Post by neil6147 on Mar 19, 2007 2:59:58 GMT 10
Hello to you all.
We were away for the day yesterday to visit friends in Workington Cumbria England. This was for our God Daughters fourth birthday. This was also Andrews second time of visiting this area. The last time was when he was only 10th old. So our friends seen a big difference in Andrew.
Plus I would like to sorry now for no photos of the trip. This was due to poor weather both ways.
We left Gorebridge approx 11am and proceeded north to Bonnyrigg then west via Rosewell the Leadburn. Then we proceeded via Lamancha Romanobridge then over to the village of Skirling then the short drive to the town of Biggar.
Biggar is an ancient Settlement and a church has stood on this site since the very early days of Christianity in Scotland, perhaps as far back as AD500 or 600. The first stone-built church was built in 1164 and was dedicated to St Nicholas. In the vestibule you can see a list of Ministers starting with Pastor Robert of Bigir in 1164 and continuing through to Reverend Gavin Elliott today.
The current church was rebuilt in 1546 by Malcolm, Lord Fleming as a Collegiate Church. It was dedicated to St Mary, and had a resident college of priests whose role was to pray for the souls of Lord Fleming, his family, his ancestors and his successors.
The Reformation in 1560 led to the dissolution of religious communities throughout Scotland, including those in collegiate churches. Biggar Kirk continued in use as the Parish Kirk. In 1638 religious and civil war broke out when King Charles I tried to enforce his will on the Church in Scotland.
The result was the signing of the National Covenant in Edinburgh (see our Historical Timeline.) In Biggar Kirk, 200 parishioners who signed the Covenant raised a troop of men to fight against the King.
In 1660, the Restoration of Charles II was followed by "the killing times", in effect a continuation of the religious wars of twenty years earlier. Many church Ministers, including Mr Livingstone of Biggar Kirk, took to the hills to preach, followed by most of their parishioners.
Peace only broke out with the accession of William and Mary to the throne in 1689. This was celebrated in Biggar Kirk by the acquisition of a new repentance stool, still on view and dated 1694.
Doctrinal strife in the 1700s had the effect of dividing the Kirk, leading to the establishment of breakaway churches in the town. In Biggar these breakaway congregations were re-integrated with Biggar Kirk in 1946 and 1975. One of the breakaway churches, the Moat Park Church, opposite Biggar Kirk, found a later use as the town's main Heritage Centre.
Biggar Kirk is set above the nearby road and on higher ground than surrounding buildings. This helps lend it a slight sense of separateness. Internally you find a typical cruxiform church, with a gallery at the west end of the nave, above the entrance and vestibule. The interior you see today dates back to 1935 when the plaster was removed and the wooden fixtures and fittings renewed.
Then we proceeded over to the north of the village of Abbington.
Abington itself is an attractive village focused on the Abington Hotel on one side of Carlisle Road and the village shop on the other. Other local services include fire and police stations and a bank. Hidden away up a woodland path from the centre of the village is Glencaple Parish Church, a beautiful little gem of grey and brown stone edged in red. When its foundation stone was laid on 9 August 1898 its location must have been quietly idyllic. Today it lies close to the M74, though the traffic isn't nearly as intrusive as you might expect.
Then we headed south on the motorway bypassing Beaton Village. And the village of Ecclesfechan.
Ecclefechan is a quiet village whose remarkably broad High Street suggests it was built to take much more traffic than you see today. It was: for 250 years the village lay astride the main road from Carlisle to Glasgow. Ecclefechan was bypassed by the A74 in the early 1970s, and its quietness is today emphasised by the sound of the traffic passing along the M74, the second generation bypass built a couple of hundred yards to the east of the village in the 1990s.
Ecclefechan's historical role is also obvious from the scale of the Ecclefechan Hotel, whose white-painted frontage dominates the main junction in the village. This started life in the 1730s and was later converted into a coaching inn. Stagecoaches called diligences linking Glasgow and London paused here from 1788. These left Glasgow at midnight each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday night and arrived in London, 403 miles away, at 9.00pm six days later.
This coaching traffic contributed to the village's importance during the 1800s, when it held 12 fairs or markets per year, more than just about anywhere else in southern Scotland.
Ecclefechan's most enduring claim to fame is as the birthplace in 1795 of Thomas Carlyle, the essayist, satirist, and historian. The cottage he lived in as a child stands to the west of the stream that runs along part of the High Street. It houses a recreation of an 1800s cottage and is run as a museum by the National Trust for Scotland.
There are a number of striking buildings in Ecclefechan. Hoddom Parish Church was built, as the Johnstone United Presbyterian Church, in 1866. At the south end of the village the ex-Free Church built in 1878 is now used as the church hall. One of the oddest buildings in the village lies on the north side of the street opposite the Ecclefechan Hotel. Here you find Hoddom Court. This small housing development built in 1989 incorporates the tower and belfry of Hoddom School, built on this site in 1875.
Today's Ecclefechan has a slight feel of somewhere rather left behind by history, bypassed by both the A74 and the M74. And although the West Coast Main Line Railway that put the coaches out of business from 1847 still passes just to the east of the village, Ecclefechan's station closed in the 1960s. Yet the village also has many attractive nooks and crannies, with the area around Carlyle's Birthplace strongly evoking an age that has all too often disappeared elsewhere.
We then bypass the World famous village of Gretna. Every year over 4,000 weddings take place in Gretna and Gretna Green, which amounts to around one in eight of all weddings that take place in Scotland. And there seems every chance that the twin settlements are between them home to rather more than one in eight of all the anvils remaining in Scotland.
Gretna Green lies either side of the A74(M) motorway, a mile across the border into Scotland from England. It forms one end of a village whose other end is called Springfield. Gretna Green became famous though a combined accident of history and geography.
England in the early 1700s was facing serious social problems caused by large numbers of irregular marriages taking place around the country. The solution was an Act of Parliament introduced in 1754 by Lord Hardwicke. This restricted the number of places in which marriages could take place; it tightened up the regulations on recording of marriages; and, most significantly, it outlawed marriages in which either bride or groom were under 21 unless both sets of parents or guardians consented. The new law was rigorously enforced, and clergymen faced 14 years of transportation for breaking it.
But the 1754 Act did not apply to Scotland. Here it remained possible for anyone of 16 or over to get married with or without their parents' consent. And marriages could be carried out without prior notice and in a wide range of venues, without need for a clergyman to officiate. Gretna Green happened to be the first place you reached in Scotland when following the main route north from Carlisle, and so it became a centre for runaway marriages. These were often carried out by the village blacksmith as the tradesman of most respect in the community. And they were often carried out with a sense of urgency driven by the knowledge that one or other set of parents was in hot pursuit.
The act of marriage came to be marked by the striking of his anvil by the blacksmith. This could be seen as symbolising the joining together of two pieces of metal in the heat of the blacksmith's fire. Like them, the couples involved were joined together in the heat of the moment and bound together for eternity.
An English Act of Parliament in 1857 meant that a marriage in Scotland would no longer be recognised in England unless one of the parties to it had been resident in Scotland for at least three weeks prior to the wedding. This slightly reduced the flow of such weddings, and killed off a similar "wedding industry" in Coldstream on the other side of the country. But Gretna Green remained a considerable draw until 1940, when irregular marriages performed by someone other than a clergyman or official registrar were outlawed in Scotland. During the 13 years until 1940 the last "anvil priest" who officiated at the Old Smithy, Richard Rennison, is said to have performed 5147 weddings.
And for 37 years that was pretty much that. But in 1977 the three week residential requirement was removed; couples instead needing to give 14 days written notice of their wedding. And from 1994 anvil weddings outside church premises once more began to take place in Gretna and Gretna Green, albeit conducted by clergymen. Since 2002 Registrars have also been able to perform civil weddings in approved venues outside Registration Offices.
The result has been the steady increase in the numbers of weddings taking place in Gretna and Gretna Green, a trend which shows no sign of diminishing. And the choice of venue on offer is bewildering.
In Gretna Green the "World Famous Old Blacksmith's Shop", also called the Old Smithy, is perhaps the best known venue. This now has three wedding rooms, each with an anvil; and has developed a fascinating (and surprisingly extensive) museum. It has also transformed itself into a major tourist attraction with a range of shops and other facilities. Close by is the Gretna Hall Hotel, another popular wedding venue, complete with its own blacksmith's shop (and anvils), while a number of other wedding venues are also available in Gretna Green.
Gretna Green is separated from Gretna by the dual carriageway A75 and by a few hundred yards of open fields. Gretna was built from scratch as a planned township during the First World War, to house workers from the huge munitions factories developed in the area. This has not stopped Gretna taking part in the wedding boom of the last decade. Key points of focus include the Registration Office, Scotland's busiest, and the magnificent Anvil Hall, a church converted for use specifically for weddings. Other churches and hotels in Gretna also offer wedding packages, each competing to provide an experience to remember.
Meanwhile both Gretna and Gretna Green are home to a number of local businesses supplying flowers, cakes, dresses, cars, photographers, accommodation and everything else you could possibly need to make that special day perfect.
In talking about Gretna and Gretna Green, it is easy to overlook the fact that there is rather more to them than just their focus on marriage. Gretna's football club has become increasingly famous in recent years, both through its exploits on the field, and as a model of community involvement. Meanwhile, on the shopping front the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village provides a major attraction in its own right.
And anywhere else, the WWI development of Gretna to serve what was the world's largest munitions factory would deserve a more in depth look. On the north shore of the Solway a workforce of 30,000 people produced vast quantities of cordite, or devil's porridge. And on an equally sombre note, on 22 May 1915 Gretna became the location of Britain's worst ever rail disaster, when a troop train taking troops of the Royal Scots to fight in Gallipoli ran into a stationary local train. The wreckage of the two trains was then hit by a northbound express. At least 227 people were killed and a further 246 injured in the Quintinshill disaster.
Just south of Gretna we cross the border into England then have to drive through the town centre of Carlisle . then west now bypassing many towns and villages. One of the towns we now bypass is Cockermouth. Made famous by William Wordworth.
Lying just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park, Cockermouth is an attractive market town not overwhelmed by the tourist atmosphere of Keswick and Ambleside. Cockermouth grew up at the junction of the two most important rivers in the area. Here the River Cocker, flowing out of the lakes Buttermere, Crummock and Loweswater meets the River Derwent on its journey from lakes Derwent and Bassenthwaite to the sea at Workington.
The Romans built the fort of Deventio at Papcastle, about a mile from the present town, at a meeting place of roads from Maryport, Carlisle and Penrith. Cockermouth Castle was built in the 13th century, but little of that remains because of the efforts of Robert the Bruce. The majority of today's ruins date from 1360 to 1370, though there have been some modern additions. The castle is privately owned, and not normally open to the public. Tours are often available during the Cockermouth Festival in July.
Today's visitors are attracted by the town's calm, its nearness to some of the more peaceful lakes and mountains, and the fact that Dorothy and William Wordsworth were born here. The large Georgian house in the Main Street where they were born, is now in the care of the National Trust. Another famous son of Cockermouth was Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on 'The Bounty'. He was born about a mile from the town at Eaglesfield in 1764, and attended the same school as Wordsworth. John Dalton, born in 1766 also at Eaglesfield, was one of the most brilliant scientists of his age, and was the originator of the atomic theory.
The town received its Market Charter in 1221, and has retained its importance as a market town ever since. Quarrying and mining for lead and iron were later developments outside the town, and a brewery has been built at the foot of the castle mound, where the two rivers meet.
As well as Wordsworth House, there are several other places of interest to the visitor. The Museum of Printing has a varied and fascinating range of printing presses brought together from all over Britain. Jennings Brewery offers 1.5 hour tours around the Brewery, explaining the various processes involved in brewing traditional beer. On Kirkgate is the Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth's centre for art, theatre, film and music.
From cockermouth it is only a short drive west to Workington.
The Port of Workington is the largest port in Cumbria and one of the main hubs in the North West. It serves the region's industry and agriculture, including most of the major manufacturing and processing businesses in the area.
Workington handles 600,000 tonnes of cargo / year and around 300 ship movements annually. The port has room for expansion and has been diversifying into new operations.
Workington has a good range of modern cargo handling facilities and equipment, supported by operational land with covered and open storage for a wide range of cargoes including liquid bulks, dry bulks, steel cargo, forest products, agricultural cargo and container freight.
There are also facilities for heavy lift, project and ro/ro traffic, the fishing industry, cruise vessels and leisure craft. Customers at Workington have the advantage of dealing with a single Port Authority which provides all the necessary port services in a single package at an all-inclusive rate.
Workington is an ancient market and industrial town at the mouth of the River Derwent. Some parts of the town north of the River Derwent date back to Roman times. It was in the 18th century, with the exploitation of the local iron ore and coal pits, that Workington expanded to become a major industrial town and port.
Iron and steel manufacture have always been part of Workington's heritage, and it was here that the famous Henry Bessemer first introduced his revolutionary steel making process. In recent years, with the decline of the steel industry and coal mining, the town has diversified into other forms of industry. See the links below to find out how the Bessemer Converter worked, and see pictures of those at Workington. Steel making finally ended in August 2006, despite being an efficient plant with a full order book.
There are numerous churches throughout the town, and the parish church of St Michael's has stood on its present site since the 7th century, although the 12th century Norman church was replaced in 1770 by a larger building. Sadly this was severely damaged by fire in 1994, but has since undergone a major rebuilding program. St John's Church was built in 1823 to commemorate the battle of Waterloo, to a design by Thomas Hardwick. It is built of local sandstone, and bears some resemblance to Inigo Jones' St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London.
The Helena Thompson Museum was bequeathed to the people of Workington by Miss Helena Thompson, a local philanthropist, in 1940. It houses displays of pottery, silver, glass, and furniture dating from Georgian times, as well as the social and industrial history of Workington and the surrounding area.
Workington Hall is built around a pele tower dating from the 14th century, this was once one of the finest Manor houses in the region. This striking ruin once owned by the Curwen family, Lords of the Manor of Workington, gave shelter to Mary Queen of Scots on her last flight from Scotland before her imprisonment and execution.
Jane Pit is a 19th century coal mine built by Henry Curwen, and the remains of this may be seen on a public open space at Mossbay.
We spent some time with our friends before getting ready for the trip back home.
On the trip home we returned via Carlisle the A7 via Longton Langholm Hawick Selkirk Galasheils Stow Heriot Middleton and then home to Gorebridge.
The weather on the way home was really bad and we just glad that Andrew was sound asleep in the back of the car. It was heavy rain most of the trip home. Then today we had planned to travel to Linlithgow for the Harley Davidson event. But when we woke this morning everything outside was white with snow. And it was freezing cold outside. So we are sorry to say that we decided it was just to cold to take Andrew out today. Then we got a phone call to say that the oldest Stepson was coming over with his wife plus there mothers day present for Christine.
So I hope you all understand why no photos or a report on th Harley Davidson event.
I am waitng for a report of the Harley Davidson event to be emailed to me from someone else. So just keeping the fingers crossed for this.
Neil
We were away for the day yesterday to visit friends in Workington Cumbria England. This was for our God Daughters fourth birthday. This was also Andrews second time of visiting this area. The last time was when he was only 10th old. So our friends seen a big difference in Andrew.
Plus I would like to sorry now for no photos of the trip. This was due to poor weather both ways.
We left Gorebridge approx 11am and proceeded north to Bonnyrigg then west via Rosewell the Leadburn. Then we proceeded via Lamancha Romanobridge then over to the village of Skirling then the short drive to the town of Biggar.
Biggar is an ancient Settlement and a church has stood on this site since the very early days of Christianity in Scotland, perhaps as far back as AD500 or 600. The first stone-built church was built in 1164 and was dedicated to St Nicholas. In the vestibule you can see a list of Ministers starting with Pastor Robert of Bigir in 1164 and continuing through to Reverend Gavin Elliott today.
The current church was rebuilt in 1546 by Malcolm, Lord Fleming as a Collegiate Church. It was dedicated to St Mary, and had a resident college of priests whose role was to pray for the souls of Lord Fleming, his family, his ancestors and his successors.
The Reformation in 1560 led to the dissolution of religious communities throughout Scotland, including those in collegiate churches. Biggar Kirk continued in use as the Parish Kirk. In 1638 religious and civil war broke out when King Charles I tried to enforce his will on the Church in Scotland.
The result was the signing of the National Covenant in Edinburgh (see our Historical Timeline.) In Biggar Kirk, 200 parishioners who signed the Covenant raised a troop of men to fight against the King.
In 1660, the Restoration of Charles II was followed by "the killing times", in effect a continuation of the religious wars of twenty years earlier. Many church Ministers, including Mr Livingstone of Biggar Kirk, took to the hills to preach, followed by most of their parishioners.
Peace only broke out with the accession of William and Mary to the throne in 1689. This was celebrated in Biggar Kirk by the acquisition of a new repentance stool, still on view and dated 1694.
Doctrinal strife in the 1700s had the effect of dividing the Kirk, leading to the establishment of breakaway churches in the town. In Biggar these breakaway congregations were re-integrated with Biggar Kirk in 1946 and 1975. One of the breakaway churches, the Moat Park Church, opposite Biggar Kirk, found a later use as the town's main Heritage Centre.
Biggar Kirk is set above the nearby road and on higher ground than surrounding buildings. This helps lend it a slight sense of separateness. Internally you find a typical cruxiform church, with a gallery at the west end of the nave, above the entrance and vestibule. The interior you see today dates back to 1935 when the plaster was removed and the wooden fixtures and fittings renewed.
Then we proceeded over to the north of the village of Abbington.
Abington itself is an attractive village focused on the Abington Hotel on one side of Carlisle Road and the village shop on the other. Other local services include fire and police stations and a bank. Hidden away up a woodland path from the centre of the village is Glencaple Parish Church, a beautiful little gem of grey and brown stone edged in red. When its foundation stone was laid on 9 August 1898 its location must have been quietly idyllic. Today it lies close to the M74, though the traffic isn't nearly as intrusive as you might expect.
Then we headed south on the motorway bypassing Beaton Village. And the village of Ecclesfechan.
Ecclefechan is a quiet village whose remarkably broad High Street suggests it was built to take much more traffic than you see today. It was: for 250 years the village lay astride the main road from Carlisle to Glasgow. Ecclefechan was bypassed by the A74 in the early 1970s, and its quietness is today emphasised by the sound of the traffic passing along the M74, the second generation bypass built a couple of hundred yards to the east of the village in the 1990s.
Ecclefechan's historical role is also obvious from the scale of the Ecclefechan Hotel, whose white-painted frontage dominates the main junction in the village. This started life in the 1730s and was later converted into a coaching inn. Stagecoaches called diligences linking Glasgow and London paused here from 1788. These left Glasgow at midnight each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday night and arrived in London, 403 miles away, at 9.00pm six days later.
This coaching traffic contributed to the village's importance during the 1800s, when it held 12 fairs or markets per year, more than just about anywhere else in southern Scotland.
Ecclefechan's most enduring claim to fame is as the birthplace in 1795 of Thomas Carlyle, the essayist, satirist, and historian. The cottage he lived in as a child stands to the west of the stream that runs along part of the High Street. It houses a recreation of an 1800s cottage and is run as a museum by the National Trust for Scotland.
There are a number of striking buildings in Ecclefechan. Hoddom Parish Church was built, as the Johnstone United Presbyterian Church, in 1866. At the south end of the village the ex-Free Church built in 1878 is now used as the church hall. One of the oddest buildings in the village lies on the north side of the street opposite the Ecclefechan Hotel. Here you find Hoddom Court. This small housing development built in 1989 incorporates the tower and belfry of Hoddom School, built on this site in 1875.
Today's Ecclefechan has a slight feel of somewhere rather left behind by history, bypassed by both the A74 and the M74. And although the West Coast Main Line Railway that put the coaches out of business from 1847 still passes just to the east of the village, Ecclefechan's station closed in the 1960s. Yet the village also has many attractive nooks and crannies, with the area around Carlyle's Birthplace strongly evoking an age that has all too often disappeared elsewhere.
We then bypass the World famous village of Gretna. Every year over 4,000 weddings take place in Gretna and Gretna Green, which amounts to around one in eight of all weddings that take place in Scotland. And there seems every chance that the twin settlements are between them home to rather more than one in eight of all the anvils remaining in Scotland.
Gretna Green lies either side of the A74(M) motorway, a mile across the border into Scotland from England. It forms one end of a village whose other end is called Springfield. Gretna Green became famous though a combined accident of history and geography.
England in the early 1700s was facing serious social problems caused by large numbers of irregular marriages taking place around the country. The solution was an Act of Parliament introduced in 1754 by Lord Hardwicke. This restricted the number of places in which marriages could take place; it tightened up the regulations on recording of marriages; and, most significantly, it outlawed marriages in which either bride or groom were under 21 unless both sets of parents or guardians consented. The new law was rigorously enforced, and clergymen faced 14 years of transportation for breaking it.
But the 1754 Act did not apply to Scotland. Here it remained possible for anyone of 16 or over to get married with or without their parents' consent. And marriages could be carried out without prior notice and in a wide range of venues, without need for a clergyman to officiate. Gretna Green happened to be the first place you reached in Scotland when following the main route north from Carlisle, and so it became a centre for runaway marriages. These were often carried out by the village blacksmith as the tradesman of most respect in the community. And they were often carried out with a sense of urgency driven by the knowledge that one or other set of parents was in hot pursuit.
The act of marriage came to be marked by the striking of his anvil by the blacksmith. This could be seen as symbolising the joining together of two pieces of metal in the heat of the blacksmith's fire. Like them, the couples involved were joined together in the heat of the moment and bound together for eternity.
An English Act of Parliament in 1857 meant that a marriage in Scotland would no longer be recognised in England unless one of the parties to it had been resident in Scotland for at least three weeks prior to the wedding. This slightly reduced the flow of such weddings, and killed off a similar "wedding industry" in Coldstream on the other side of the country. But Gretna Green remained a considerable draw until 1940, when irregular marriages performed by someone other than a clergyman or official registrar were outlawed in Scotland. During the 13 years until 1940 the last "anvil priest" who officiated at the Old Smithy, Richard Rennison, is said to have performed 5147 weddings.
And for 37 years that was pretty much that. But in 1977 the three week residential requirement was removed; couples instead needing to give 14 days written notice of their wedding. And from 1994 anvil weddings outside church premises once more began to take place in Gretna and Gretna Green, albeit conducted by clergymen. Since 2002 Registrars have also been able to perform civil weddings in approved venues outside Registration Offices.
The result has been the steady increase in the numbers of weddings taking place in Gretna and Gretna Green, a trend which shows no sign of diminishing. And the choice of venue on offer is bewildering.
In Gretna Green the "World Famous Old Blacksmith's Shop", also called the Old Smithy, is perhaps the best known venue. This now has three wedding rooms, each with an anvil; and has developed a fascinating (and surprisingly extensive) museum. It has also transformed itself into a major tourist attraction with a range of shops and other facilities. Close by is the Gretna Hall Hotel, another popular wedding venue, complete with its own blacksmith's shop (and anvils), while a number of other wedding venues are also available in Gretna Green.
Gretna Green is separated from Gretna by the dual carriageway A75 and by a few hundred yards of open fields. Gretna was built from scratch as a planned township during the First World War, to house workers from the huge munitions factories developed in the area. This has not stopped Gretna taking part in the wedding boom of the last decade. Key points of focus include the Registration Office, Scotland's busiest, and the magnificent Anvil Hall, a church converted for use specifically for weddings. Other churches and hotels in Gretna also offer wedding packages, each competing to provide an experience to remember.
Meanwhile both Gretna and Gretna Green are home to a number of local businesses supplying flowers, cakes, dresses, cars, photographers, accommodation and everything else you could possibly need to make that special day perfect.
In talking about Gretna and Gretna Green, it is easy to overlook the fact that there is rather more to them than just their focus on marriage. Gretna's football club has become increasingly famous in recent years, both through its exploits on the field, and as a model of community involvement. Meanwhile, on the shopping front the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village provides a major attraction in its own right.
And anywhere else, the WWI development of Gretna to serve what was the world's largest munitions factory would deserve a more in depth look. On the north shore of the Solway a workforce of 30,000 people produced vast quantities of cordite, or devil's porridge. And on an equally sombre note, on 22 May 1915 Gretna became the location of Britain's worst ever rail disaster, when a troop train taking troops of the Royal Scots to fight in Gallipoli ran into a stationary local train. The wreckage of the two trains was then hit by a northbound express. At least 227 people were killed and a further 246 injured in the Quintinshill disaster.
Just south of Gretna we cross the border into England then have to drive through the town centre of Carlisle . then west now bypassing many towns and villages. One of the towns we now bypass is Cockermouth. Made famous by William Wordworth.
Lying just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park, Cockermouth is an attractive market town not overwhelmed by the tourist atmosphere of Keswick and Ambleside. Cockermouth grew up at the junction of the two most important rivers in the area. Here the River Cocker, flowing out of the lakes Buttermere, Crummock and Loweswater meets the River Derwent on its journey from lakes Derwent and Bassenthwaite to the sea at Workington.
The Romans built the fort of Deventio at Papcastle, about a mile from the present town, at a meeting place of roads from Maryport, Carlisle and Penrith. Cockermouth Castle was built in the 13th century, but little of that remains because of the efforts of Robert the Bruce. The majority of today's ruins date from 1360 to 1370, though there have been some modern additions. The castle is privately owned, and not normally open to the public. Tours are often available during the Cockermouth Festival in July.
Today's visitors are attracted by the town's calm, its nearness to some of the more peaceful lakes and mountains, and the fact that Dorothy and William Wordsworth were born here. The large Georgian house in the Main Street where they were born, is now in the care of the National Trust. Another famous son of Cockermouth was Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on 'The Bounty'. He was born about a mile from the town at Eaglesfield in 1764, and attended the same school as Wordsworth. John Dalton, born in 1766 also at Eaglesfield, was one of the most brilliant scientists of his age, and was the originator of the atomic theory.
The town received its Market Charter in 1221, and has retained its importance as a market town ever since. Quarrying and mining for lead and iron were later developments outside the town, and a brewery has been built at the foot of the castle mound, where the two rivers meet.
As well as Wordsworth House, there are several other places of interest to the visitor. The Museum of Printing has a varied and fascinating range of printing presses brought together from all over Britain. Jennings Brewery offers 1.5 hour tours around the Brewery, explaining the various processes involved in brewing traditional beer. On Kirkgate is the Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth's centre for art, theatre, film and music.
From cockermouth it is only a short drive west to Workington.
The Port of Workington is the largest port in Cumbria and one of the main hubs in the North West. It serves the region's industry and agriculture, including most of the major manufacturing and processing businesses in the area.
Workington handles 600,000 tonnes of cargo / year and around 300 ship movements annually. The port has room for expansion and has been diversifying into new operations.
Workington has a good range of modern cargo handling facilities and equipment, supported by operational land with covered and open storage for a wide range of cargoes including liquid bulks, dry bulks, steel cargo, forest products, agricultural cargo and container freight.
There are also facilities for heavy lift, project and ro/ro traffic, the fishing industry, cruise vessels and leisure craft. Customers at Workington have the advantage of dealing with a single Port Authority which provides all the necessary port services in a single package at an all-inclusive rate.
Workington is an ancient market and industrial town at the mouth of the River Derwent. Some parts of the town north of the River Derwent date back to Roman times. It was in the 18th century, with the exploitation of the local iron ore and coal pits, that Workington expanded to become a major industrial town and port.
Iron and steel manufacture have always been part of Workington's heritage, and it was here that the famous Henry Bessemer first introduced his revolutionary steel making process. In recent years, with the decline of the steel industry and coal mining, the town has diversified into other forms of industry. See the links below to find out how the Bessemer Converter worked, and see pictures of those at Workington. Steel making finally ended in August 2006, despite being an efficient plant with a full order book.
There are numerous churches throughout the town, and the parish church of St Michael's has stood on its present site since the 7th century, although the 12th century Norman church was replaced in 1770 by a larger building. Sadly this was severely damaged by fire in 1994, but has since undergone a major rebuilding program. St John's Church was built in 1823 to commemorate the battle of Waterloo, to a design by Thomas Hardwick. It is built of local sandstone, and bears some resemblance to Inigo Jones' St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London.
The Helena Thompson Museum was bequeathed to the people of Workington by Miss Helena Thompson, a local philanthropist, in 1940. It houses displays of pottery, silver, glass, and furniture dating from Georgian times, as well as the social and industrial history of Workington and the surrounding area.
Workington Hall is built around a pele tower dating from the 14th century, this was once one of the finest Manor houses in the region. This striking ruin once owned by the Curwen family, Lords of the Manor of Workington, gave shelter to Mary Queen of Scots on her last flight from Scotland before her imprisonment and execution.
Jane Pit is a 19th century coal mine built by Henry Curwen, and the remains of this may be seen on a public open space at Mossbay.
We spent some time with our friends before getting ready for the trip back home.
On the trip home we returned via Carlisle the A7 via Longton Langholm Hawick Selkirk Galasheils Stow Heriot Middleton and then home to Gorebridge.
The weather on the way home was really bad and we just glad that Andrew was sound asleep in the back of the car. It was heavy rain most of the trip home. Then today we had planned to travel to Linlithgow for the Harley Davidson event. But when we woke this morning everything outside was white with snow. And it was freezing cold outside. So we are sorry to say that we decided it was just to cold to take Andrew out today. Then we got a phone call to say that the oldest Stepson was coming over with his wife plus there mothers day present for Christine.
So I hope you all understand why no photos or a report on th Harley Davidson event.
I am waitng for a report of the Harley Davidson event to be emailed to me from someone else. So just keeping the fingers crossed for this.
Neil
Glad to hear you had a great day together and thanks for sharing! 