Cumbria Leasing

Did You Know?

After moving to Lakeland Potter began farming and breeding Herdwick Sheep, sheep that are actually completely unique to Cumbria. The Herdwick Sheep is a particularly tough breed which enables them to survive on the exposed fell tops in Cumbria; they are distinctive by their dark wool.

William Wordsworth probably the most famous, grew up in Cockermouth and Cumbria was actually very influential in his work. Another was Beatrix Potter who fell in love with the unspoilt surroundings of the region and moved from London.

Many folks are familiar with the “Yan, tan, tethera” sheep counting language used in Cumbria, but the Cumbrian dialect (now sadly in decline) is pretty much a language in its own right.  During World War Two a local gent who joined the Royal Navy was stationed in Iceland – he spoke with a strong Cumbrian dialect and apparently had little trouble conversing with the locals.

Mildred Gale – George Washington’s paternal grandmother is buried in Cumbria.  She was born in Virginia but married a shipping merchant who traded on ships between Virginia and Whitehaven (which was a very busy and important port at that time).  She’s buried in St Nicholas’ churchyard, though the exact location of the grave isn’t known.

The Solway Junction Railway connected the village of Bowness-On-Solway on the Cumbrian coast with the town of Annan in Scotland, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was damaged repeatedly by the weather, and then eventually demolished in 1934. One of the alleged reasons for its demolition was the number of drunken scots who fell from the bridge on their way back to Scotland, where alcohol was banned on Sundays.

Just like the Inuit people have lots of words for snow, we have lots of words for rain, including “mizzling” (drizzling rain), “syling” (heavy rain), “hossing” (slightly heavier rain), “stotting” (very heavy rain), and “hoyin it doown” (really heavy rain).

You may have noticed that there are two Granges in Cumbria – the one up near Keswick and Grange-over-Sands in the south – but until 1858 they were both just called Grange (a name usually indicating a nearby granary).  When the Reverend Wilson Rigg arrived in the southern Grange, after an eventful coach journey across Morecambe Bay sands, he quickly got fed up of his mail getting misdirected to Keswick Grange, so he changed the name of the town to Grange-over-Sands to distinguish between the two.

Gurning, also known as “pulling a silly face”, is considered an art form in Egremont, Cumbria where the World Gurning Championship takes place each year. It’s most famous winner, Peter Jackman, took the competition so seriously that he had all of his teeth removed in order to be able to manipulate his face better.