Late in the season: Piel Ferry sails from Roa Island 'from Easter until October', and has not said which October day will be the last. There is no timetable, only core hours of 11:00 to 15:00 and a boat that shuttles back and forth when wind and tide allow, so phone 07798 794550 before you set off.
2026 season 'from Easter until October' as posted by Piel Ferry on 12 April 2026 and still shown on 15 October 2026; no closing date announced. Piel Ferry — All about the journey (12 April 2026) · 2026-10-15
Ring the ferryman before you leave home. Piel Ferry runs only when the wind and tide allow, and its 2026 season was announced as lasting from Easter until October without a closing date, so in mid-October a call to 07798 794550 or a look at the morning's Facebook post is the difference between a day on the island and a view of it from Roa Island. Then carry both cash and a card, wear sensible shoes for a tidal jetty, and plan to be back at the Piel landing well before 15:00, the end of the operator's core hours.
Once you are there, the crossing is simple. A twelve-seat boat works back and forth across the channel from Roa Island to Piel, off the tip of the Furness peninsula, an island of about 50 acres with a ruined castle, a pub and a handful of houses. Nobody books: you walk down the jetty, wait if the boat is on the other side, and pay on board.
Allow ten to twenty minutes for the trip. The operator explains that it crosses a busy shipping channel, has to watch for other traffic and sometimes fights the tide.
You pay on the boat. The ferry takes cash and cards, though the card machine often loses signal on the channel, the operator says, so bring cash as a fallback. Reservations play no part in the crossing itself.
Piel Ferry's own pages carry no fare list. The island's pub, the Ship Inn, quotes an adult return of £7.00, a child's at £5.00, with under-4s free — treat that as a guide rather than a confirmed 2026 price, since the page is undated.
Piel Ferry publishes no fares; figures below are the Ship Inn's undated quote, read 15 October 2026 Ship Inn, Piel Island — FAQs (fare quoted by the pub) · 2026-10-15
The two landing points listed in the Department for Transport's stop register are about a kilometre apart, and what lies between them is a busy shipping channel. That is why the crossing varies from ten to twenty minutes: the skipper keeps clear of other traffic, and the tide either pushes the boat along or holds it back. Piel itself covers roughly 50 acres; from its pebble beach you look across to the grey seals hauled out at the south end of Walney Island and, beyond, the offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea.
Roa Island sits at the end of the road about three and a quarter miles south-east of Barrow, according to English Heritage. The ferry leaves from the jetty off Piel Street, the island's terraced street. The operator mentions a small car park plus on-street spaces and asks drivers to leave the homes and the lifeboat station's access and bays clear; the Ship Inn's directions describe a free car park beside Roa Island Boat Club and give LA13 0QN for satnavs. Roose station, on the Barrow–Lancaster line, is about four miles away.
The island jetty lands you a short walk from the Ship Inn and the castle ruins. Tide decides how much of each pier is usable, so boarding can mean a longer walk out at low water. There is no vehicle access to Piel at all, no electricity and no shop; public toilets are the only facility beyond the pub, and the pub itself follows its own season.
Wind cancels sailings at short notice. 07798 794550 or [email protected], or check the daily Facebook update.
With no timetable, ask the ferryman when the last runs back are expected before you wander off to the castle.
Well-behaved dogs travel. The current in the channel is strong, so keep them close on the piers and in the boat.
Piel is a Site of Special Scientific Interest: no campfires, disposable barbecues raised at least 12 inches off the grass, and bring a torch.
The same firm runs separate 45-minute seal and seabird trips to South Walney on its boat Nomad, bookable online.
The castle is the reason most people come. English Heritage, which looks after the ruins and charges nothing to enter, records that John Cockerham, Abbot of Furness, received a licence to crenellate from Edward III in 1327, probably to fortify an existing building against Scottish raids and to watch shipping heading for the abbey's lands in Ireland and the Isle of Man. On 4 June 1487 the pretender Lambert Simnel landed here from Ireland with an army of 8,000 mercenaries on his way to defeat at the hands of Henry VII. After Furness Abbey was dissolved in 1537 the castle passed to Henry VIII and fell into ruin; the pilots' cottages and the inn followed in the late eighteenth century.
In 1920 the Duke of Buccleuch gave the island to the people of Barrow and District as a war memorial. The landlord of the Ship Inn still takes the title King of Piel at a crowning ceremony that, the ferry operator notes, involves a good deal of alcohol. If you are exploring more of Cumbria by water, the launches on Coniston Water to Brantwood and round Derwentwater from Keswick run to published timetables.
The operator's season runs from Easter until October, but no final day has been announced for 2026. Phone 07798 794550 or check the Piel Ferry Facebook page on the day you plan to go.
There is no published last sailing. The core hours are 11:00 to 15:00, extended in high summer; out of season, ask the ferryman when you land what time to be back at the jetty.
Piel Ferry does not publish fares. The Ship Inn quotes £7.00 for an adult return and £5.00 for a child, with under-4s free; settle up with the ferryman, in cash or by card.
Not for the ferry: you turn up at Roa Island and board. The online booking button on the operator's site is for the separate seal and bird trips to South Walney.
On Roa Island, in the small car park or on the street, keeping clear of residents' doors and the lifeboat station. The Ship Inn mentions a free car park by Roa Island Boat Club.
Only across the sands from South Walney at low tide, and the operator advises doing it with a guide. From Roa Island, there is no alternative to the boat.
English Heritage lists it as free to enter at any reasonable time during daylight. Access depends on the ferry, which English Heritage does not run.