On the road, leave your memories or messages.

28 May 2025

Media Release

As part of the “Dave – a Barrow lad” exhibition, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Dock Museum is taking a Dave Myers memory booth on the road throughout Barrow for anyone to leave their own memories of Dave Myers or a message for Liliana Myers.

The memory booth is an interactive video booth that invites people to record memories of Dave Myers whilst ‘riding’ a classic replica motorbike, painted to match his favourite Hawaiian shirt. 

Once inside ‘riders’: 

  • Sit atop a full-sized wooden Harley Davidson;
  • See themselves transported into the Dave Day biker convoy, using some greenscreen, webcam + code magic;
  • Press the ‘Say Cheese’ button (it looks like cheese!) located on the bike’s handlebars to record their memories of Dave Myers & Dave Day;
  • Visitors can watch the videos outside the booth which is decorated with quotes about the much-loved Hairy Biker as well as mini-Dave silhouettes and Hawaiian shirt motifs. It’s an eye-popping Hawaiian shirt come to life containing a colourful bike for a colourful character.
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Dave day booth

 

The Memory Booth was designed by ArtFly in Ulverston, with tech and design by Chris Dennett, and painting and textiles by Jennie Dennett.

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Model Moterbike

 

The Memory booth will be taking to the road from 31 May calling at:

  • Roa Island Boat Club on Saturday 31 May 12-4pm
  • Holiday Inn Express, Market Street, Barrow Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 June 10-2pm
  • Barrow Town Hall Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 June 10-3pm

Following the roadshow, the memory booth will form part of the “Dave – a Barrow lad” exhibition at the Dock Museum, where it will remain in place for visitors to continue to leave messages and memories.

The exhibition is set to initially run for three months from 20 June – 5 October 2025 and will honour the life of the popular and colourful TV personality with a showcase of personal items from throughout his life. It will be free to enter, although donations are welcome.

The carefully curated exhibition will take visitors on a journey through Dave’s life from his early days in Barrow, stopping off for highlights such as Strictly Come Dancing before ending with his final ride.

The exhibition launch will coincide with the ‘Dave Day 2’ weekend on 21 and 22 June, when thousands of bikers are expected to ride from London to Barrow as part of a weekend of events. Further details about all of the events can be found at https://visitbarrow.org.uk/dave-day/

Charlotte Hawley, Collections and Exhibitions Manager for Westmorland and Furness Council, said: “We can’t wait to take the booth out on the road and are inviting the community to actively shape the exhibition by sharing personal stories, reflections, and memories that celebrate the warmth, humour, and heart Dave brought to so many lives. This memory booth will then form part of the exhibition at the museum. We are excited to capture the community’s memories of Dave and create a lasting legacy for generations to come. Working with ArtFly, we are doing this using the latest green screen technology and digital recordings. We would like to thank the venues for allowing us to do this. We are looking forward to hearing all of your stories.”

Councillor Virginia Taylor, Westmorland and Furness Council Cabinet Member for Planning, Culture and Community Wellbeing, added: “What a great way for local people to contribute their own experience to a permanent treasure trove - remembering Dave and celebrating what he meant to this place and its communities. The memory booth is fun but also a way everyone can take share their special thoughts and personal memories about Dave, recording the impact he had on so many lives over so many years. So come along, whether you have a story, a smile, or just a fond moment to share – because together, a really special history is being created – as well as a tribute shaped by the community, for the community.”

The Dock Museum is Barrow’s premier attraction, operated by Westmorland and Furness Council, and offers an insight into life in Barrow-in-Furness from the town’s early years to becoming a forefront of defence owing to the shipbuilding industry and much more.

For all the latest news and photographs, follow us on social media, download our free app “The Dock Museum” or visit our website.

Fun facts about the booth include:

  • The booth’s curtains feature fabric reproduced from his favourite shirt, donated by Liliana Myers to the Barrow Dock Museum.
  • The booth’s exterior includes over 400 laser-cut wooden pieces, each hand-painted with several coats of acrylic.
  • A group of Barrovian bikers had themselves another Dave Day to create the video used in the Booth. They popped on their Hawaiian shirts on a sunny evening and rode around Barrow for us with a GoPro to get the right reverse-orientated video so people can ‘appear’ in the convoy. 

The wooden Harley was found on eBay via a fascinating seller - Postscript Antiques in London, specialists in ventriloquist dummies, wax works and taxidermy. The bike was sharing shop space with a waxwork Eric Morecambe and puppets of Tony Blair, George Bush and Prince Harry! The exact source of the wooden bike is unclear as Postscript acquired it from another antique dealer but was told it had been a garage prop. It needed a lot of sanding and filling after many years outside but was clearly lovingly made with individually carved sections including the large wooden wheel arches, etched with the marks of a lot of pain-staking chiselling.

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Fabric from Dave's favourite shirt

 

The Dock Museum is being supported with a marketing grant from the Lakes Hospitality Show 2025, as part of its commitment to redirecting proceeds from the show back into the local economy by supporting annual visitor events: lakeshospitalitytradeshow.co.uk.

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Lakes hospitality trade show

 

ENDS