From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cumbria

Geography
County town (Admin HQ)	Carlisle
Status	Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Origin	1974 Local Government Act 1972
Region	North West England
Area - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 3rd 6,768 km² Ranked 2nd
Neighbouring Counties	Lancashire North Yorkshire County Durham Northumberland Dumfries and Galloway Scottish Borders
ISO 3166-2	GB-CMA
ONS code	16
NUTS 3	UKD11/12
Demographics
Population - Total (2008 est.) - Density - Admin. Council	Ranked 41st 496,600 73 / km² Ranked 25th
Ethnicity	96.7% White British 1.7% White Other 0.6% S.Asian 0.5% Mixed Race 0.2% Chinese 0.2% Afro-Carib. 0.1% Other
Politics
Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative / Liberal Democrat (council NOC)
Members of Parliament	Tony Cunningham (L) Tim Farron (LD) John Hutton (L) David Maclean (C) Eric Martlew (L) Jamie Reed (L)
Districts
Barrow-in-Furness South Lakeland Copeland Allerdale Eden Carlisle

Cumbria portal

Cumbria (pronounced /ˈkʌmbriə/, locally [ˈkʊmbriə]) is a non-metropolitan county in the North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of six districts, and has a total population of 498,800 (2007).

Cumbria, the third largest ceremonial county in England, by area, is bounded to the west by the Irish Sea, to the south by Lancashire, to the southeast by North Yorkshire, and to the east by County Durham and Northumberland. Scotland lies directly to the north.

A predominantly rural county, Cumbria is home to the Lake District National Park, considered one of the most beautiful areas of England. The area has provided inspiration for generations of British and foreign artists, writers and musicians. Much of the county is mountainous, with the highest point of the county (and of England) being Scafell Pike at 978 m (3210 ft). All the mountains in England that are over 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level are in Cumbria.

Parts of Hadrian's Wall can be found in the northernmost reaches of the county, in and around Carlisle.

Boundaries and divisions

Cumbria is neighboured by the English counties of Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders.

The boundaries are along the Irish Sea to Morecambe Bay in the west, and along the Pennines to the east. Cumbria's northern boundary stretches from the Solway Firth from the Solway Plain eastward along the border with Scotland to Northumberland.

It is made up of six districts: Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland. For many administrative purposes Cumbria is divided into three areas — East, West and South. East consists of the districts of Carlisle and Eden, West consists of Allerdale and Copeland, and South consists of Lakeland and Barrow.

In January 2007, Cumbria County Council voted in favour of an official bid to scrap the current two-tier system of county and district councils in favour of a new unitary Cumbria Council, to be submitted for consideration to the Department for Communities and Local Government.^[1] This was then rejected.

The county returns six Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, representing the constituencies of Carlisle, Penrith & The Border, Workington, Copeland, Westmorland and Lonsdale and Barrow & Furness.

History

Wales in Welsh is known as Cymru, which originally meant 'compatriots' in Old Welsh.^[2] The name competed in Welsh literature with the older name 'Brythoniaid' (Brythons). Only after ~1100 did the former become as common as the latter.^[3] Both terms applied originally not only to the inhabitants of what is now called Wales, but to all speakers of the Brythonic language and its descendants on the island of Britain, many of whom lived in the 'the Old North'. The place names: Cymru, its Latinised version Cambria, Cumbria and Cumberland, all derive their names from this common root.^[3] During the dark ages Cumbria formed the core of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged. By the end of the 7th Century most of Cumbria had been incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, which later became part of England. Large parts of Cumbria were part of Scotland at the time of Norman Conquest of England in 1066. In 1092 Cumbria was invaded by William Rufus and reincorporated within England and eventully divided into the traditional counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire (Furness).

The county of Cumbria was created in 1974 from the areas of the former administrative counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Cumberland County Borough of Carlisle, along with the North Lonsdale or Furness part of Lancashire, usually referred to as "Lancashire North of the Sands", (including the county borough of Barrow-in-Furness) and, from the West Riding of Yorkshire, the Sedbergh Rural District. The name "Cumbria" has been used for the territory for centuries.

Local papers The Westmorland Gazette and Cumberland and Westmorland Herald continue to use the name of their historic county . However other publications, such as local government promotional material, describe the area as being in "Cumbria", as do the Lake District National Park Authority and most visitors.

County emblems

The arms of Cumbria County Council were granted by the College of Arms on 10 October 1974. The arms represent the areas from which the new county council's area was put together; the shield's green border has Parnassus flowers representing Cumberland interspersed with roses; red for Lancashire (the Furness district) on white for Yorkshire (Sedbergh is from the West Riding). The crest is a ram's head crest, found in the arms both of Westmorland County Council and Barrow County Borough, with Cumberland's Parnassus flowers again. The supporters are the legendary Dacre Bull (Cumberland) and a red dragon (Appleby in Westmorland), with a hint of the Welsh Kingdom of Rheged. They stand on a base compartment representing Hadrian's Wall (in Cumberland), crossed with two red bars (from the Westmorland arms).^[4]

The county council motto: "Ad Montes Oculos Levavi" is Latin, from Psalm 121; ("I shall lift up mine eyes unto the hills").^[4]

There are two unofficial flags for Cumberland and Westmorland. These are the white cross on a blue background for Cumberland and the red cross on a yellow background for Westmorland. There are also two unofficial Cumbrian flags:

1. Consists of a green upper half with three white roses and a lower half consisting of three white and three blue horizontal stripes.

2. Consists of blue upper third, green lower third, and white middle third with the county heraldic crest in the centre.

Sport

Football

Carlisle United are the only professional football team in Cumbria and currently play in League One (3rd Tier in the English football pyramid). They attract support from across Cumbria and beyond, with many Cumbrian "ex-pats" travelling to see their games, both home and away. Whilst home attendances are usually 7,000 to 10,000, the away support is often 1,000 to 2,000. This is one of the highest proportions of away-home support in England^{[citation needed]}.

Barrow and Workington Reds are well supported non-league teams, having both been relegated from the Football League in the 1970s, with Barrow being one of the best supported non-league football teams in the UK. Recently Workington Reds have made a rapid rise up the non league ladder and in 2007/08 competed with Barrow in the Conference North (Tier 6). Barrow were then promoted to the Blue Square Premier (Tier 5) in 2007/08.

Rugby league

Rugby league is a very popular sport in South and West Cumbria. Barrow Raiders, Whitehaven RLFC and Workington Town and all compete in the National Leagues. Carlisle RLFC played in the national competitions between 1981 and 1997, Carlisle today has Carlisle Centurions in the Rugby League Conference. There are amateur BARLA teams playing in the National Conference, notablely Wath Brow Hornets and Millom as well as a Cumberland League and Barrow & District League.

Rugby union

Rugby union is very popular in the east of the county with teams such as Carlisle RUFC, Kendal RUFC, Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC, Keswick RUFC, Upper Eden RUFC and Penrith RUFC (who have recently been promoted to the National Leagues) competing in many local and national competitions.

Cricket

Cumberland County Cricket Club is one of the cricket clubs that constitute the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure. The club, based in Carlisle, competes in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy. The club also play some home matches in Workington, as well as other locations.

Cumbrian club cricket teams play in the North Lancashire and Cumbria League.

Uppies and Downies

Workington is home to the ball game known as Uppies and Downies,^[5] a traditional version of football, with its origins in Medieval football or an even earlier form.^[6] Players from outside Workington do take part, especially fellow West Cumbrians from Whitehaven and Maryport.^[7]

Wrestling

Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling is an ancient and well-practised tradition in the county with a strong resemblance to Scottish Backhold.

In the 21st century Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling along with other aspects of Lakeland culture are practised at the Grasmere Sports and Show, an annual meeting held every year since 1852 on the August Bank Holiday.

The origin of this form of wrestling is a matter of debate, with some describing it as having evolved from Norse wrestling brought over by Viking invaders,^[8] while other historians associate it with the Cornish and Gouren styles^[9] indicating that it may have developed out of a longer-standing Celtic tradition.^[10]

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added (GVA) of East Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of West Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Education

Although Cumbria has a comprehensive system almost in toto, it has one state grammar school in Penrith. There are 42 state secondary schools and 10 independent schools. The more rural secondary schools tend to have sixth forms though in Barrow-in-Furness district no school except Chetwynde School (Independent) has a sixth form, and this is the same for three schools in Allerdale and South Lakeland, and one in the other districts.

Demography

Cumbria's largest settlement and only city, in the north of the county, is Carlisle, with the largest town, Barrow-in-Furness, being slightly smaller. The county's population is largely rural: it is the second lowest county in England in terms of population density and has only five towns with a population of over 20,000. Cumbria is also one of the country's least ethnically diverse counties, with 96% of the population categorised as indigenous White British (around 480,000 of the 500,000 Cumbrians). However the larger towns have an ethnic makeup that is closer to the national average, and Cumbria's ethnic minority population is increasing twice as fast as England's average. The most popular religion in Cumbria by far is Christianity, followed by Buddhism and Islam.

People of interest

See also: List of people from Carlisle
See also: List of people from Barrow-in-Furness
See also: List of people from Kendal

Places of interest

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Zoo

See also: List of castles in Cumbria
See also: List of historic houses in Cumbria
See also: List of Museums in Cumbria

See also

• Anglo-Scottish border
• Cumbrian dialect
• Etymology of Cumbrian Place Names
• List of Cumbria-related topics

References

External links

• The Cumbria online forum.
• Official Tourist Board Website
• Cumbria Tourist and Historical Website
• The Cumbria Site - Local information
• BBC Cumbria Digital Lives Project
• Carlisle Diocese (Church of England)
• The Kirkby Lonsdale Show
• The Museum of Lakeland Life Website
• thedialectdictionary.com - Compilation of Dialects including Cumbrian
• Go Lakes
• Cumbria at the Open Directory Project

Districts of North West England Allerdale • Barrow-in-Furness • Blackburn with Darwen • Blackpool • Bolton • Burnley • Bury • Carlisle • Cheshire East • Cheshire West and Chester • Chorley • Copeland • Eden • Fylde • Halton • Hyndburn • Knowsley • Lancaster • Liverpool • Manchester • Oldham • Pendle • Preston • Ribble Valley • Rochdale • Rossendale • St Helens • Salford • Sefton • South Lakeland • South Ribble • Stockport • Tameside • Trafford • Warrington • West Lancashire • Wigan • Wirral • Wyre Counties with multiple districts: Cumbria • Greater Manchester • Lancashire • Merseyside

Coordinates: 54°30′N 3°15′W / 54.5°N 3.25°W / 54.5; -3.25

From Wikitravel

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

Map of Cumbria

• Carlisle - The administrative centre and only city.

• 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.

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

• 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.

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.

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.

Get in

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.

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.

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

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.

Sleep

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

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.

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

English

Wikipedia has an article on:

Cumbria

Wikipedia

Proper noun

Cumbria

1. A modern county of England made up of the former counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and part of Lancashire.

From Familypedia

Cumbria

File:EnglandCumbria.png
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Origin	1974 Local Government Act 1972
Region	North West England
Area - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 3rd 6,768 km² Ranked 2nd
Admin HQ	Carlisle
ISO 3166-2	GB-CMA
ONS code	16
NUTS 3	UKD11/12
Demographics
Population - Total (2006 est.) - Density - Admin. Council	Ranked 41st 496,200 73 / km² Ranked 28th
Ethnicity	96.7% White British 1.7% White Other 0.6% S.Asian 0.5% Mixed Race 0.2% Chinese 0.2% Afro-Carib. 0.1% Other
Politics
File:Arms-cumbria.jpg Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative / Liberal Democrats
Members of Parliament	Tony Cunningham (L) Tim Farron (LD) John Hutton (L) David Maclean (C) Eric Martlew (L) Jamie Reed (L)
Districts
Barrow-in-Furness South Lakeland Copeland Allerdale Eden Carlisle

Cumbria (IPA: /ˈkʊmbriə/), is a shire county in the extreme North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of six districts, and has a total population of 498,800.

Cumbria, the third largest county in England, is bound to the west by the Irish Sea, to the south by Lancashire, to the southeast by North Yorkshire, and to the east by County Durham and Northumberland. Scotland lies directly to the north.

A predominantly rural county, Cumbria is home to the Lake District National Park, considered one of the most beautiful areas of the United Kingdom. The area has provided inspiration for generations of British and foreign artists, writers and musicians. Much of the county is mountainous, with the highest point of the county (and of England) being Scafell Pike at 978 m (3210 ft). All the territory in England that is over 3,000 feet above sea level is in Cumbria.

Parts of Hadrian's Wall can be found in the northernmost reaches of the county, in and around Carlisle.

Boundaries and divisions

Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy areas of Dumfries and Roxburgh in Scotland.

The boundaries are along the Irish Sea to Morecambe Bay in the west, and along the Pennines to the east. Cumbria's northern boundary stretches from the Solway Firth along the border with Scotland to Northumberland.

It is made up of six districts: Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland. For many administrative purposes Cumbria is divided into 3 areas - East, West and South. East being the districts of Carlisle and Eden, West - Allerdale and Copeland and South Lakeland and Barrow making up South Cumbria.

In January 2007, Cumbria County Council voted in favour of an official bid to scrap the current two-tier system of county and district councils in favour of a new unitary Cumbria Council, to be submitted for consideration to the Department for Communities and Local Government.^[1]

The county returns 6 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, representing the constituencies of Carlisle, Penrith & The Border, Workington, Copeland, Westmorland and Lonsdale and Barrow & Furness.

History

Main article: History of Cumbria

The county of Cumbria was created in 1974. It was a combination of the area of the administrative counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Cumberland county borough of Carlisle, along with the North Lonsdale or Furness part of Lancashire (including the county borough of Barrow-in-Furness), and from the West Riding of Yorkshire, the Sedbergh Rural District. The name "Cumbria" has been used for the territory for centuries.

Following the creation of Cumbria as a non-metropolitan county, some people, particularly those born or brought up in the area, continue to refer to some parts of Cumbria as part of the ancient county boundaries; this includes the Furness area as a part of Lancashire, and the Kendal and surrounding area as a part of Westmorland.

Local papers The Westmorland Gazette and Cumberland and Westmorland Herald are continue to be named on this pre-1974 county basis. Others, including local government, promotional material for the area, the Lake District National Park Authority, and most visitors describe the area as being in "Cumbria". A MORI poll in the county found 79% of those polled identified "very strongly" or "strongly" to Cumbria throughout the county, but dropping to 55% and 71% in Barrow and South Lakeland districts, which incorporate part of historic Lancashire.^[2]

Culture

Cumbria as an English county on the border with Scotland has faced repeated invasion. Resisting such attacks and many attepts by the Kingdom of Scotland to annex it has given Cumbria a strong sense of pride and a very strong Northern English culture, shared with its neighboring counties, particularly Lancashire and Northumberland.

The culture of the area was predominantly Celtic until fairly late after the annexation by the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria (see Rheged), and the name for the area derives from its name in the Cumbric language. It is etymologically connected to the Welsh term Cymru, meaning "Land of brothers", which is now used as the Welsh name for Wales itself. The Cumbric language has been extinct since about the 11th century.

Cumbria also had very strong links with Norse culture due to Viking invasions. Leaving behind evidence particularly in the genetics of the local population. Studies have shown that the county of Cumbria has one of the most striking signs of Scandinavian genetics in England.

Dialect

The Cumbrian dialect is spoken throughout the region. There is quite a large variation in accent and words, especially between north and south and west coast.

Many of the traditional dialect words are remnants of Norse settlement, with Norwegian settlers probably arriving in Cumbria in the 10th century via Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Sport

Carlisle United are the only professional football team in Cumbria. They attract support from across Cumbria. However, Barrow A.F.C., has been one of the best supported non-league football teams in the UK since their relegation in the 1970s. Recently Workington Reds have also made a rapid rise up the non league ladder and now compete with Barrow in the Conference North.

Rugby league is a very popular sport in West Cumbria. Whitehaven RLFC, Workington Town and Barrow Raiders all compete in the National Leagues. Carlisle RLFC played in the national competitions between 1981 and 1997, Carlisle today has Carlisle Centurions in the Rugby League Conference. There are amateur BARLA teams playing in the National Conference, notablely Wath Brow Hornets and Millom as well as a Cumberland League and Barrow & District League.

Rugby union is very popular in the east of the county with teams such as Carlisle RUFC, Kendal RUFC, Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC, Keswick RUFC, Upper Eden RUFC and Penrith RUFC (who have recently been promoted to the National Leagues) competing in many local and national competitions.

'Wrestling

Main article: Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling

Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling is an ancient and well-practised tradition in the county with a strong resemblance to Scottish Backhold.

In the 21st century Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling along with other aspects of Lakeland culture are practiced at the Grassmere Sports and Show, an annual meeting held every year since 1852 on the August Bank Holiday.

The origin of this form of wrestling is a matter of debate, with some describing it as having evolved from Norse wrestling brought over by Viking invaders,^[3][4] while other historians associate it with the Cornish and Gouren styles^[5] indicating that it may have developed out of a longer-standing Celtic tradition.^[6]

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of East Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of West Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Education

Although Carlisle has a comprehensive system almost in toto, it has one state grammar school in Penrith. There are 42 state secondary schools and 10 independent schools. Sixth-form provision is good (mainly as schools in the county's rural areas are far apart, so education has to be less geographically spread out). The exception is Barrow-in-Furness district where no schools have sixth forms, and this is the same for three schools in Allerdale and South Lakeland, and one in the other districts. Carlisle, Allerdale and South Lakeland all have the largest school population by year of about 1250, with Eden the smallest. In general, year sizes are low, with six schools having year sizes under 50. In England, 45.8% of pupils gain 5 good GCSEs including Englsh and Maths; for Cumbria LEA's 6100 pupils taking GCSE at 16, it is 45.3% - slightly under the average. This is misleading as in the rural areas, the schools generally get good results. The best comprehensive school at GCSE is the Cockermouth School with 68%, followed by the Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkby Lonsdale with 64% and the William Howard School in Brampton with 61%. The worst is the Alfred Barrow School in Barrow in Furness with 17%. The catholic schools in Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness are the best schools by far in the towns, as most are underperforming in these two towns. The school system in Carlisle has five underperforming schools, with the rest doing much better; not unlike a selective system. The same could be said for Allerdale district. At A-level, like at GCSE, Cumbria performs exactly at the England average. The best state school (in 2006), understandably is the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. The better comprehensive schools do very well at A-level, with the Queen Katherine School in Kendal being the best, followed by Keswick School. The best overall at A level is Casterton School, a girls school in Casterton.

GCSE results by district council (%)

2006 results for % of state school pupils gaining grades A-C at GCSE including English and Maths; compare to average house price.

• South Lakeland 54.9
• Eden 54.8
• Allerdale 47.4
• Carlisle 39.8
• Barrow-in-Furness 38.4
• Copeland 38.0

Demographics

Main article: List of places in Cumbria

Towns and Villages

Carlisle is the largest and only city in the county, whilst Barrow-in-Furness (the largest town) is between 2 and 3 times larger than the second largest town (Kendal).

The twelve most populated settlements in Cumbria are listed below:

Density

Cumbria as a whole is the second least densely populated county in England with only 73 people per square kilometre. Despite it being the third largest in area (6,768 km²), about a third of the county is taken up by the Lake District National Park. Below is a table listing each district by population density.

Ethnicity

The data below is based on recent available 2005 estimates.

Increase
Cumbria has previosuly been considered an almost all white county, however since the millenium, the county has experienced one of the UK's largest increases in the population of non-indigenous communities. Below is a table noting the percentage change for each respective ethnic group between 2004 and 2005 compared to England as a whole. Altough please note that this table does not reflect how many people of each race recide in each district, large percentage increases in such places as Copeland and Eden often mean that a community could have just increased from 30 to 37 [7].

Notable Non-Indigenous Ethnic Communities

• Carlisle - 1,600 Poles^[11]
• Carlisle - 170 Chinese^[12]
• Carlisle - 1,470 Mixed Race (Around 1/2 of Cumbria's Mixed Race population - see above)
• Barrow-in-Furness - 390 Afro-Caribbeans (60% of Cumbria's Black population - see above)
• Barrow-in-Furness - 140 Filipinos^[13]
• Barrow-in-Furness - Kosovars (Most distinct Kosovar community in Britain)^[14]
• Barrow-in-Furness - 120 Latin Americans

People of interest

• Ade Gardner
• Phil Jackson
• Nella Last
• Jimmy Lewthwaite
• Harry Hadley
• Shana Haji
• Willie Horne
• Mick Hucknall
• Nigel Kneale
• Ian McDonald
• Frank McPherson
• Vic Metcalfe
• Dave Myers
• Jack Pelter
• Peter Purves
• Constance Spry
• Gary Stevens
• Dame Stella Rimington
• Thomas Round
• Adam Roynon
• Karen Taylor
• Keith Tyson
• Len Wilkinson
• Aim
• Sir John Barrow
• Norman Birkett
• Chris Bonington
• Donald Campbell
• Glenn Cornick
• Wayne Curtis
• Steve Dixon
• Maurice Flitcroft
• Melvyn Bragg
• British Sea Power
• Fletcher Christian
• Lady Anne Clifford
• Mark Cueto
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• John Dalton
• Thomas DeQuincey
• Douglas Ferreira
• Margaret Fell
• Willie Horne
• Francis Howgill
• Emlyn Hughes
• Thomas Henry Ismay
• Joanna Kyles
• Stan Laurel
• Hugh Lowther
• Joss Naylor
• Norman Nicholson
• Saint Ninian
• Catherine Parr
• John Peel
• Beatrix Potter
• Scott James Preston
• Sir James Ramsden
• Hardwicke Rawnsley
• Will Ritson
• George Romney
• John Ruskin
• Rory Thomas Sewell
• Montagu Slater
• Richard T. Slone
• Robert Southey
• John Sowerby
• Gary Stevens
• Stuart Stockdale
• Edward Troughton
• Keith Tyson
• Josefina de Vasconcellos
• Alfred Wainwright
• Lord Soulsby
• John Wilkinson
• Dorothy Wordsworth
• William Wordsworth
• Carl George Dalton

Places of interest

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Museums (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Zoo

See also: List of castles in Cumbria

• Low Mead
• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Bewcastle
• Black Combe
• Brantwood
• Brough Castle
• Brougham Castle
• Brougham Hall
• Broughton in Furness
• Brougham Castle
• Buttermere
• Cartmel Priory
• Carlisle Castle
• Carlisle Cathedral
• Castlerigg Stone Circle
• Cockermouth, "Gem" Town
• Coniston Water
• Crummock Water
• Cumbria Coastal Way long distance footpath
• Cumbria Way long distance footpath
• Dales Way long distance footpath
• Dalton Castle
• Derwent Water
• Dock Museum
• Egremont Castle
• Eden Valley Railway — heritage railway
• Ennerdale Water
• Fell Foot Park
• Firbank Fell
• Fisher Tarn Reservoir
• Furness
• Furness Abbey
• Haig Colliery Mining Museum
• Harrison Stickle
• Hadrian's Wall
• Paul Lomas
• Hartley Castle
• Haweswater
• Hawkshead Grammar School Museum
• Hoad Monument
• Hodbarrow Nature Reserve
• Holker Hall
• Kendal Castle
• Kentmere
• Killington Reservoir
• Kirkby Lonsdale
• Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway
• Langwathby station and Brief Encounters Cafe
• Windermere (the lake)
• Lanercost Priory
• Laurel & Hardy Museum
• Levens Hall
• The former site of the Beast Banks post office in Longsleddale.
• Millom
• Millom Folk Museum
• National Nature Reserves in Cumbria
• Pennine Way long distance footpath
• Penrith Castle
• Piel Island
• Quaker tapestry, Kendal
• RAF Millom Museum
• Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway — heritage railway
• Rheged
• Rydal Water
• Seathwaite Tarn
• Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Facility
• Silecroft
• Sizergh Castle & Garden
• Staveley
• Swarthmoor Hall
• Thirlmere
• Ullswater
• Vickerstown
• Wast Water
• Whitehaven
• Whinfell Forest

See also

• Anglo-Scottish border
• Etymology of Cumbrian Place Names
• Cumbrian dialect

References

1. ^ County council votes to pursue a single council for Cumbria. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
2. ^ [http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/files/dms/REPCUMB_12840-9355__E__.pdf Local Government Review in the Cumbria County Council Area]. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
3. ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
4. ^ Cinaet Scothack. Wrestling in Gaelic Culture. Retrieved on 2--7-02-24.
5. ^ Amateur Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
6. ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
7. ^ ^{a b} Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
8. ^ ^{a b} includes hunting and forestry
9. ^ ^{a b} includes energy and construction
10. ^ ^{a b} includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
11. ^ Polish immigrants in Carlisle
12. ^ Chinese immigrants in Carlisle
13. ^ Filipino immigrants in Barrow
14. ^ Kosovan immigrants in Barrow

External links