Independent local intelligence
43 stories, newest first
Cumberland Council is hosting a free Christmas fete at Distington Walled Garden on Saturday 28 November, 10am to 4pm, with handmade gifts from local makers and festive food in the café.
The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven has announced its festive programme, with Santa visits in December, a gold leaf workshop on 22 November and two big exhibitions running into 2027.
Cumberland's Baby Week starts on Saturday 14 November with a free drop-in at Whitehaven Library, plus sessions for babies and under-fives at family hubs across the area.
Maryport's newly restored Carlton building holds its first open weekend on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November, with local bands playing The Deck for the first time.
A Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling Association project funded by Sport England runs weekly sessions in Egremont, with rust-coloured kit honouring the town's iron ore miners.
Hospice at Home West Cumbria invites everyone to its remembrance services at 2pm on Sunday 29 November at St Michael's, Workington, and St Mary and St Michael's, Egremont.
Tickets are on sale at £12.50 for the Taste Cumbria Christmas Comedy Night at The Maltings, Jennings Brewery, Cockermouth, at 7pm on Saturday 5 December, part of the free Taste Cumbria Christmas festival.
Towns across West Cumbria will hold Remembrance Sunday parades and services on 8 November, with temporary road closures in Whitehaven, Workington, Harrington and other places. Here are the main start times and where to check routes.
Families can drop off toys, games, puzzles and children's books their children have outgrown and pick up others for free at a Big Toy Swap at St Bees Village Hall from 2pm on Saturday 7 November, backed by Cumberland Council.
People from the Parish of Whitehaven's Monday drop-in knitted and crocheted 5,000 poppies, now hanging on the front of St Nicholas Church on Lowther Street ahead of Remembrance Sunday on 8 November and Armistice Day on 11 November.
Cumbria CVS is holding a volunteering fair at The Carlton on Senhouse Street, Maryport, on Thursday 19 November from 11am to 12.30pm, where local organisations will explain their volunteer roles and sign people up.
S Club singer Bradley McIntosh will perform at Workington's Christmas lights switch-on on Saturday 28 November, organised by Workington Town Council and Everyone Here. The day runs from 11am to 5pm around Udale Street, with the mayor switching on the lights.
Cumberland Council has published its run-down of festive markets, including Distington Walled Garden's Christmas Fete on 28 November, Small Business Saturday the same day, Taste Cumbria in Cockermouth on 5 and 6 December and the regular Workington and Whitehaven markets.
Workington's Christmas lights switch-on and market is on Saturday 28 November, with S Club singer Bradley McIntosh performing, followed by the Light Works festival of light art in Hall Park on 28 and 29 November.
The Encaps Online Darts League is holding a 12-hour darts marathon at St Benedict's RUFC in Mirehouse, Whitehaven, on Saturday 7 November from 9am to 9pm, with competitions, challenges and a raffle raising money for Prostate Cancer UK.
The Guns N' Roses Experience, a touring tribute act, plays the Solway Hall in Whitehaven on Friday 20 November. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are on sale through the venue's TicketSource page.
Residents and friends of Johnson House have made poppies for a Remembrance display that will be unveiled at 2.30pm on Thursday 5 November, with wartime songs. It is open to the public.
Marina View Café at Maryport marina will serve a pay-what-you-can Christmas dinner on 25 December from noon to 3pm for people who would otherwise be alone or can't afford a festive meal. Spaces are limited and must be booked.
The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's Santa Express runs on selected dates from Saturday 21 November to Christmas Eve, with elf storytelling, a 40-minute steam trip up the Eskdale Valley and a visit to Santa at Dalegarth. The railway expects high demand.
Regional astronomers are hosting an evening of short talks, tabletop displays and night sky viewing at The Maryport Settlement on Saturday 7 November, 5pm to 8pm. All ages are welcome and entry is by donation.
A new series of free, alcohol-free dance nights begins at the Senhouse Centre on Senhouse Street, Whitehaven, on Friday 30 October from 7pm to 9pm. No experience, partner or booking is needed, and it is open to anyone aged 16 and over.
A new exhibition marking 200 years of rock climbing in England and Wales opens at the Beacon Museum on 31 October and runs until 12 February 2027. It is the museum's first exhibition about climbing and mountaineering.
Mapping Glances: Painting Faces Through the Autistic Lens, a show of oil portraits by Cumbrian painter Ophelia Appleby, opens with a preview at 6pm on Friday 6 November at Gallery 9 on King Street and runs through November.
Pillar 200, an exhibition marking 200 years since shepherd John Atkinson climbed Pillar Rock above Ennerdale, opens at the Beacon Museum in Whitehaven on Saturday 31 October and runs until February 2027.
All of Muncaster Castle's 'escaped' boggles have been found, and its nine-day Halloween Family Festival near Ravenglass runs from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November.
The Natural History Museum's touring Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens at The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven on Saturday 24 October and runs until 31 January 2027.
Florence Arts Centre in Egremont is holding a free open day on Thursday 29 October for its Ground 5 exhibition, which celebrates the paints its Florence Paintmakers business makes from Cumbrian minerals.
Indigo Moon Theatre brings Gaby Gulliver's Travels, a shadow puppetry reimagining of Jonathan Swift's novel, to Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven on Monday 26 October at 2pm.
Women Who Cumbria is holding Mooch, a clothes swap evening for women, at The Carlton in Maryport on Saturday 24 October from 6pm to 9pm. Tickets are £7 and guests can bring up to 10 items.
Cumbrian-raised artist Jade Melany is exhibiting her oil paintings at the Whitehaven Town Council Gallery on Queen Street from Monday 19 October, with a meet-the-artist session on Thursday 22 October.
Rosehill Theatre at Moresby, near Whitehaven, is adding evening film screenings with every ticket at £6. The first is the D-Day drama Pressure on Wednesday 21 October at 7pm.
PRODA, the American protein soda company co-founded by Egremont-born Peaky Blinders actor Matthew Postlethwaite, has brought in Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel as co-founders. He says the idea began with his grandmother back home in Egremont.
Seventy years after the Queen opened Calder Hall at Sellafield, the Beacon Museum in Whitehaven is holding a free exhibition from 19 to 25 October and asking people to bring photographs, memorabilia and memories.
More than 60 people joined a 5K run in Whitehaven on Thursday 15 October to celebrate the first anniversary of the free 180 Run Club, its biggest turnout so far.
Cumberland's family hubs in Workington, Whitehaven, Maryport, Egremont and Flimby are running free Halloween stay and play, family fun and youth sessions during the October half-term, from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October.
Members of the British and Irish Bryological Society surveyed high ground around Helvellyn and Fairfield, hosted by the Lake District National Park. They recorded a moss new to England, and several species not seen in Westmorland for more than fifty years.
The Carlisle International Market is in the pedestrianised city centre from Thursday 27 August to Monday 31 August 2026, with food, crafts and a civic proclamation at the Market Cross.
Stage one of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women started and finished in Cockermouth on 19 August, running 158.9km through Whitehaven, Workington, Maryport and the Solway.
West Cumbria will see around 88% of the Sun covered at peak around 7.06pm on 12 August — local times, where to stand, and how to watch safely.
Manager Billy Barr has been actively scouting young talent at a recent showcase event in Chorley as the club prepares for a highly anticipated friendly against Carlisle United.
The Carnegie Singers entertained Saturday shoppers with an impromptu performance featuring songs from Fishermen's Friends and Abba ahead of their summer concert.
Workington Town RLFC secured a decisive 40-14 win over Hunslet at the Fibrus Community Stadium, with Jake Carter earning Man of the Match honours.
Saturday Night at the Movies at Moorclose Theatre, 4 July — Sethera Brass, Teth3ra Strings, soloists and raffle prizes. £12 on the door, kids free.