Cumbria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| 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 Borders |
| 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 | |
  Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/ |
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| Executive | Conservative / Liberal Democrat |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Districts | |
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Cumbria (IPA: /ˈkʌmbriə/) or Cwmbru in Cumbric, is a shire 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.
Cumbria, the third largest ceremonial 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.
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[edit] Boundaries and divisions
Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy areas of Dumfries and Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale 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 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 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]. 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.
[edit] History
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,[citation needed] 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]
[edit] Culture
Cumbria as an English county on the border with Scotland has faced repeated invasion. Resisting such attacks and many attempts 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, evidenced particularly by 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] County flag
Although there is no official county flag for Cumbria, there is the heraldic crest commissioned by Cumbria County Council (see Politics above, on the right). There have been several flags suggested over the years, the most recent being this one.
Other flags previously suggested include ones based upon:
- White cross on blue background (similar to the Cornish flag, or a Scottish flag rotated through 45%)
- the old Cumberland and Westmorland flags
[edit] 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. Barrow and Workington are both former Football League clubs.
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.
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.
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,[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]
[edit] 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.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added[7] | Agriculture[8] | Industry[9] | Services[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,679 | 148 | 902 | 1,629 |
| 2000 | 2,843 | 120 | 809 | 1,914 |
| 2003 | 3,388 | 129 | 924 | 2,335 |
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.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added[7] | Agriculture[8] | Industry[9] | Services[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,246 | 63 | 1,294 | 888 |
| 2000 | 2,415 | 53 | 1,212 | 1,150 |
| 2003 | 2,870 | 60 | 1,420 | 1,390 |
[edit] 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.
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[edit] Demographics
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, being the third least dense county in England and with well only five towns having a population of over 20,000 people. Cumbria is one of the country's least ethnically diverse counties, with 96% of the population being indigenous White British (around 480,000 of the 500,000 Cumbrians), however the larger town's have an ethnic makeup that is closer to national average, and Cumbria's ethnic minority population is increasing twice as fast as England's average. The largest religion in Cumbria by far is Christianity followed by Buddhism and Islam - see here for more information.
[edit] People of interest
[edit] Places of interest
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Abbey/Priory/Cathedral |
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Accessible open space |
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Amusement/Theme Park |
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Castle |
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Country Park |
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English Heritage |
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Forestry Commission |
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Heritage railway |
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Historic House |
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Museums (free/not free) |
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National Trust |
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Zoo |
See also: List of castles in Cumbria
See also: List of historic houses in Cumbria
See also: List of Museums in Cumbria
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ County council votes to pursue a single council for Cumbria. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ [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.
- ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ Cinaet Scothack. Wrestling in Gaelic Culture. Retrieved on 2--7-02-24.
- ^ Amateur Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
- ^ a b Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- ^ a b includes hunting and forestry
- ^ a b includes energy and construction
- ^ a b includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
[edit] External links
- Official Tourist Board Website
- Cumbria Tourist and Historical Website
- BBC Cumbria Digital Lives Project
- Carlisle Diocese (Church of England)
- The Kirkby Lonsdale Show
- The Museum of Lakeland Life Website
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