whn - Whitehaven

This area of Lowca had a coal mine, seen on the hill behind (covered by the waste tips) and the Lowca Engineering Works and foundry either side of a small beck, on the shore line there appears to be a small, now silted up, dock. The beach has large amounts of foundry waste. This site had various companies who built bridges (eg at Ravenglass), iron ships (the first Iron ship launched fromCumbria - by the name of Lowca) and over 200 locomotives in total, firstly by Tulk & Ley (who built Cramptons for South Eastern Railway amongst others) who were taken over by Fletcher Jennings in 1857. (five of the latter company's products survive in the UK - including the eponymous Talyllyn at Towyn, Mid Wales - out of nine preserved, mostly narrow guage except Captain Baxter, which Standard gauge). There was a disastrous fire in 1912 and the company, by then "The New Lowca Engineering Co Ltd", was wound up in 1927 after over a decade in a moribund state. Information from various sources

This is a view of Wellington Pit in working order, the castle design influence can be seen in several places. The only visible remains today (2018) from this view is the Candlestick - the ventilation "chimney" to the left. After the pit closed in 1932 the site was cleared, with the demolition rubble and scrap dumped onto the West Beach. During some recent winter storms the sea has eroded the material and exposed the base of the tower, as ringed in this view. See the view toggled by the note - top right hand corner. As an archive shot, and date is ???? - this is obv not my image ...

Oblique aerial view of the harbour at Whitehaven. [with a little research i can probably put a date on this] . not my image

This odd couple are a fixture around the marina in Whitehaven. The white (domestic) one has a reputation for aggression, but recently seems to have calmed down.

Whitehaven marina had an Icelandic visitor on Sunday, 24th February 2019.

Found on the Outer Harbour beach (Whitehaven). Commonly known as a Mermaid's Purse, this is a chondrichthyes. It was empty, but probably from Skate or another ray - not a dogfish, as those are smaller as well as much longer than they are wider. £1 coin for scale. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_case_(Chondrichthyes)

Extreme High Spring Tide. [30th September 2019] There is sufficient water in the sea lock to overtop the inner gates, although the marina is already quite full. (It is usual to allow some exchange of water, usually accomplished during "free flow" when both sets of gates are opened. With a tide this high, the gates are closed during the highest part - so there are two "free flow" sessions)

Knitting club, rather unkindly, refers to a group of youngsters who have been learning to row in these two boats. We did see them on their early attempts and after dedicated practice, some have managed to acquire the skill. As I know to my cost, teaching others rowing in a group setting is not as easy as some teams make it look.

Trains cancelled while Network Rail sort out a "little" problem of the sea washing away a bit of the trackbed between Whitehaven and Workington. Image from NR, dated 13th March 2020. One of the problems besetting the rail system has been extreme weather events impacting Victorian civil engineering. Not My Image. Fair Use & Comment.

Autumn (Sept 2019) high Spring tides. No beach ! Compare the low tide view of these steps that allow access to the outer harbour beach.

A very wide expanse of sand (& some mud) in the outer harbour at Whitehaven. Low tide just about as low as it gets on the Autumn "spring tides" ... [tide table ...] - if you look very carefully at the far side of the harbour, you can just see the line of the deep water channel leading to the sea lock. The clouds and hills in the distance are in Scotland, the far shore of the Solway Firth.

Cormorant just resting on the edge of the "Coast to Coast" slipway [sign to the right] fro some reason the usual flocks of seabirds and swans seem to be absent. There is also a lot of water in the marina.

Most of the crew from Workington's lifeboats are in and around Whitehaven Marina this morning, accompanied by boats from their flank stations. A mixture of training exercise and displays for anyone who wants to watch. Currently, how to get into an inflated liferaft and pull it across the harbour. A serious exercise, but accompanied by a certain amount of good humour. All this activity was followed by a special, seasonal, meal for the crews ...

Ben looking for the car, after we've had a splendid meal at Wasdale Head Inn. He's found it ! We were looking the other way, at Great Gable when he went trotting off to look for "Honey" [a pale gold Rover 25]

Yacht heading out for a sail on New Year's Eve, passing the lighthouses and watched by a selection of dogs and their humans ...

The complications of having a film unit around the harbour.

One of three images of WW1 Remembrance poppies outside The Beacon, Whitehaven just before 11/11 in 2018.

One of three images of WW1 Remembrance poppies outside The Beacon, Whitehaven just before 11/11 in 2018.