworth- This reads like a sappy attempt by the local media to make the are sound interesting. Everyone thinks of Wordsworth when thinking of Cumbria, and so Furness has to sap a little bit of that with 'He visited here once! Honestly!'

Also, why precisely are the notable residents of Barrow not listed here? Either everyone in Furness in the Furness article, or only in their respective settlements, I reckon. The link to Coniston Water is irrelevent- I suppose that is part of Furness now too? Unless Furness has some archaic definition that is not really in use any more, I think this article has the wrong idea about Furness.

Another note- the list seems very historical. As in, it talks only about the top end notable historical inhabitants. That would be fine in a conventional encyclopedia, but here we have the modern celebrities, and even completely non famous but notable individuals. Now, I can't think of many that actually have articles that aren't linked to already, but there must be more, surely? Some names that were thrown at me just now- Danny and Andrew Gardener (rugby) Gary Broadbent (rugby) Micheal Burns (cricket) Neil Doherty (football) and Jackie Smith (actress). What about our good friends the local politicians? John Hutton, Cecil Franks, Albert Booth and Baron Monslow. Before that, we had Sir Jonah Walker-Smith, but there is no article on him as of yet. Perhaps other local politicians that live in Furness? I don't know if there are any, but there may be some. J Milburn 20:48, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I am a fool. Forgot to mention Gordon Park. J Milburn 20:50, 26 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Sawrey and Coniston are both parts of Furness and have been for 800 years. The name doesn't just refer to the peninsula, which is usually called Low or Plain Furness, the boundaries follow the Duddon to Wrynose, then the Brathay to Windermere where it follows the western bank and down the Leven to Morecambe Bay.  The area between the Duddon and Windermere is usually called High Furness and includes the Furness Fells.


 * The thing about St Patrick is spurious though. He was probably Cumbrian, but there's really no evidence he came from here.  You're right about Wordsworth too, he's not really a Furness inhabitant.  And by Andrew Gardner, I presume you mean Ade.  There's that comedian Karen Taylor who's from Barrow too. Psammead (talk) 19:35, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

IPA Pronunciation
I've altered the IPA guide to this article to a local pronunciation - it should sound exactly like 'furnace'. It seems only right that the official pronunciation should be the one the inhabitants use.

Psammead (talk) 20:15, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Agree. I don't read IPA, but I'm local and pronounce it 'Furr-nuss' rather than the 'Fur-NESS' the BBC seems to use. J Milburn (talk) 21:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC)


 * There must be some joke around about "Barrow, in fairness" in a Lancashire accent... El Pollo Diablo (Talk) 06:55, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

I have heard Furness as a surname pronounced like "furnace". However in the Barrow in Furness article the pronunciation is listed as being "fur-nəss" rather than "fur-niss" so is the name pronounced differently in Barrow to the rest of Furness? As for the BBC pronunciation: in the case of Newcastle Upon Tyne the IPA for the RP pronunciation is listed as well as the local accent so it might make sense to do the same for Furness to avoid confusion. Tk420 (talk) 12:35, 3 April 2016 (UTC)


 * Replied at Talk:Barrow-in-Furness. --Super Nintendo Chalmers (talk) 08:29, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Map needed
It would be really useful to have a map of the peninsula with an insert showing its location in Cumbria or northwestern England. --Bejnar (talk) 20:17, 31 October 2012 (UTC)