News and Projects

Here you will find regular updates on the following, click each link to jump to that section:

Recent News

Our summer exhibition on Market Place and the surrounding area has come to an end and we would like to thank everyone who was involved in making it a success. Thanks also to the many visitors who seemed to enjoy the exhibition and to those who provided helpful comments, interesting questions, and those who donated certain photos or artefacts. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

We are still looking for photographs and personal accounts of November 2009's floods to store in our archive. We have received many accounts which detail the personal impact that the floods had, and we are keen to collect more. This will be an important record in years to come - please get in touch.

Ted Petty, our Chairman since 1992, has decided he needs to step down and Eric Cass has kindly stepped into the breach. The Museum Group would like to thank Ted for his leadership and words of wisdom over the years. He has made a great contribution to the success of the group and we hope to welcome Ted still to meetings and exhibitions whenever he wishes.

November 2009 saw the publication of a new book by Gloria Edwards,’The War Years: Life in Cockermouth and at the Moota POW Camp’, which examines Cockermouth’s experience of the years from 1939 to 1945, and life immediately after the second World War. The book draws on Record Office documents, newspaper articles, International Red Cross documents, as well as first-hand accounts and photographs. See Publications section for further details.

New acquisitions include many photographic albums detailing school-life at the former Cockermouth Grammar School from the 1940s onwards: theatrical productions, form photographs, sports teams, outings. We hope to be able to put these on display at future exhibitions.

Upcoming Events

February 2012 Slide show Changing Cockermouth at Kirkland's Residential Home

13th February 2012 an illustrated talk The changing face of Cockermouth at Dalton Court Residential Home

March 2012 Embleton W.I. Talk and Slide Show

1st March 2012 an illustrated talk A brief history of Cockermouth for the Eaglesfield Thursday Club

We are going to have a display at the Cockermouth Georgian Fair 2012 which will be 5th May

June 2012 Slide show for the Cockermouth Festival. Date,time and venue will be announced shortly

Our summer exhibition for 2012 will be 6th August to 2nd September (please note these dates have changed since originally announced) - topic yet to be finalised

The 2012 Bernard Bradbury Memorial Lecture will take place at the Kirkgate Centre on Friday 28th September. The lecture will focus on family life in Victorian Cumberland, focusing on Cockermouth and district. This is a joint venture between the Lorton & Derwent Fells Local History Society, the Cockermouth Museum Group, and the Civic Trust. Further details later in the year.

October 2012 Greysouthen W.I. Talk & Slide show - A look at the history of Cockermouth

7th November 2012 The Civic Trust, Cockermouth - an illustrated talk The Changing face of Cockermouth 1870 to the 1970s

Projects

We have an ongoing project to record all the memorial inscriptions in Cockermouth Cemetery, which will provide a useful tool for family historians in particular. The older half of the cemetery has been completed by a team of volunteers – many thanks to them for their resilience in the face of inclement weather! This project has taken much longer than originally envisaged, but we are confident that it will prove to be a very useful resource. Work will begin shortly on recording the headstones in the other half of the Cemetery – any volunteers will be warmly welcomed! Current listings can be found in Resources

Cockermouth's Theatrical History - A Pictorial History - A link to this site can be found in Resources

We are currently undertaking a major cataloguing project of all our artefacts and photographs (using a cataloguing programme called Catalist) which, when completed, will make locating items for exhibitions and research much easier and quicker.


		News and Projects Here you will find regular updates on the following, click each link to jump to that section: Recent News Upcoming Events Projects Recent News Our summer exhibition on Market Place and the surrounding area has come to an end and we would like to thank everyone who was involved in making it a success. Thanks also to the many visitors who seemed to enjoy the exhibition and to those who provided helpful comments, interesting questions, and those who donated certain photos or artefacts. We look forward to seeing you again next year! We are still looking for photographs and personal accounts of November 2009's floods to store in our archive. We have received many accounts which detail the personal impact that the floods had, and we are keen to collect more. This will be an important record in years to come - please get in touch. Ted Petty, our Chairman since 1992, has decided he needs to step down and Eric Cass has kindly stepped into the breach. The Museum Group would like to thank Ted for his leadership and words of wisdom over the years. He has made a great contribution to the success of the group and we hope to welcome Ted still to meetings and exhibitions whenever he wishes. November 2009 saw the publication of a new book by Gloria Edwards,’The War Years: Life in Cockermouth and at the Moota POW Camp’, which examines Cockermouth’s experience of the years from 1939 to 1945, and life immediately after the second World War. The book draws on Record Office documents, newspaper articles, International Red Cross documents, as well as first-hand accounts and photographs. See Publications section for further details. New acquisitions include many photographic albums detailing school-life at the former Cockermouth Grammar School from the 1940s onwards: theatrical productions, form photographs, sports teams, outings. We hope to be able to put these on display at future exhibitions. Upcoming Events February 2012 Slide show Changing Cockermouth at Kirkland's Residential Home 13th February 2012 an illustrated talk The changing face of Cockermouth at Dalton Court Residential Home March 2012 Embleton W.I. Talk and Slide Show 1st March 2012 an illustrated talk A brief history of Cockermouth for the Eaglesfield Thursday Club We are going to have a display at the Cockermouth Georgian Fair 2012 which will be 5th May June 2012 Slide show for the Cockermouth Festival. Date,time and venue will be announced shortly Our summer exhibition for 2012 will be 6th August to 2nd September (please note these dates have changed since originally announced) - topic yet to be finalised The 2012 Bernard Bradbury Memorial Lecture will take place at the Kirkgate Centre on Friday 28th September. The lecture will focus on family life in Victorian Cumberland, focusing on Cockermouth and district. This is a joint venture between the Lorton & Derwent Fells Local History Society, the Cockermouth Museum Group, and the Civic Trust. Further details later in the year. October 2012 Greysouthen W.I. Talk & Slide show - A look at the history of Cockermouth 7th November 2012 The Civic Trust, Cockermouth - an illustrated talk The Changing face of Cockermouth 1870 to the 1970s Projects We have an ongoing project to record all the memorial inscriptions in Cockermouth Cemetery, which will provide a useful tool for family historians in particular. The older half of the cemetery has been completed by a team of volunteers – many thanks to them for their resilience in the face of inclement weather! This project has taken much longer than originally envisaged, but we are confident that it will prove to be a very useful resource. Work will begin shortly on recording the headstones in the other half of the Cemetery – any volunteers will be warmly welcomed! Current listings can be found in Resources Cockermouth's Theatrical History - A Pictorial History - A link to this site can be found in Resources We are currently undertaking a major cataloguing project of all our artefacts and photographs (using a cataloguing programme called Catalist) which, when completed, will make locating items for exhibitions and research much easier and quicker. Back to top of page