Keswick is a market town of some 5000 inhabitants, and is the favourite centre for Lakeland climbers and serious fell walkers. Situated between the huge bulk of Skiddaw and the gentle beauty of Derwentwater, this pretty market town offer a wide range of attractions for visitors, from shops and restaurants to museums with a difference, and boating trips around lake Derwentwater.

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. 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.

The modern town of Maryport was the creation of the Senhouse family in the 18th century, who developed the small fishing village into a coal port. Like Whitehaven, it was a planned town with terraces of cottages built on a grid system, with employment centering on coal mining and ship building. The history of the town can be explored at the Maritime Museum, the Senhouse Roman Museum, and in the harbour area. The Lake District Coast Aquarium is on the harbour.

The traditional fell village of Caldbeck is situated under the Northern Fells of the Lake District, almost equidistant from Penrith, Carlisle, Keswick, Wigton and Cockermouth. Priests Mill is an old watermill just below the Church. The award winning restoration now houses a restaurant, and various interesting shops.

The Solway Coast, from the rich rolling dunes at Wolsty and Mawbrey to the secluded salt marches north of Anthorn, is an internationally important landscape containing a variety of fragile habitats, and several Sites of Special Scientific Interest. A short walk from Allonby is the Crosscanonby Carr Nature reserve, with an 'access for all' trail, and the Crosscanonby Roman Milefortlet.

The ospreys' return to the Lakes was the culmination of several years of hard work to encourage ospreys to stay. Come to Dood Wood and visit the viewing platform, to see the osprey's nest on the far side of Bassenthwaite Lake. There is an information centre, and CCTV viewing of the nest site, at the Forestry Commission Visitor Centre in Whinlatter Forest.

The area has many literary connections, including William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin and Hugh Walpole. Mirehouse has connnections with Southey, Wordsworth and Tennyson.

William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, and lived for most of his life in nearby Grasmere. Three of his homes are open to the public. Several of Beatrix Potter's books are based on her experiences while living in Keswick. Hugh Walpole used Uldale as the location for 'Rogue Herries', and nearby Ireby is the location for Walter Herries home in 'The Fortress'. There is a memorial to John Ruskin at Friar's Crag by Derwentwater, Keswick, where he holidayed as a child.

For more information about these and other places of interest in the area, see the 'Links' page.