BRAVE regulars at a Furness pub were ready to walk on a fiery path to raise cash for good causes back in 2001.

Diane Hogan, landlady of the King Alfred, on Ocean Road, Walney, was among those who took off their shoes on May 13 to walk barefoot across red-hot embers which can reach a temperature of 1,200F.

Another to take the walk of faith on the car park  was Neil Parkin, who was celebrating his birthday.

The firewalk was called The Blaze and was set up by project manager Declan Lesat with Cliff Mann providing the pre-walk motivation in the bar while crowds waited outside to shout encouragement.

Some said the walk was like walking on eggshells while others described the sensation as like stepping on hot sand.

It was event unlike any seen before at the pub, restaurant and hotel which has a long and rather unusual history.

Edwardians, concerned about the power of the demon drink, did their best to prevent the hotel being built in the new community of Vickerstown.

The hotel celebrated its 100th birthday on Sunday, February 15 in 2004 but the landlord who pulled the first pint never made a penny from it.

The King Alfred started life not as a public house but as a weapon designed to defeat the influence of alcohol.

It was set up as a trust with any profits, after paying five per cent off the capital costs, being distributed by trustees for the public good.

The Vickerstown Chronicle said: “The sale of food and temperance beverages is encouraged and the sale of spirituous liquors is not pushed.”

The manager got a commission on the sale of food and non-intoxicating drinks but got nothing on alcohol sales.

This was Walney’s first attempt at a trust-run hotel under a scheme headed by the Bishop of Chester. The hotel was built by the Walney and Barrow Islands Public House Trust Company.

It was described as “the very latest weapon for the defeat of the drink evil”.

The building, on the corner of Ocean Road and Empress Drive, had an impressive mosaic floor.

There was a bar, team room, jug and bottle department, lawn and ornamental grounds. There was a billiard room with two tables by Thurston and Company. The hotel was built by Thomas Riley of Fleetwood from plans by W Moss-Settle. It had electric lighting throughout. Earl Grey,who opened the King Alfred, said: “If a man did not go into a trust house properly dressed, or if he did not conduct himself properly he would not be supplied, but requested politely to leave.” Earl Grey said customers need not be ashamed to ask for a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa. He said: “They need not be afraid of being laughed at, as they were setting a good example.” Earl Grey was president of the Central Public House Trust Association. Without Trust status it might have been difficult to get the King Alfred Hotel opened. Barrow council and shipyard bosses were not keen on workers having easy access to drink. An editorial in the Vickerstown Chronicle said £180m a year was being spent on alcohol in Britain. It said: “Vickerstown has reason to congratulate itself in being the centre of a demonstration of the utility of of a trust hotel as a moral force.”