The following records the memories of local people inspired by the historic aerial photographs and is designed to be read in conjunction with the Cockermouth Town Trail leaflet. (See numbers in brackets). 1
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From Quaker Bridge (5) a short detour along South Street will bring you to the old Doctor’s surgery now a private residence named Fletcher House, after one of the Doctors who used to work there. A neighbour recalled surgical operations being carried out at the house.
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Two doors down from Cocktons Yard (10) is the Toy Shop. The yard to the rear of the shop was used by Mitchell the Auctioneer as his first auction ring. There was a balcony immediately to the rear of the shop where he would stand and auction stock, led into the yard through the archway. This could have been the site of the UK’s first ever auction ring. After passing Wordsworth House (11) another short detour, this time along Crown St, takes you past the Trout Hotel which was once the private home of the Eland family.
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On the opposite side of the road is the mock Grecian Villa, now The Manor House Hotel and Restaurant, it was once the site of the local Magistrates Court. 4
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From “the Sands” looking across the river Derwent you can see the Memorial Gardens. The second bank of ground was built up after the 1938 floods by the owner of Bridge House. The large building on the other side of the footbridge is the Derwent Mill. Linen from this mill was used to make early Main Street, Cockermouth, 1929 (EPW029259) ©English Heritage aeroplane wings. The triangle of land to the West of the mill was originally a drain field for the flax used in the mill. The 1929 photographs As you walk from the footbridge to the brewery (16) you pass the site of an old show it as allotments for local people but it is now the site of the Wakefield Road 9 windmill. The windmill was built here due to the fact that all the watermill licences car park. The tall chimney was demolished by Fred Dibnah in the 1980s despite the on this stretch of the river had been taken up and no more were allowed. The attempts of a would be arsonist to beat him to it the night before. windmill had a mechanism at the base to turn it according to the wind direction. The footbridge (15). The aerial photographs show the original 1897 road bridge The castle (17) is now barely visible from the brewery, but in 1929 and 1947 the over the River Cocker that was destroyed in the 1938 flood. 10 walls would have been clearly visible as shown in the photographs. The castle was used as a convalescent hospital during WW1. The land at the confluence of the rivers once contained several buildings including a cottage which was used as a wash house. With all the industry in Cockermouth it must have been very busy as early photographs of the area often show lines of washing hanging out to dry.
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The photographs clearly show Cockermouth Hall (19) which was demolished in 1973.
Cockermouth from Above Cockermouth Town Trail 7
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The town centre, Cockermouth, 1929 (EPW029252) ©English Heritage
This project has been made possible due to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and support from The Foyle Foundation and other donors. The website currently features 95,000 images and as there is little information about the details in the images, the website provides the opportunity to share and record your memories and knowledge about the places shown in the collection.
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The Derwent Mills (Linen Thread Factory) Cockermouth, 1929 (EPW029255) ©English Heritage
This leaflet was produced by The Cockermouth & District Civic Trust 2014.
The Market Place and environs, Cockermouth, 1929 (EPW029256) ©English Heritage
The Britain from Above website features images from the Aerofilms collection, a unique aerial photographic archive of international importance. The collection includes 1.26 million negatives and more than 2000 photograph albums. Dating from 1919 to 2006, the total collection presents an unparalleled picture of the changing face of Britain in the 20th century and includes the largest and most significant number of air photographs of Britain taken before 1939. The information on this leaflet was collected from the people of Cockermouth during an exhibition of photographs of the town taken in 1929 and 1947. The exhibition was part of the Britain from Above “Borders” project and the four images included in this leaflet are reproduced by kind permission of English Heritage. For further information about the Britain from Above project please visit the website where you can find photographs of many areas of the UK and add your own memories, stories or anecdotes to this growing historical archive. www.britainfromabove.org.uk
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