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Cleator Moor town developed rapidly in the 19th Century, as the industrial revolution demanded more and more coal, limestone and high grade iron ore. Cleator Moor and all the villages around it - Frizington, Rowrah, Keekle, Bigrigg - were a maze of railways and mines which produced the materials for iron works in Cleator Moor and Workington. Early in the 20th Century supplies began to decline. Some of the materials mined in the area were exported from the port at Whitehaven.
In the Market Square are three sculptures by Conrad Atkinson, an artist of international repute who was born in Cleator Moor in 1940. They are a memorial to the once thriving mining industry. The three sculptures represent the Miner, the Phoenix and the Hand.
A hundred yards or so from the Market Square, in the Whitehaven direction, is a car park by the West Cumbria Cycle Network, using the old railway line from Whitehaven to Ennerdale. This forms part of the Sustrans C2C Cycle Route, from Whitehaven to Sunderland. At the entrance points to the track are metal sculptures designed by the children from local primary schools.
The Phoenix Bridge over the Cycleway
Artwork on the cycleway
The Cycleway heading towards Ennerdale.
Outside the library is a blue plaque reminding us that the artist L.S. Lowry often stayed in Cleator Moor. He painted several pictures of buildings, including the Cowles fish and chip shop opposite the library, the former Westminster Bank, and the Wath Brow Church.
The only remaining iron ore mine is Florence Mine at Egremont. The last coal mine, Haig Colliery at Whitehaven closed a few years ago. The remaining buildings at the pit head have been renovated to make a mining museum and heritage centre.
As well as at these two mining heritage centres, examples of various minerals mined in Cleator Moor and other nearby mines may be seen at the Natural History Museum in London.
For information about the history of Cleator Moor see Tom Duffy's site at www.themoor.ukf.net.
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The War Memorial sculpture by Colin Telfer in Cleator Moor Square shows a nurse tending a wounded soldier, and is dedicated to those whose lives were sacrificed in all conflicts. |
Cleator Moor. Market square top right.
Looking towards Ennerdale. Market square left centre.
The Market Square, with the library, civic hall and the old Coop Flour Mill.
Looking towards Whitehaven and the coast
Meadley reservoir, Cleator Moor, the coast and the Solway Firth, from Dent Fell
Photo by Ann Bowker
Aerial photos by Simon Ledingham.
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