Picture of the month

Comment:

The village of Leece completely encircles its tarn. The tarn was originally 0.95 hectare in area but some infilling and landscaping around its perimeter in recent decades has reduced its size. Agriculture is very much evident within the village, there being three working farms and what is now a large agricultural machinery and equipment supply and service business, Henry Armer and Son, which has grown from the former small village smithy operated by the same family since 1914. Whilst still being rural in character and unquestionably distinct from the industrial town of Barrow in Furness, the latter has progressively grown until its eastern boundary is now only 1.3 km to the west of the village. The pronounced undulations of the drumlins of Low Furness have served well to separate and conserve the rural ambience of Leece from the encroaching housing estates of the town. However, several parts of Barrow in Furness are built on and over drumlins, so the rolling topography around Leece provides no long term assurance of protected rurality.