Cumberland is a historic county in North West England, covering part of the Lake District as well as the northern Pennines and the coast of Solway Firth. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974, when it was subsumed into Cumbria, a larger administrative area which also covered Westmorland and parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In April 2023, Cumberland was revived as an administrative entity when Cumbria County Council was abolished and replaced by two unitary authorities, one of which is named Cumberland and includes most of the historic county, with the exception of Penrith and the surrounding area.
The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "backbone of England" because of its length and position, the range runs from the north Midlands to North East England, near the Anglo-Scottish border. The Peak District is the southern end of the range, rising northwards from its foothills near the Trent Valley in northern Staffordshire, and further north into eastern Cheshire and southern Derbyshire. Beyond this are the South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, and North Pennines, ending at the Tyne Gap. Beyond the gap are the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills, which are included in some definitions of the range.
Alston is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite its altitude, the town is easily accessible via the many roads which link the town to Weardale, Teesdale, and towns in Cumbria such as Penrith via Hartside Pass, as well as Tynedale. Historically part of Cumberland, Alston lies within the North Pennines, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Much of the town centre is a designated Conservation Area which includes several listed buildings.
The Coast to Coast or Sea to Sea Cycle Route (C2C) is a 140 miles (230 km) cycle route opened in 1994. Combining sections of National Cycle Route 7, 14, 71 and 72; it runs from Whitehaven or Workington on the west coast of Cumbria, and then crosses the Lake District and the Pennines in the north of England by using a variety of both on and off-road trails, ending on the north-east coast in Tyne and Wear at Sunderland or Tynemouth. Sustrans state that it is the UK's most popular challenge cycle route, it is designed for the whole range of cyclists, from families to cycling club riders. Although a challenge with some hard climbs—the highest point being over 609 m (1,998 ft)—the C2C is completed by an average of between 12,800 and 15,000 cyclists every year.
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and to the south by the Stainmore Gap.
Alstonite, also known as bromlite, is a low temperature hydrothermal mineral that is a rare double carbonate of calcium and barium with the formula BaCa(CO
3)
2, sometimes with some strontium. Barytocalcite and paralstonite have the same formula but different structures, so these three minerals are said to be trimorphous. Alstonite is triclinic but barytocalcite is monoclinic and paralstonite is trigonal. The species was named Bromlite by Thomas Thomson in 1837 after the Bromley-Hill mine, and alstonite by August Breithaupt of the Freiberg Mining Academy in 1841, after Alston, Cumbria, the base of operations of the mineral dealer from whom the first samples were obtained by Thomson in 1834. Both of these names have been in common use.
Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages, at around 1,437 feet (438 m). It was not built until the middle of the 18th century and was one of the earliest purpose-built industrial villages in Britain.
Garrigill, Cumbria is a small village in the North Pennine region of the UK, situated on the banks and close to the source of the River South Tyne. Historically part of Cumberland, today it is within the Garrigill ward of the civil parish of Alston Moor within the district of Eden. In 1870-72 the chapelry had a population of 1447.
Paid on Both Sides: A Charade was the first dramatic work written by W. H. Auden. It was written in 1928 and published in 1930. It was performed in New York in 1931 and then at the Cambridge Festival Theatre on 12 February 1934 in a programme of "experiments conducted by Joseph Gordon Macleod" which also included Deirdre by W.B.Yeats and An Animation of a Lay of Horatius Cocles by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay.
Leadgate is a small hamlet located at the foot of Hartside Fell between the town of Alston and the village of Garrigill in the parish of Alston Moor in Cumbria, England. It was the location of the earliest named mill on Alston Moor, referred to as Blackburn Mill in 1590, situated on the Black Burn beck and still shown as a corn mill on the 1861 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map.
Lambley, formerly known as Harper Town, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Coanwood, in Northumberland, England about four miles southwest of Haltwhistle. The village lies adjacent to the River South Tyne. In 1951 the parish had a population of 298. The place name Lambley refers to the "pasture of lambs". Lambley used to be the site of a small convent of Benedictine Nuns, founded by Adam de Tindale and Heloise, his wife, in the 12th century. The Scots led by William Wallace devastated it in 1296 [Rowland gives 1297]. However it was restored and one William Tynedale was ordained priest to the nunnery in about 1508 – most likely not William Tyndale, the reformer, as once believed but another man of the same name. At the time of the suppression of religious houses by Henry VIII, the nunnery contained six inmates. Nothing now remains but the bell from the nunnery, which hangs in the church, and a few carved stones. The village lies in the Midgeholme Coalfield and there are reserves of good-quality coal remaining.
Slaggyford is a village in Northumberland, England about 5 miles (8 km) north of Alston, Cumbria.
Westgarth Forster was a geologist and mining engineer. He was the son of a mining engineer, and was born in Coalcleugh, Northumberland. He became a mining agent on Alston Moor, an area in the Pennines noted for its extensive lead mines, but died penniless in 1835.
The Hexham and Allendale Railway was a railway company formed in 1865 to build a branch line from the lead mining district of Allendale in Northumberland to a junction near Hexham on the Carlisle to Newcastle line. It opened to goods and mineral traffic in two stages from 1867, and to passengers in 1869.
The North of England Lead Mining Museum, better known as Killhope, is an industrial museum near the village of Cowshill, County Durham, England. The museum stands on the site of the former Park Level Mine, which is being restored to show the workings of a 19th-century lead mine.
Whitley Castle (Epiacum) is a large, unusually shaped Roman fort north-west of the town of Alston, Cumbria, England. The castrum, which was first built by the Roman Army early in the 2nd century AD, was partly demolished and rebuilt around 200 AD. It appears to have been sited to protect lead mining in the area as well as to support the border defences of Hadrian's Wall.
Rampgill mine is a disused lead mine at Nenthead, Alston Moor, Cumbria, England UK Grid Reference: NY78184351
Alston Moor is a civil parish in the Eden District, Cumbria, England. It contains 89 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the market town of Alston, the villages of Garrigill and Nenthead, smaller communities, and the surrounding countryside. Nenthead was surrounded by mines, particularly for lead, and some of the listed buildings in and around the village are associated with this industry. Otherwise, most of the listed buildings are houses and associated structures, shops, public houses, hotels, and churches in and around Alston. There is a series of milestones provided for the local turnpike trust. The other listed buildings include a wayside cross, bridges, a former brewery, a former mill, former railway station buildings, a market cross, municipal buildings, a former bank, two war memorials, and a memorial pump.
Alston Town Hall is a municipal building in Front Street, Alston, Cumbria, England. The town hall, which is currently used as a public library, is a Grade II listed building.
