Walney Island, otherwise the Isle of Walney is the eighth-largest marine island off the coast of England.

Geographically it is in the Irish Sea to the west of the Furness peninsula. Until 1974 both the island and the peninsula were a detached part of the county of Lancashire but are now in Cumbria, the island being part of the borough of Barrow-in-Furness to which it has been connected since 1908.

It is around eleven miles long and at no point is it as much as a mile wide. Total area is recorded as 5.01 sq mi (12.99 sq km).

see also Islands of Furness

It has a population of approximately 13,000 with four main settlements:

• Biggar
• North Scale
• North Walney
• Vickerstown

External links

• The Walney Island website (http://www.walney-island.com/)
• Map (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=318500&Y=465500&A=Y&Z=5)
• Directory website (http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Town_or_Village/Walney_Island/Walney_Island.php)
• Earnse Bay Naturist beach (http://www.n-2.org.uk/nuff/pages/beaches/walney.htm)
• Information about the island's coastal artillery (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rwbarnes/defence/walney.htm)
• Walney bird observatory (http://www.birdobscouncil.org.uk/Walney/body_walney.htm)