Barrow pub wants your vote to be crowned as best in Furness

At the start of the month, The Mail launched the 'Best Pub 2024' award with readers subsequently nominating their favourites.

From this, the ten finalists from across Furness have now been revealed with readers able to vote for their favourite by picking up copies of the newspaper until Saturday, August 3.

Each of the ten establishments will feature in their own article with a different one being highlighted each day as they vie to earn your support in the campaign.

The Mail's 'Best Pub 2024' award series so far:

• The ten finalists as The Mail looks for best Furness pub | The Mail (nwemail.co.uk)

• Ulverston pub aims to be named as first winner of new award | The Mail (nwemail.co.uk)

This time around, we are taking you to the Harbour Inn of The Strand in Barrow.

There, Gary Waddington - along with partner Kirstene - has been running the pub since 2020. He described how 'proud and honoured' the pair were after receiving the news of their nomination.

Will the Harbour get your vote? (Image: Google Maps)

He said: "We have a magnificent set of regulars who we adore and would like to thank for being so loyal and continuously supporting The Harbour.

"Also, a massive thank you to all our darts and pool teams as well as the league organisers who support not just The Harbour but most pubs in Barrow - without this kind of support, our local pubs just wouldn’t survive.

"We also would like to thank all our staff, Danielle, Morgan, Jaimie and Sarah for their hard work and helping us run The Harbour successfully."

The pub has been in the family since 2015 after being managed by Kirstene’s dad Dayne Johns and his partner Sue Burns.

Gary added: "After being closed and derelict for sometime, The Harbour was bought and renovated around 2014 by two businessmen - Billy Oxley and the now, sadly, late Ray Armstrong.

"Having been well known for successfully running The Friars pub for a lot of years, Dayne and Sue were approached and asked to take on the tenancy and run The Harbour.

"They worked hard to build the business for roughly five years before deciding to take a step away from it and asking myself and Kirstene to take the reins."

Will all that hard work be rewarded? You can vote for the Harbour Inn as your favourite pub by picking up a copy of the Mail by August 3.