E-bikes are freewheeling through rain and over hills, with huge promise for sustainable transport in rural tourist areas, theconversation.com (Feb 06, 2024)
Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]
Community resources[edit | edit source]
Community run pubs:
- Lyvennet Community Pub, Eden
- The Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket
Climate action[edit | edit source]
- Copeland People’s Panel on Climate Change, copeland.gov.uk, added 15:44, 5 January 2022 (UTC)
- Furness Climate Change Citizens’ Jury, Nov 2021 - Feb 2022[1] Barrow Borough Council unveiled its ambition for the borough to become carbon neutral by 2037 in its Climate Change Policy and Action Plan, published in 2020. added 09:58, 5 January 2022 (UTC)
- Kendal Climate Citizens' Jury, "the UK's first ever Climate Change Citizens' Jury at town level"
- South Lakes Action on Climate Change
Biodiversity[edit | edit source]
Cumbria Wildlife Trust - Westmorland Red Squirrel Society
Rewilding[edit | edit source]
Wild Ennerdale, shaping the landscape naturally, added 15:57, 8 February 2022 (UTC)
Open spaces[edit | edit source]
Fix the Fells - Friends of Blencathra - Green Heart Den, user friendly urban oasis in which people can relax in and enjoy, possibly taking part in a range of activities and visiting again and again, Barrow-in-Furness
Trees, woodland and forest[edit | edit source]
News and comment[edit | edit source]
2023
- ‘Real’ public engagement must be prioritised for path to net zero to succeed, climateoutreach.org (Sep 05, 2023) — the UPPER Coalition Reports include examples of successful co-designing and collaboration with local citizens, including Camden Think & Do’s programme, Kendal’s Climate Jury, and initiatives in Hull and Hackney
- Locals in this British seaside town could revolutionise green energy – if the government lets them, Rebecca Willis, professor of energy and climate governance at Lancaster University, theguardian.com (Jul 18, 2023)
- Endangered marsh fritillary butterfly makes a comeback in Lake District, The Guardian (Jun 26, 2023)
- The shop where the currency is kindness, positive.news (May 16, 2023)
2021
Kendal underlines the importance of community-led climate action, Jun 25, 2021[2]
2020
New £75,000 community energy fund up for grabs in Cumbria, Sep 23[3]
Community fight against coal in Cumbria, Sep 23[4]
2017
Cumbria's first wholly community-owned hydro-electric power plant was officially opened yesterday, Jan 5[5]
2014
One million cubic metres of waste near Sellafield housed at a site that was a mistake, admits Environment Agency, April 20[6]
Resources[edit | edit source]
Past events[edit | edit source]
2014
June 8 Fix the Fells Volunteering Day
Campaigns[edit | edit source]
Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment
About Cumbria[edit | edit source]
Cumbria ( KUM-bree-ə) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Carlisle.
The county is predominantly rural, with an area of 6,769 km2 (2,614 sq mi) and a population of 500,012; this makes it the third largest ceremonial county in England by area but the eighth-smallest by population. After Carlisle (74,281), the largest settlements are Barrow-in-Furness (56,745), Kendal (29,593), and Whitehaven (23,986). Cumbria was created in 1974 from the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Furness area of Lancashire, and a small part of Yorkshire. For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023 the county has been divided into two unitary authority areas, Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland.
The interior of Cumbria contains large upland areas. The south-west contains the Lake District, a national park and UNESCO world heritage site which includes Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain, and Windermere, its longest and largest lake. The Border Moors and North Pennines lie along the county's eastern border. The south-east contains the Orton Fells, Howgill Fells and part of the Yorkshire Dales, which are all within the Yorkshire Dales national park. The Vale of Eden, the valley of the River Eden, runs south-east to north-west between these upland areas, and broadens into the Solway Plain near Carlisle. The county has long coast to the west, which is bordered by a plain for most of its length. In the north-west it borders the Solway Firth, a national landscape, and to the south are the Cartmel and Furness peninsulas. East of the peninsulas, the county contains part of Arnside and Silverdale, also a national landscape.
The county contains several Neolithic monuments, such as Mayburgh Henge. The region was on the border of Roman Britain, and Hadrian's Wall runs through the north of the county. In the Early Middle Ages parts of the region successively belonged to Rheged, Northumbria, and Strathclyde, and there was also a Viking presence. It became the border between England and Scotland, and was unsettled until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. During the Industrial Revolution mining took place on the Cumberland coalfield and Barrow-in-Furness became a shipbuilding centre, but the county was not heavily industrialised and the Lake District became valued for its sublime and picturesque qualities, notably by the Lake Poets.
