Where once hundreds of customers jostled for the till with their weekly groceries, now stand empty shells of long-shut shops.
Shopkeepers were once the font of knowledge, swapping idle chit chat and gossip as people headed into town for their wares.
Children once begged their parents for pocket money to spend at the Sweet Emporium, as their sticky fingers swapped coins for chocolate and strawberry laces.
Now, as with so many shops in towns across the UK, almost half the outlets in Portland Walk in Barrow-in-Furness are closed.
Only the buildings themselves have been left with the inside scoops on people’s lives.
The sight of boarded up windows is becoming a common one up and down the nation, as it is here.
Sadly, Portland Walk's visage has been ruined further by vandals spray painting on the long-closed doors.
Where there are no boards to protect buildings someone else has smashed the window, further tarnishing the town’s image.
The town was among those to lose its Debenhams store in May 2021.
Other popular brands to be lost from Portland Walk were Topshop, River Island, Thorntons, Goldsmiths and Pandora.
The recent bout of antisocial behaviour has led to comments by Furness MP Simon Fell, who welcomed an action plan by PM Rishi Sunak to battle "the scourge", The Mail reported.
Mr Fell said: “As part of our plan for Furness we are working together to tackle anti-social behaviour once and for all.
“Local people are fed up with seeing tagging of boarded up shops along Portland Walk, smashed shop fronts in Ulverston, and concerns about anti-social behaviour in Dalton.
“We have secured extra police presence in these areas, and funding through the ‘Safer Streets’ fund to provide councils and the police with some of the tools they need to tackle this scourge on society.”
The empty shops could soon once again have people through its doors as earlier this year Business Live reported defence giant BAE Systems has bought the former Debenhams, WH Smith and Body Shop stores in Barrow-in-Furness town centre.
The company says the empty properties in Portland Walk, which includes an old The Sweet Emporium shop, "require extensive refurbishment and renovation to convert them into a modern multi-use facility".
Dr Tim Sheldon, director of submarines acquisition at the Ministry of Defence, added: "I really welcome this important addition to the BAE Systems’ Barrow site infrastructure.
“Not only will this investment support the continued development of BAE Systems as our strategic partner for nuclear submarine design and build, it will also support the economic redevelopment of the town at a critical time."
