THE roar of boat engines and the arrival of a TV and movie star brought some high-speed excitement to Barrow’s Ramsden Dock.

The Mail, on May 16, in 2007, noted that the star of crime drama Cracker — and later the Harry Potter films — was in Furness on a quest of find the real Britain and took time to film a trip in a boat called Sumo 2.

The speedboat was taken up to 70mph on the calm waters of the docks.

The article said: “Barrow Powerboat Racing Club were helping him to film part of his new series, Robbie Coltrane’s Incredible Britain, which is due to be screened by ITV early in the autumn.

“The actor will travel from London to Glasgow to find paces off the beaten track.”

Members of both the Barrow and Windermere motor boat clubs took the actor on a high-speed practice session around the Victorian dock.

Ted Walsh, a Cartmel councillor and chairman of the Windermere Motorboat Racing Club got to met the actor during filming at Barrow.

Mr Walsh said: "We had quite a good chat.

"He is very affable and human but the director keeps him in line.

"He is now allowed to talk about politics or engines because he just goes on about them forever."

Ted was contacted by the programme maker, IWC, because he had been on Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge in 2006.

The TV series saw the actor travel from London to Glasgow in an open-top car using minor or “B” roads – stopping to meet interesting people and explore unusual places and activities along the way.

Before he started filming, the actor said: "It's hard to believe that driving was once a joy, something to relax you rather than stress you out.

"I'm driving the 400 miles from London to my home in Glasgow, going off the beaten track to find the real heart and soul of Britain."