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From Wikitravel

Cumbria[1] is a county in the North West of England. Its most famous tourist attraction is the Lake District National Park.

[edit] Cities,Towns and Villages

[edit] Cities

• Carlisle - The administrative centre and only city.

[edit] Towns

• Alston - Market town in the Pennines.
• Ambleside - in the Lake District National Park.
• Bowness-on-Windermere - in the Lake District National Park.
• Barrow-in-Furness - Coastal shipbuilding town.
• Brampton - Market town in the North East.
• Cockermouth - Market town in the North West.
• Coniston - in the Lake District National Park
• Kendal - Gateway to the Lake District from the South.
• Keswick - in the Lake District National Park.
• Kirkby Lonsdale - at the southern edge of the county.
• Penrith - Gateway to the Lake District from the North.
• Sedbergh - in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
• Ulverston - Market town in the South West.
• Whitehaven - Coastal town and port.
• Windermere - in the Lake District National Park
• Workington - Coastal town and port.

[edit] Villages

• Cartmel - in the South.
• Dent - in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
• Eaglesfield - near Cockermouth

[edit] Other Destinations

• The Lake District National Park - Proposed World Heritage site.
• Hadrian's Wall - North of Carlisle, on the border with Scotland. An 80-mile long wall built by the Roman Governor Hadrian to keep the Scottish tribes out. A UNESCO World Heritage List site.
• The Pennines - the northern section of the range of hills that divides Northern England.
• The Eden Valley - The wide valley between the Lake District and the Pennines.
• The Yorkshire Dales National Park - The North West corner of this national park lies within the county of Cumbria.

[edit] Understand

This modern county was formed in local government reforms in the 1970s, and comprises the traditional counties of Cumberland (to the North and West), Westmorland (to the East), and parts of Lancashire (to the South). Geographically it is dominated by the Lake District at its centre, which is England's only true mountain range and which presents a natural barrier to travel across the county.

To the West of the county the towns of Workington and Whitehaven lie on a disused coalfield, which in the last twenty years has led to relatively high unemployment and low property values. Further South along the coast are the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, and the shipbuilding town of Barrow-in-Furness.

To the East lies the Eden Valley and the western slopes of the Pennine Hills.

To the North is a low-lying plain containing the border city of Carlisle before the Solway Firth forms the natural border with Scotland.

[edit] Talk

Isolated by its geography, the inhabitants developed a strong regional accent and language commonly called 'Westmerian' after the former county name of Westmorland. The region's main language was Cumbric (Cwmbraích in Cumbric) until about 1100 AD, a Brythonic Celtic language very similar to Welsh, and to an extent to Lowland Scots Gaelic (Gàidhealig). Today Cumbric doesn't exist as a Spoken Language, but has been reconstructed in various forms in the past, with limited success at taking off. Norse also became a main language after Cumbric, to be eventually replaced by English, although Cumbrian English still preserves a large number of Scandanavian words, as well as a few celtic ones.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Road

Motorway M6 from the North and South.

For the Lake District: Kendal is the main town to the South East (convenient for Windermere, Coniston etc.), Penrith is to the East, and Carlisle is to the North.

For Barrow and the West coast: Take A590 from junction 36 of the M6.

The motorway also provides access to the West side of the Pennines, and, from Carlisle, to Hadrian's Wall and to the North East corner of England.

[edit] By Rail

Railway runs to Lancaster (with branch to Grange-Over-Sands and Barrow), Oxenholme (branch to Kendal and Windermere), Shap (very high, very cold, no houses) and Carlisle.

[edit] Get around

[edit][add listing] See

[edit][add listing] Do

[edit][add listing] Eat

Cumberland Sausages:One of the most famous traditional Cumbrian foods has to be the coiled Cumberland Sausage [2]. The uniqueness of the Cumberland Sausage is that it is sold in a coils rather than by links. The sausage is also more heavily spiced than regular sausages.

Kendal Mint Cake

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Grasmere Gingerbread

[edit][add listing] Drink

Cumbria is home to 23 breweries and brew-pubs including The Bitter End Pub & Brewery [3] in Cockermouth

Damson Gin The Lyth Valley is famous in Cumbria for damsons. Many pubs offer a locally made 'damson gin', which is particularly popular as a pre-dinner drink around Christmas.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There is a huge range of accommodation available in Cumbria. See the individual city/town articles for listings.

[edit] Stay safe

A relatively quiet and rural county. As usual in England, it's best to avoid the centre of larger towns at night (such as Barrow, Workington and Carlisle) as they're prone to the regular assortment of drunks and fights.

[edit] Get out

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