Cumbria’s Living Heritage, a dynamic group of Cumbrian heritage attractions, museums and historic homes and gardens, is ready to encourage local residents and visiting British staycationers to go ‘pottering about’ in search of Cumbria’s vibrant past and present.
The group celebrates its 9th anniversary in 2022 – a milestone traditionally celebrated with pottery. Certainly, this is a year when having a potter around Cumbrian heritage will be extremely fulfilling, with new things happening at the 17 venues involved with Cumbria’s Living Heritage, links to Hadrian’s Wall’s 1900thbirthday to explore and numerous royal associations to relish, in Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee year.
With so many heritage attractions so closely grouped together geographically, and with amazing, entertaining and educational things to appreciate, Cumbria’s Living Heritage is boldly suggesting it offers the culture and heritage loving family the best ROIIF (Return on Investment in Fuel) – of any UK region.
Cumbria’s Living Heritage is a launchpad for brilliant days out, whether you wish to know more about some of the great figures associated with the Lake District, such as poet William Wordsworth, frequent Lakes visitor Alfred Lord Tennyson, author Beatrix Potter or philosopher John Ruskin, or want to explore where Hadrian’s Wall began its 73-mile journey, before moving into Northumberland.
It helps the visitor appreciate the region’s association with transformative events, such as the Ice Age, through incredible geological assets. It also explores links to hugely talented and renowned artists, some of whom lived and worked in the area and others who just fell in love with it, particularly when the Lake District became the Victorian era’s holidaying hotspot.
It explores the region’s shaping during the Industrial Revolution and the legacy that Manchester-based mill owners and early industrialists had on the Lake District’s culture. You can even examine how the insatiable desire to explore the landscape from the water helped develop motorised water transport, heritage examples of which can be enjoyed today at the Windermere Jetty Museum.
Cumbria’s Living Heritage members showcase Cumbria’s associations with everyone from King Arthur to the Duke of Wellington, whilst the Lakeland Motor Museum helps petrol-heads engage in hero worship, whether their icon is Joey Dunlop or Donald or Malcolm Campbell. They introduce garden lovers to some of the UK’s most amazing gardens, where rare species and ancient topiary trees wow. Their tearooms and restaurants also offer some incredible culinary experiences, for those wanting a brew with a view.
Cumbria’s Living Heritage intertwines the past with the present and its venues are the backdrop for extraordinary and enriching festivals and events. In 2022, this could be said to be the Roman Muncaster Exhibition at Muncaster, the ‘To the Edges of Empire’ Roman exhibition at Tullie House Museum, World Topiary Day at Levens Hall and Gardens, the ceramics festival, Potfest, at Hutton-in-the-Forest, or the new ‘Folk Fell’ folk music festival at Holker Hall and Gardens, but there are many more besides.
Chairman of the group, Peter Frost-Pennington, says: “This is a year in which we should encourage people to potter around, explore what they’ve missed during the pandemic and make the most of their fuel expenditure, by visiting an area with so many different cultural attractions within a relatively compact geographical area.
“When all is set against the backdrop of the Lake District fells and in a county with two UNESCO World Heritage Sites – one celebrating its 1900th birthday in 2022 – we feel we are very much the county in which to potter, if you want a cultural experience that interprets the past and enriches the present, as well as nurturing your culturally adventurous spirit, whatever the weather.”
To find out more about the 17 members within the group, you can visit www.cumbriaslivingheritage.co.ukwhere you will find details of: Abbot Hall Art Gallery (Kendal); Askham Hall (Penrith); Blackwell – The Arts & Crafts House (Windermere); Brantwood, John Ruskin’s Home (Coniston); Brockhole (Windermere); Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens (Penrith); Holker Hall & Gardens (Cark-in-Cartmel); Hutton-in-the-Forest (Penrith); Keswick Museum (Keswick); Lakeland Motor Museum (Backbarrow); Levens Hall & Gardens (Levens, near Kendal); Mirehouse & Gardens (Keswick); Muncaster Castle (Ravenglass); Rydal Mount (Rydal); Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery (Carlisle); Windermere Jetty Museum (Windermere); Wordsworth Grasmere (Grasmere).
