Fujikura 12S
This last few weeks B4RN volunteers have been test driving the new Fujikura 12S in the fields, and the homes in Rural England. With sheep. And Tea. Fujikura are very kindly loaning this splicer to B4RN for a few weeks because we only have one splicer and the diggers and farmers are digging like mad and its a job to keep up with them! The volunteers are busy blowing the fibre and installing equipment in homes and businesses. It’s all go at the moment and with lambing time looming everyone has a push on. On one row in Arkholme of the 40 properties all but 5 took a connection, with 32...
Read MoreFusion Splicing in Arkholme
“Twas on a Monday morning…” Many people have offered to help us in exchange for shares in B4RN. One of these was Lee, from Core Precision. He came to visit us on Monday and because it was fine weather for a change we ‘kidnapped’ him and he did some fusion for us. A man of grit. He had no wellies, so we put a fibre mat down (notice the brand name on the mat and you’ll see the fibre pun), but it wasn’t very effective as you can see from the video! His wife Shalini posted on Facebook that he trailed our mud all through her lovely house… oops. She...
Read MoreDigital Parish Hubs
Well what a week that was! Lots more deliveries, including all the fibre for the whole core route. Sponsored metre has seen lots of people contributing a fiver to get their name on the fat ducts, and there is still time to get your name, or the children’s or your business name on some of the fat stuff. Photos of the names are now online, and those people are now members of our people’s network. Thank you all. The hubs landed on Thursday, and by Friday the main one at Quernmore was installed on its plinth. We debated about the colour but green won… It looks like a cabinet,...
Read MoreSponsor a Metre?
Special for Valentines day, sponsor a metre for your sweetheart and get your message on the duct! Update: our first sponsor photos are here – the livestream of the first names is here During a conversation with Ken Fallon on a radio podcast the idea of sponsorship was born. The plan so far, is that for a donation of £5 you can sponsor a metre of our fibre duct. In return we put your name on a metre of duct and take a photo of it. Your metre of the B4RN network with your name on it will be buried on a Lancashire upland farm for posterity, and your generosity will enable another metre to...
Read MoreNorth Lancashire Residents Make Broadband History
More than 100 North Lancashire residents gathered in a field near Jubilee Tower at Quernmore on Saturday to make internet history. They were all members of the B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) project, a community-led company which is about to install some of the fastest internet connections in the world into homes and businesses in the area. This is being made possible by the residents themselves who are not only investing in the company and paying for fibre cables to be connected to their premises, but are getting out their shovels and digging the trenches the cables will be laid in....
Read MorePhotos from dig launch
Congratulations! Thank you to all who came to the launch of the fibre dig yesterday, it was fantastic to see you all, and thank you to John Popham for livestreaming it to the world. Link here if you want to watch a snippet of the mayor Woody digging the first sod, followed by the digger driven by the farmer John Metcalfe starting the first channel to lay the duct. Link here to photos by Martyn link here to photos by Walter link here to photos by Chris link here to video of Barry and Woody’s short speeches filmed with a phone and a wibe connection and streamed live. by Mike link...
Read MoreHow you can help
Go the extra mile. Because we are worth IT. Ask yourself what can I do……? Everyone in this community has a role to play and you would be surprised at the skills we require to progress each stage of this project. Even making tea for the fibre ploughing drivers will be welcome once we reach that stage. After all, it will be one of your neighbours driving! The easiest job that all of us can do is to talk to our friends, neighbours, family and colleagues about the project. For those without easy access to the Internet (a problem B4RN intends to solve!), you can help to share the...
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