introduction to maryport...

Those more active can try coastal sailing or sea fishing, or head inland for a round of golf or several laps of karting! A lively programme of festivals including the annual carnival in July and the highly acclaimed Blues Festival enlivens the summer atmosphere.

This well-preserved Georgian town has recently undergone extensive enhancement. The Harbour Lights artworks and improvements to the North Quay and promenade area have harmonised Maryport's maritime heritage with the needs of modern recreation and aesthetics. On the opposite bank, the South Quay area is now a pleasing complex of dockside attractions, boat moorings, pubs, restaurants and attractive new housing.

To the north of Maryport is evidence of the salt-panning industry of Crosscanonby, the village was named after the Augustinian canons of Carlisle cathedral. Inland are the coal mining towns of Crosby, Dearham and Broughton Moor. To the south is the coastal village of Flimby, also a coal mining area but formerly a monastic holding of Holm Cultram Abbey. Towards Cockermouth is Great Broughton on the banks of the Derwent, and lastly Tallentire, its name suitably meaning ‘end of the land'.

The Mutiny on the Bounty
On 28 April 1789, Fletcher Christian and other sailors on the Bounty overthrew Captain Bligh and some of his crew and cast them adrift on a boat. The mutineers eventually reached the Pitcairn Islands where most were murdered. It is uncertain whether Fletcher Christian was killed or whether he escaped back to England, but it is believed that he and a few other crew members founded a colony on the Pitcairn Islands, which is still inhabited by his descendants today.

Ewanrigg Hall near Maryport was the home of the Christian family, although Fletcher Christian himself was born at Moorland Close Farm, Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth. Christian Street in Maryport is named after the family.