| Alston | |
  Alston shown within Cumbria |
|
| Population | 1,128 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Eden |
| Shire county | Cumbria |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ALSTON |
| Postcode district | CA9 |
| Dialling code | 01434 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | Penrith and The Border |
| List of places: UK • England • Cumbria | |
Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England on the River South Tyne. Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government Eden is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Penrith. Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one North West England is one of the nine official Regions of England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Carlisle postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Alston, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Beckermet, Brampton The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Cumbria Constabulary is the Home Office Police force in England covering Cumbria. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Cumbria, The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was formed on 1 July 2006 as part of Health Minister Lord Warner's plans to reduce the number of NHS North West England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Penrith and The Border is a County constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of cities towns and villages in the county of Cumbria, England. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. It is said to be the highest elevation market town in the country, at about 1000 feet (300 m) above sea level. Market town or market right is a legal term originating in the Medieval period for a European settlement that has the right to hold Markets
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Geography
The town lies on the confluence of the South Tyne and the River Nent. The landscape of the area is built up from limestone, sandstone and shale. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. Shale (also called mudstone) is a fine-grained Sedimentary rock whose original constituents were Clay minerals or Muds It is characterized by The area is rich in minerals, in particular lead deposits. Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly
The landscape has been heavily influenced by the effects of varying methods of mining over the centuries. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body
Nearby villages include Garrigill and Nenthead. Garrigill, Cumbria is a small village in the North Pennine region of the UK situated on the banks and close to the source of the River South Tyne The small village of Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages at 1500 feet
Its name is recorded in 1164-11712 as Aldeneby and in 1209 as Aldeneston, and seems to mean "the settlement or farmstead belonging to [a Viking man named] Halfdan". Halfdan ( Old Norse) or Healfdene ( Beowulf) or Haldan (Danish Latin sources (late 5th century, early 6th century
History
Early settlements
The earliest evidence of population in the area comes from pottery fragments, a gold basket-earring and flint tools found in one of two barrows excavated in 1935 (2 miles or 3 kilometres NNW of Alston at Kirkhaugh), these were dated between 2000 BC and 1700 BC. Chipped stone tools were made by Stone age peoples worldwide Paleolithic tools were relatively simple repeated small flakes being struck or pressed from a cobble A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a Mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves
Evidence of Roman activity in the area comes from the earth remains of Whitley Castle, thought to be the Roman fort (Castra) of Epiacum[1] built and rebuilt by the Sixth and Twentieth Legions between the second and third centuries. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military This is a list of Roman legions, including key facts about each legion primarily focusing on Principate (early Empire 30BC - 284AD legions for which there exists The fort's main purpose was to extract and protect lead and silver deposits in the upper reaches of the south Tyne valley. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen
Sovereignty
In the 10th century, Alston Moor was part of The Liberty of Tynedale which was an estate of the Scottish Kings within England, a situation that resulted in many years of confusion over the sovereignty of the area. Alston Moor is an area of moorland and Civil parish in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. Tynedale, is a local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. The monarch of Scotland was the Head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland.
In 1085, the Barons de Vertiponte became the first recorded Lords of the Manor, they held the moor on behalf of the kings of Scotland while the kings of England retained the mineral rights. The title of Lord of the Manor arose in the English mediaeval system of Manorialism following the Norman Conquest. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Mineral rights, mining rights, oil rights or drilling rights, are the rights to remove Minerals Oil, or sometimes Water This was confirmed in a hearing during 1279 which concluded that the miners of the area were distinct from the local population thus paying their dues to the English crown instead of Scotland. As a result the miners lived in their own self regulated communities under English protection.
In 1269, John de Balliol, the king of Scotland invaded the north of England, as a result of this Edward 1st moved to reclaim the Scottish estates and Tynedale which included Alston Moor was taken into direct control of the English crown where it remains. Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307 popularly known as Longshanks, was a King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost
Despite the town being on the Tyne and being historically part of Tynedale the area has never been part of either Hexhamshire or Northumberland but part of Cumberland and later Cumbria. Hexhamshire was a county of northern England. County The county probably originated as one of the districts of the Kingdom of Northumbria, the Northumberland is a county in the North East of England. The non-metropolitan county of Northumberland borders Cumbria to the west Cumberland is one of the 39 Historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 (excluding Carlisle from 1915 and now forms part of Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy This was probably because the mines in the area were at one time administered from Carlisle.
Mining
Historically the area has been mined for lead, silver, zinc, coal and fluorspar. Zinc (ˈzɪŋk from Zink is a Metallic Chemical element with the symbol Zn and Atomic number 30 Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is a Mineral composed of Calcium fluoride, Ca[[Fluorine F2]]
In the 13th century, the area was known as the silver mines of Carlisle—silver was found in a high proportion (up to 40 troy ounces per long ton or 1. Silver mining refers to the Resource extraction of the Precious metal element Silver by Mining. Carlisle (pronounced CARLYLE(emphasis on the first syllable is a City in northern England the largest settlement in Cumbria. Troy weight is a system of units of Mass customarily used for Precious metals Black powder, and Gemstones Named after Troyes 2 g/kg of smelted lead) and was used to create coinage in the Royal Mint established in Carlisle for the purpose. Chemical reduction, or smelting, is a form of Extractive metallurgy. The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture or mint, coins in the United Kingdom. Most mining was very small scale until the mid-18th century,
The biggest mine owner in the area was the London Lead Company; this Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) organisation with enlightened employment policies established an interest in the area during the early 1700s. The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British Lead mining company In 1745, it began construction of a school, a library, a sanitary house, a surgeon's house, a market hall with clock tower, a laundry and a 'ready-money' shop in Nenthead, four miles away. The small village of Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages at 1500 feet
The last mines closed in the 1950s but as of 2005 Ayle colliery was still active. Ayle is a village in Northumberland, England, situated to the north of Alston.
Modern industry
The area is no longer actively mined although the mining history is exploited for tourism purposes. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel
Farming
The moorland is mainly used for sheep farming however many farmers also have other enterprises, such as Bed and Breakfast accommodation
Tourism
Tourism is now a key source of income for the area. Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas characterised by low growing vegetation on Acidic soils Bed and breakfast, also known as B&B, is a term originating in the United Kingdom, but now also used all over the world for an establishment that offers accommodation The surrounding area is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Alston is noted for its cobbled streets and 17th century stone buildings. [2] The Pennine Way, the UK's first National Trail, passes through Alston. The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs 429 kilometres (268 mi from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
Shopping is remarkably good for such a small place. Shops include a whole foods shop, a Co-op supermarket, a vegetable shop, two butchers, a newsagent's which also sells hardware, an outdoor clothing shop, an organic bakery and a number of craft, gift and antique shops. "Whole Foods" redirects here See also Whole Foods Market and Whole food supplements. Co-operative Group Limited, trading as The Co-operative Group, is a United Kingdom Consumers' co-operative, and one of the world's largest consumer-owned A greengrocer is a Retail trader in Fruit and Vegetables that is in green groceries. A butcher is someone who prepares various Meats and other related goods for sale A newsagent ( British English) newsagency ( Australian English) or newsstand ( American English) is often a small business that sells Hardware is a general term that refers to the physical artifacts of a Technology. A bakery (also called baker's or bakehouse) is an establishment which produces or/and sells Bread, pies pastries Cakes Biscuits A craft is a Skill, especially involving practical arts. It may refer to a Trade or particular art An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of Antiques Antiques shops can be located either locally and with the advent
Metal working
For much of the 20th century, between 1940 and its closure in 1980, a foundry employed around 200 people. A foundry is a Factory which produces Metal Castings from either Ferrous or non-ferrous alloys The closure of this foundry increased unemployment in the area from 8. 9% to over 25%.
Currently the area's main employer is Precision Products,[3] a company that was started in 1947 by William (Bill) Ball. The company produces stainless steel and super-alloy castings, employing around 65 workers. In Metallurgy, stainless steel is defined as a Steel Alloy with a minimum of 11
Population
The population census figures show that at its peak during 1831 the population of the parish of Alston Moor was 6,858 people. Alston Moor is an area of moorland and Civil parish in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. Today that figure is about 2,000. The population of the town of Alston was 1128 according to the 2001 Census. [4] The community has its own website which is a result of the Cybermoor Project[5] which has brought the Internet to almost every home on Alston Moor, and broadband to many. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The term broadband can have different meanings in different contexts The problem of the area's relative remoteness compared to other areas of England was solved by utilising IEEE 802.11 technology to construct the network infrastructure. IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802
Landmarks and buildings of note
Town hall
The Town Hall is a focal point for the community, being a venue for many local social events. A city hall or town hall is the chief administrative building of a City or Town 's administration and usually houses the city or It also contains the tourist information centre and some local administration offices. A visitor center, centre (see Spelling differences) or visitor information centre may be A visitor center at a specific attraction
Construction of the neo-gothic building started in 1857 when Hugh Lee Pattinson laid the foundation stone. The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began The architecture was designed by A. B. Higham and the estimated costs were £2000, although the final costs were closer to £3000; these were paid for by public subscription. [6][7]
Market cross
Although the town does not hold a regular market it still maintains the legal right to do so. Sao Paulo Stock Exchangejpg|thumb| Virtual market arena where buyer and seller are not present and trade via intemediates and electronical information The market cross which acts as a focal point in the centre of town was constructed in 1983 to replace one constructed in 1863 after it was hit by a truck. A market cross is a structure used to mark a Market square in Market towns originally from Western European Architecture. [8]
A regular producers' market now takes place in the Town Hall from April to September selling food and crafts produced in Cumbria, Northumberland, and Durham, celebrating Alston's position at the crux of these three counties. Durham (ˈdʌrəm in RP, locally ˈdʏrəm is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham, England
Nent force
During the area's peak of prosperity in 1776 John Smeaton began construction of an underground drain to assist with the transport of extracted materials as well as locate new mineral seams. This article is about the 18th century civil engineer For the baggage handler involved in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, see John Smeaton (baggage The canal took 66 years to construct at a cost of £80,000, and became known as "Smeaton's Folly". In the 1830s mine manager and engineer said that it could be visited "in boats 30 feet in length, which are propelled in four feet of water by means of sticks projecting from the sides of the level; and thus may be enjoyed the singular novelty of sailing a few miles underground". It was intended to be 9 feet square but in the softer terrain was extended to 9'x16', dead level for 3. 75 miles (6 km) to allow boat use, with a rise of 35 fathoms (64 m) at Lovelady Shield and then driven into the Nenthead ground. A fathom is a unit of Length in the Imperial system (and the derived U The small village of Nenthead in the county of Cumbria is one of England's highest villages at 1500 feet The amount of ore found was disappointing, though not insignificant.
Access to the Nent force level is currently extremely difficult although efforts have been made to develop a heritage centre to make this extraordinary piece of engineering accessible to the public. A heritage centre is a Museum facility primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and Cultural information about a place and its people including
Samuel King's School
As well as having a primary school, the town is host to England's smallest secondary school (an 11–16 comprehensive) Samuel King's School. See also Primary education A primary school (from French école primaire) is an institution where children receive the first stage of Compulsory Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational Institution where the final stage of compulsory schooling known as Secondary education, takes A comprehensive school is a Secondary school and State school for children from the age of 11 to at least 16 that does not select children on the basis of academic Alston Moor has a second small primary school at Nenthead. [9]
Alston in the media
Filming locations
Marketing literature for the town frequently refers to two occasions on which the town has been used as a filming location.
The front street and market cross of the town were used as a filming location in an adaptation of Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë 's novel Jane Eyre ( 1847) has been the subject of numerous television and film adaptations. Despite three days of set preparation and two days of actual filming only a few seconds of footage were used.
The town was also adapted to resemble a seaside village where Oliver is born for the ITV TV miniseries Oliver Twist. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent A miniseries (also mini-series) in a serial Storytelling medium is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes Oliver Twist is a television mini-series produced by ITV in 1999
Millennium celebrations
To mark the millennium, a significant proportion of the population of the moor gathered in front of the market cross to pose for a commemorative photo to echo an abandoned tradition.
2005: Alston in crisis?
In August 2005, Alston made national, and indeed international, news headlines regarding the town's apparent lack of womenfolk. The news reports claim a ratio of 10 men to every woman in the town. (This is despite the 2001 Census for Alston reporting almost equal numbers of males and females in its population of 1128. [10]) A group of young men from Alston, led by a Mr. Vince Peart, began distributing leaflets across the north of England and set up the "Alston Moor Regeneration Society" (founded after a pub survey upped the men-women ratio to 17-1),[11] all in an effort to persuade women to come to Alston to find love. Vince Peart born September 30 1983 is a founder member of the Alston Moor Regeneration Society in Alston Cumbria. Articles appeared in such national media as The Daily Telegraph[12], The Guardian[13] and the BBC[14] A documentary was shown on Channel 4 on 11 October 2006. For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began
More than two years later the Guardian did a follow up article. [15] The "Alston Moor Regeneration Society" had gone national as the Villages in Crisis campaign. Alston shared first position with Bere Alston in Devon in the top 10 list of places in Britain where the imbalance appears to be at its worst. Bere Alston is a small village in the county of Devon, England. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
Transport
The area is stationed on a number of routes including the long distance footpath, the Pennine Way, and the Sea to Sea Cycle Route (C2C) Cycle Route. The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs 429 kilometres (268 mi from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire The Coast to Coast or Sea to Sea Cycle Route (C2C is Great Britain 's most popular long-distance cycle route and is based on minor roads disused railway
The town's rail link to Haltwhistle was completed in 1852 by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Company. Rundown and closure In the 1950s freight services were withdrawn from Coanwood and all the intermediate stations were unstaffed Haltwhistle is a small town in Northumberland, England, situated ten miles east of Brampton, near Hadrian's Wall, and the villages of The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, also known as the Tyne Valley Line, is a Railway line in northern England. The closure of the line was announced in 1973 and the line closed on 1 May 1976. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Part of the route, between Alston and Kirkhaugh, two and a quarter miles in length, is now operated as the narrow gauge South Tynedale Railway. A narrow gauge railway (or narrow gauge railroad) is a Railway that has a Track gauge narrower than the of Standard gauge railways The South Tynedale Railway is a Heritage railway in Cumbria and England 's highest Narrow gauge railway. The railway is particularly popular with tourists and passenger trains operate between April and October, with Santa Special trains operating on certain dates in December each year. [16]
Many of the bus services to and from Alston are operated by Wright Brothers Coaches, which has depots at Nenthead, three miles from Alston and at Blucher, near Newcastle upon Tyne, and operates an 82 mile route linking Newcastle with Keswick via Hexham, Haydon Bridge, Alston and Penrith from July to September each year. Keswick (pronounced "kez-ick" /ˈkɛzɪk/ is a Market town within the district of Allerdale, Cumbria, England. Hexham New South Wales|Hexham (constituency Hexham is a Market town in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne. Haydon Bridge is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of about 2000 Penrith is a Market town in the county of Cumbria, England. It is in the Eden Valley just north of the River Eamont, and lies less than All local bus services are now under threat of end of service as the County Council wish to remove subsidies. This will leave only the Alston to Carlisle bus in operation.
See also
The parish of Alston Moor. Alston Moor is an area of moorland and Civil parish in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston.
Further reading
A history of Alston Moor by Alastair Robertson ISBN 0-9547339-1-6
Related websites
- Cybermoor community website with news, comment, webcams and information about Alston Moor
- Profile of Alston
- South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society
- Wright Bros Coaches website
- Northumbrian Railways
- Alston Moor Newsletter
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