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Carlisle (/kɑːrˈlaɪl/ kar-LYLE, locally /ˈkɑːrlaɪl/ KAR-lyle;^[1] from Cumbric: Caer Luel;^[2][3] Scots: Cairel, Cairl, Caeril;^[4][5] Scottish Gaelic: Cathair Luail^[4]) is a border^[6][7] city and the county town of Cumbria, as well as the administrative centre of the City of Carlisle district in North West England. Carlisle is located 8 miles (13 km) south of the Scottish border^[8] at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the largest settlement in the county of Cumbria and serves as the administrative centre for both Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council. Carlisle is also in the historic county of Cumberland. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Carlisle was 71,773, with 100,734 living in the wider city. Ten years later, at the 2011 census, the city's population had risen to 75,306, with 107,524 in the wider city.^[9]

The early history of Carlisle is marked by its status as a Roman settlement, established to serve the forts on Hadrian's Wall.^[10] During the Middle Ages, because of its proximity to the Kingdom of Scotland, Carlisle became an important military stronghold; Carlisle Castle, still relatively intact, was built in 1092 by William Rufus, and once served as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots in 1568. The castle now houses the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and the Border Regiment Museum. In the early 12th century, Henry I allowed the foundation of a priory in Carlisle. The town gained the status of a city, when its diocese was formed in 1133 and the priory became Carlisle Cathedral.

The introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution began a process of socioeconomic transformation in Carlisle, which developed into a densely populated mill town. This, combined with its strategic position, allowed for the development of Carlisle as an important railway town, with seven railway companies sharing Carlisle railway station.

Nicknamed the Great Border City,^[11] Carlisle today is the main cultural, commercial and industrial centre in the Borderlands. It is home to the main campuses of the University of Cumbria and a variety of museums and heritage centres.

Egremont is a small market town, which has held a market charter since 1267. It has a wide main street, overlooked by the remains of a Norman Castle.

Egremont Castle was built about 1130. and stands on a mound above the River Ehen. The ditches are well preserved. Part of the wall and the gatehouse are in a reasonable state of repair. The massive wall at the end of the outer bailey was part of the Great Hall. Lowes Court Gallery shows a wide range of paintings, prints and craft work. There are monthly exhibitions of new and established artists. The Gallery is also the Tourist Information Centre providing local information and an accommodation booking service. St Michael & St Mary’s Church, a minor gem of Victorian gothic architecture, was built in the Early English style in 1881, to a design by T.L Banks of Whitehaven, replacing an earlier church on the same site. Opposite Lowes Court Gallery are two sculptures by Colin Telfer commemorating the towns history of iron ore mining. They are made from a mixture of iron ore dust from the nearby Florence Mine, and resin. About a mile south of the town is Florence Mine which was the last working iron ore mine in Europe, and part of the rich mining history of West Cumbria. Now disused, the Florence Iron Ore Mine houses the Florence Arts Centre – a multipurpose arts centre and a hub for the arts in West Cumbria with a Gallery, exhibition spaces, an auditorium and a small café.

Throughout the year the centre holds a wide range of activities including art and craft workshops, live music gigs, film screenings, theatre, stand-up comedy and more. There is also a small studio onsite where the Florence Paintmakers are using the raw iron ore pigment from the mine to make artists’ materials including watercolours, oil paints, pastels etc in their bespoke colour ‘Egremont Red’. The centre is open 10am to 4pm every day from Wednesday to Sunday, and in the evening for events.

Cockermouth is one of only 51 towns in Great Britain designated as a ‘Gem’ town and is, therefore, recommended for preservation by the state as part of our national heritage.

Lying just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park, Cockermouth is an attractive market town not overwhelmed by the tourist atmosphere of Keswick and Ambleside. The National Park boundary encircles nearly the whole eastern side of the town. Cockermouth grew up at the confluence of the two most important rivers in the area. Here the River Cocker, flowing out of the lakes Buttermere, Crummock and Loweswater, meets the River Derwent on its journey from Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite lakes to the sea at Workington.

Loweswater, Crummock Water and Buttermere, beautiful gem-like small lakes, are located between 7 and 11 miles from Cockermouth. Bassenthwaite Lake is just 6 miles and Derwentwater is 13 miles. All easily accessible for day trips. The Romans built the fort of Deventio at Papcastle, about a mile from the present town, at a meeting place of roads from Maryport, Carlisle and Penrith. The settlement is one of the largest Romano-British settlements ever found in northern England and was unearthed during the 2009 floods.

A programme of archaeological research was undertaken in the area around Cockermouth and Papcastle, focusing on Roman activity related to the Roman fort of Derventio and the Derwent river valley. Project was called ‘Discovering Derventio’ and ran from July 2012 for 3 years.

Cockermouth Castle was built in the 13th century, but little of that remains because of the efforts of Robert the Bruce. The majority of today’s ruins date from 1360 to 1370, though there have been some modern additions. The castle is privately owned, and not normally open to the public. Tours are often available during the Cockermouth Festival in July.

Quarrying and mining for lead and iron were later developments outside the town. Today’s visitors are attracted by the town’s calm, its nearness to some of the more peaceful lakes and mountains, and the fact that Dorothy and William Wordsworth were born here. The large Georgian house in the Main Street where they were born, is now in the care of the National Trust.

Another famous son of Cockermouth was Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on ‘The Bounty’. He was born about a mile from the town at Eaglesfield in 1764, and attended the same school as Wordsworth. John Dalton, born in 1766 also at Eaglesfield, was one of the most brilliant scientists of his age, and was the originator of the atomic theory.

The modern town of Maryport was the creation of the Senhouse family in the 18th century, who developed the small fishing village into a coal port. It has an aquarium, maritime museum, Roman museum and The Wave Arts and Sports centre. Like Whitehaven, it was a planned town with terraces of cottages built on a grid system, with employment centering on coal mining and ship building. The history of the town can be explored at the Maritime Museum, the Senhouse Roman Museum, and in the harbour area. The Lake District Coast Aquarium is on the harbour. The Wave Maryport is an entertainment, conference, and community centre in the heart of Maryport’s historic harbour area. Maryport was the site of a Roman port, built to complement the harbour at Ravenglass to the south. A nearby fort, dating from the 5th century, was one of a series of fortifications constructed by the Romans in this area. Many of the Roman remains are now in the Senhouse Roman Museum, once a Royal Naval Reserve Station.

Aspatria, [the place of St Patrick’s ash tree’], is a small town in the north west of Cumbria, between Maryport and Wigton. There has been a settlement here for over 3000 years, and it lies on the route of a busy Roman road. The town is best known for its church of St Kentigern. An avenue of yew trees leads to the site where a Norman church once stood. It was demolished to build the larger stone St Kentigern, in 1846-48 in the Early English style. In Aspatria there is a large Creamery. The first creamery acquired by the Milk Marketing Board in 1934, Aspatria is Dairy Crest’s most northerly manufacturing site producing up to 80 tonnes of cheese per day, including mild, medium and mature cheddar, as well as Double Gloucester.

Penrith was once the capital of Cumbria. The attractive town is the hub of the Eden Valley. It is now an important shopping centre, with a good mix of traditional shops and sophisticated arcades. Leading off Penrith’s main streets are many old yard entrances with interesting inscriptions on the lintels.

A large town acting as a regional centre for the eastern Lake District, Penrith lies just outside the National Park. The nearest lake is Ullswater. Just 6 miles to the south-west this is the Lake District’s second largest lake and offers a variety of watersports and other outdoor activities.

Penrith was once the capital of Cumbria. The attractive town is the hub of the Eden Valley. It is now an important shopping centre, with a good mix of traditional shops and sophisticated arcades. Leading off Penrith’s main streets are many old yard entrances with interesting inscriptions on the lintels.

A large town acting as a regional centre for the eastern Lake District, Penrith lies just outside the National Park. The nearest lake is Ullswater. Just 6 miles to the south-west this is the Lake District’s second largest lake and offers a variety of watersports and other outdoor activities.

Penrith has a rich history. Previously its position on the strategic route to and from Scotland resulted, since Roman times, in its development as a military centre.

It was in the 9th and 10th centuries that the town became the capital of Cumbria – a semi-dependent state which, until 1070 AD formed part of the Kingdom of Scotland and Strathclyde. The two oldest streets, Burrowgate and Sandgate, date from the 13th Century.

The imposing ruins of Penrith Castle have an intriguing past. It was begun in 1399, when a stone wall was added to an earlier pele tower. The castle was improved and added to over the next 70 years, becoming a royal fortress for Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The Normans built Brougham Castle, and a substantial part of the castle remains today.

A legendary giant and King of All Cumbria, is said to be buried in the giant’s grave in St Andrew’s Churchyard. The four hogback stones surrounding the grave are said to represent wild boar he killed in nearby Inglewood Forest. The Penrith Museum and Tourist Information Centre are housed in the former Robinson’s School, an Elizabethan building which was altered in 1670 and used as a school until the early 1970’s. The recently refurbished museum covers the history, geology and archaeology of the Penrith area.

High above the town, on top of Beacon Hill, is Penrith Beacon, a monument built in 1719, on a spot where beacons have been lit in times of war and emergency since the time of Henry VIII. You can walk up to the beacon, and from there get a magnificent view on a clear day across the Eden Valley to the hills of Lakeland.

Penrith railway station is close to the centre of Penrith, and directly opposite the ruins of Penrith Castle.

Brampton, with a population of some 4,300, is built of local sandstone and situated in a hollow formed by glacial action which took place during the ice-age. In the centre of the town is the octagonal Moot Hall, built in 1817, with an external staircase to its upper entrance, pointed windows and a square turret. The building now houses the Tourist Information Centre. East of the town is an exceptionally large motte, about 135 feet high. On it is a statue of the 7th Earl of Carlisle. St Martin’s Church is famous as the only church designed by the Pre-Raphaelite architect Philip Webb, and contains one of the most exquisite sets of stained glass windows designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and executed in the William Morris studio. The Old Parish Church, on the outskirts of the town, was built from stone from Hadrian’s Wall, and was in use until 1878, when the new church replaced it. Only the Chancel now remains. Talkin Tarn Country Park lies two miles south-east of Brampton on the B6413 Castle Carrock road. There is a 65 acre lake set amid 120 acres of farmland and woodland. The tarn is an ideal place for active recreation or a quiet stroll through the mature woodlands. About two miles south of Brampton is Gelt Woods, a delightful walk, and also an RSPB nature reserve. In the woods is a rock with an inscription carved by a Roman soldier in the 3rd Century. Hadrian’s Wall is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. It stretches seventy-three miles from Wallsend near Newcastle, across the neck of England to the Solway in North West Cumbria. Within Cumbria are Banks Turret, near Brampton, and Birdoswald Roman Fort, a few miles away. To the East is Lanercost Priory, founded about 1166 by Henry II in 1166. When completed in 1220, canons came from the priory in Norfolk, and remained for some 370 years until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, by Henry VIII. Brampton railway station is on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, serving the town of Brampton. The station is located about a mile southeast of the town, near the village of Milton. In former times a short branch line ran from the station into Brampton town centre. This line closed in 1923, and the route turned into a public footpath.

Longtown is situated on the English/Scottish border, three miles from Gretna Green and six from Carlisle. Longtown has a turbulent history that is very interesting when explored. It has a population of about 3000. Unlike many towns, which grew from smaller villages or settlements, Longtown was planned and built in the late 18th century, by the local landowners, the Grahams of Netherby. Dr Robert Graham laid out the town with the wide tree-lined streets you see today. He established the Graham Arms as a coaching inn to cater for travellers and mail from Edinburgh across the toll bridge. Regular passengers on the coach south were Esk salmon. On the north bank of the River Esk is the site of the largest sheep market in England. Cattle are also auctioned here. Longtown is a very good location for tourists looking at border history. There is a great deal of history around Longtown, which lies at the heart of the “Debatable Lands” and is close to the location of the Battle of the Solway Moss. Arthuret Church, which is on the outskirts of Longtown, dates from 1150. It was originally served by the monks of Jedbergh. The present Church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels was built in 1609 in a late Gothic style. The site of Arthuret parish church is strongly linked to the legend of King Arthur!

Near Arthuret Church lies the site of the famous 1542 Battle of Solway Moss, fought between the Scottish and the English armies. James V had defeated the English at Haddon Rig in August 1542 and then decided to invade England with approximately 10,000 men. Sir Thomas Wharton, with only 3000 English, met him at Solway Moss.

Gretna is a planned town built during the First World War while nearby Gretna Green is famous for being the marriage capital of the UK.

The town of Gretna was built during the First World War to provide homes for 30,000 employees of a munitions factory that was the biggest in the world - an incredible nine miles long! Learn the story of the factory at The Devil's Porridge in Eastriggs, an exhibition named after the nickname given to the explosives made at the factory.

Gretna Green is famous for marriages with around 5,000 couples tying the knot here and in Gretna every year. Historically it was to Gretna Green that young English runaway couples eloped so that they could be married ‘over the anvil’ from the age of 16. Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop, where couples have come to marry since 1754, is still here.

Both locations have shopping and eating out facilities.