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Voyage East
Film screening at 7:30pm 19th June at Sir John Barrow School
Sir John Barrow Primary School in Ulverston is hosting a free screening of Voyage East, retracing the journey a young John Barrow took through Vietnam and China in 1793. He travelled to the Far East as part of Britain’s first trade embassy. He learned Chinese and studied daily life at the Imperial Palace.
The film show is complemented by other exhibitions in the town. The town center mural by Gill Barron depicts key moments in Sir John Barrow’s life, while the monument on Hoad Hill is open regularly and features the names of explorers Sir John Barrow sent on breathtaking missions to the polar regions.
The Cottage Museum is hosting Faces of Xinjiang, a exhibition by Ulverston filmmaker Steve Wharton. He was a teacher in western China in 2011 and documented his travels along the famous Silk Road. It is open on Fridays 10-2 and Sundays 1-5.
In 2025, Steve retraced John Barrow’s journey through Vietnam and eastern China. His documentary Voyage East vividly brings Barrow’s account to life whilst also providing a window on modern China.
“It’s exciting to know I have stood in the same places as John Barrow did, thousands of miles from home and separated by over two centuries. It’s fulfilling to bring the film highlighting his achievements back to our hometown to inspire others to be curious about his life and interests. I really hope this can be the start of regular celebrations to honour the Ulverston lad who became the father of modern polar exploration and founder of the Royal Geographic Society.”
You can find out more about John Barrow’s journey with Steve Wharton’s film and photographs at the THIS WAY TO CHINA exhibition in the Sir John Barrow Cottage Museum, Ulverston.
Free tickets for the screening at Sir John Barrow School at 7.30pm on Friday 19th June can be booked online via the tickets link below.
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