Let us not forget that Barrow-in-Furness is a great shipbuilding town, and the towns heritage is of great importance. HMS Illustrious built at Tyneside has been back there countless times to pay a visit, HMS Invincible has never been back to Barrow-in-Furness. Should Barrow be forgotten, should we throw away the memories of those great shipbuilding days, where has it all gone? this is what Barrow is famous for, and we owe it to the people of Barrow-in-Furness to show the world just how wonderful it was to build ships and submarines back in the good old days. We have had many ships come and visit our town, but never had one of our own come back for a visit. What do we have now? compared to those days, where are all the big ships and why is our heritage slipping away from us. It takes alot of time and hard work to build a ship and there have been so many wonderful ships built and launched here in Barrow. Our workforce is a credit to us. Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, those were the days, long gone but still in our hearts, and HMS Invincible gives us a chance to remind people of those fantastic times we had building ships. History is something that we cannot change, and as a Barrovian, I am very proud of my town and its history. In 2005, like I have said, HMS Invincible sailed up the East Coast of England from Portsmouth visiting different ports along the way, and when I went to visit her that year in North Shields, it was great to see that the people there welcomed her and did her proud, but! I thought she is not home, and the people of Barrow-in-Furness should get to celebrate 25 years of Invincible, afterall it is their hard work their great craftsmanship that went into building this fine vessel. The Government gave Barrow shipping orders, they know that we are more than capable of building such vessels and have an excellent reputation in the Shipbuilding Industry, and so, with this in mind it is only fair that we get to have HMS Invincible come back to Barrow so that the ship can honour the town that built her and is home to her and the town can honour their ship. HMS Invincible was Flagship for the Royal Navy and I have learned such alot from the people of Barrow in reading their stories about which part they built and how they remember the launch and what it meant to their families and how proud they were. The people that built  HMS Invincible know more about this ship than I do, and that is why this website is dedicated to them. Should Barrow be left out completely? should we say goodbye to our heritage? NO!! absolutely not, why should we be left out.

Please Get In Touch With Us and keep YOUR Stories Coming.

Hello Everyone,
This could be our final chance to bring HMS Invincible home as a museum. I would like to thank everyone who has supported this Campaign and who continue to give their support. It's been five years now since we started and this year, 2010 is the year that HMS Invincible will be withdrawn from the RN. Can we save her, who knows I would like to be able too. I am in touch with a few people who may be able to give us financial backing and we will need a miracle, unless the MOD would like to preserve her as a museum and base her in Barrow-in-Furness. There comes a time when you realize just how much your support has meant to us and I know what it would mean to a lot of people to keep HMS Invincible in this Country. I know my town could do with some recognition again for its shipbuilding history and I keep on hoping that one day our ship can sail home again. There will be options considered for HMS Invincible, either to be sold scrapped or kept as the first Aircraft Carrier Museum in the UK and a memorial to those who have lost their lives. We thank all of you for your comments, positive or negative ones as everyone is entitled to an opinion and we love to hear from you. Just to let you know that we have heard from people from all over the globe and I cannot tell you what this has meant to us, the response has been phenomenal and I hope that you will stay on board with us because we need you right beside us all of the way. Without your comments and feedback there is no website so please continue to get in touch with us. If we fail to keep her here, I know that we will never forget the friends that we have made and your emails and response from across the globe and we will remember this in our hearts.

Many Thanks
Lori and Steve

We would to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you for your continued support.

Lori & Steve

SHIPYARD workers cheered, there was a fly-past of helicopters and a jump jet and Britain’s first warfare cruiser slid down the slipway into Walney Channel.

People clamoured for a view as the Queen named Invincible and then triggered the launching device to send the navy’s biggest ship to have been built since the 1950s into the high tide.

They were memorable scenes in 1977 and the Navy's flagship HMS Invincible went on to serve in the Falklands conflict in 1982.

Now the grand old lady of the sea could be heading for the scrapyard – unless she is bought by another country for its fleet.

HMS Invincible was decommissioned in August 2005, but she has not been withdrawn from service, and will remain available to the navy until next year.

But all Lorraine Robinson wants is for her to come back home to Barrow and be a permanent reminder of the town’s shipbuilding heritage.

Lorraine was at the launch of Invincible as a 13-year-old and to her the ship, later to become an aircraft carrier, is more than just a huge chunk of metal.

She wants it berthed in the Town Quay, so people in the town and visitors can enjoy it.

In fact, she is so passionate in her desire that over the past four years has constantly written to the MoD seeking its permission to bring the ship back.

During her years with the navy, Invincible, says Lorraine, has visited many different countries, and many ports in the UK, but has not once returned to Barrow.

Lorraine has received plenty of support for her campaign, with global interest shown on a website dedicated to Invincible, which she and her partner, Stephen Jay, created. Lorraine said: “We have actually been doing the campaign for five years. Quite a lot of people have got in touch with me, a lot of ex-servicemen.

“A lot of people think it would be a good idea now for HMS Invincible to have a resting place in Barrow, where she was built. She has got so much history and Barrow is proud that they built the ship, and the fact is, the Ministry of Defence haven’t decided what it is going to do with her yet.

“A lot of people don’t want to see this ship sold, so we have been running this campaign to try and bring the ship here.

“I have been in touch with the Ministry of Defence and it will decide the ship’s fate next year.

“We thought it would be great if we could have it back here, because there would be a lot of people that would probably be interested in having a look around. We are trying to bring her back as a permanent fixture.”

Lorraine would like to see Invincible moored close to High Level Bridge in Michaelson Road, Barrow. After her launch she was berthed at the side of the bridge opposite where Selandia is now.”

Invincible left Portsmouth for a tour around the east coast in 2005. Her voyage included visits to North Shields, Newcastle and Durham, her adopted town, but, Lorraine, a carer for her father David, said Barrow was not included.

“Now that she is in Portsmouth she is just sitting there. They are doing nothing with her. They are not going to use her again. They have made that obvious, because the navy is cutting costs at the moment.

“People who worked on the ship and ex-servicemen think Invincible should have a final resting place in her home town. I went to the launch, I was 13. I can remember this was the biggest thing the workforce were working on in Vickers at the time, because she was the first of her class.

“There were a lot of people who worked on her, probably half or three quarters of the town. Everybody you speak to will say ‘I worked on HMS Invincible’. My own father worked on Invincible.

Lorraine has been on Invincible on three occasions, twice while the carrier was in Barrow and in 2005 when the ship was in South Shields.

She says that, as well as contacting the MoD, she has received support from others who have also written to the department asking about Invincible.

“There is an awful lot of people who are involved who want to help.

“So it not just me now alone, they want to bring her back to Barrow,” adds Lorraine, who at one stage says she contacted Barrow and Furness MP John Hutton when he was defence minister.

“There is a lot of people think so. Just imagine if HMS Invincible came back here. You would get a lot of people who would come to see the ship. It would be good for tourism. She would be an icon,” added Lorraine, who would also welcome a visit from the ship. However her hopes of bringing Invincible back to Barrow appear to be dashed.

A spokesman for the navy command headquarters at Portsmouth said as a matter of policy ship visits are not discussed more than a relatively short time ahead.

“However, I’m not aware of any plans for the ship to visit Barrow,” added the spokesman.

Regarding its future he added: “The Disposal Services Authority is charged with the disposal of surplus Ministry of Defence assets, so as to maximise the return to the UK government. HMS Invincible has not yet been formally declared as surplus to the DSA, and therefore no decisions have been taken on the route of her disposal.

“Once she has been declared surplus to Royal Navy requirements, all disposal options will be considered.

As you all know, we are still trying to bring HMS Invincible home to Barrow-in-Furness. We would like to work with the MOD in a bid that we can make this happen. I hope that I hear from the MOD once again soon and we can carry on working together to see what options we have. I would like to thank the MOD for keeping in touch with us over the last five years, and fully understand that HMS Invincible is still under their authority and it is up to them what happens with the ship. After a long service with the Royal Navy, the people of Barrow-in-Furness would love to see their ship come home. HMS Invincible will be with the Royal Navy until September 2010 where her fate will be decided, we really hope that we can continue to have you on board with us and thank everyone for their support and that we can also continue to collaborate with the MOD. Please keep checking the website for updates and pictures and if anyone would like to show their support or get in touch with us, then please fill out the feedback form, we would love to hear from you. We would love for you to visit our Town so please check the Tourist Information Board for any events that may be of interest to you in Cumbria.

Many Thanks
Lorraine