News

Kirkgate’s Cockermouth Heritage Group is showcasing our local history in monthly illustrated talks at the Kirkgate Centre.  With stories of our buildings, traditions, industry, talks have included the history of the local railway and of Moota Camp. One of the above images is of a Mahjong set made by Harry Dressler, ...

This wonderful project encourages you to step out into nature as Dorothy Wordsworth would have herself over 200 years ago. Not sure how to begin? The National Trust has designed a walking and cycling route map, please see the links on our MAKE THE JOURNEY page Dorothy Wordsworth was inspired by her natural ...

Can you help us raise money for the Kirkgate Centre? During the pandemic much has been developing within the Kirkgate to keep the centre up to date and serving the community’s needs. We have had an anonymous donation which has paid for half of the building to be painted, finally saying ...

A lively Cockermouth charity with ambitious plans for the future is looking for a new chair to lead its Board of Trustees. Kirkgate Arts and Heritage runs Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre entertainment venue as well as a host of other arts and heritage activities throughout West Cumbria. The previous chair, Marion Bowman, is ...

Cockermouth’s community and entertainment venue, the Kirkgate Centre, has raised £17,000 to replace 13 of its large ground floor windows. The new windows have been custom-made by local firm Thomas Armstrong to the high standards required by the Conservation Area regulations that cover the historic centre of Cockermouth. ‘During the lockdowns of ...

Two new Trustees and a Company Secretary have been appointed at a popular Cockermouth charity. David Thomas, a retired NHS Finance Director who recently moved to Cockermouth, has joined the Board as Honorary Treasurer. Helen Hardy, Science Digital Programme Manager at the Natural History Museum in London, will help develop Kirkgate’s ...

A class of excited school children have followed Dorothy Wordsworth’s life’s journey from Cockermouth to Dove Cottage, Grasmere. On a special trip last week organised by Kirkgate Arts and Heritage, All Saints’ Primary School Year 6 children aged 10 and 11 travelled through the Lake District to the cottage that Dorothy ...

A Cockermouth charity is calling on the government to provide more support to community arts and entertainment venues hit by the rising numbers of Covid cases. ‘Small venues such as the Kirkgate Centre which are so important to small towns like Cockermouth have had nearly two years of struggling to survive,’ ...

Dear Editor, Dorothy Wordsworth’s rare achievement (Editorial, 19 December 2021) as the other great writer in the Wordsworth family and an early environmentalist is the focus of a year-long celebration of her life in the town where she was born on Christmas Day 250 years ago - Cockermouth, Cumbria. The centrepiece of ...

Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre is getting into the swing of Christmas with a string of mid-winter entertainments to carry the town through the festive season and beyond. Leading the pack are the young performers of the Kirkgate Youth Theatre on Thursday 9 December at 7pm, with an original show, Sparkles of Light. ...

A specially commissioned artwork representing Dorothy Wordsworth is to be part of the town centre Christmas lights in Cockermouth, Cumbria. The ‘Portrait of Dorothy’ is being switched on at a major outdoor event on November 21. The portrait is a light installation that will stand on a temporary plinth in the ...

Cockermouth’s entertainment and cultural hub, the Kirkgate, has appointed a new General Manager to take forward its revived programme of creative arts, entertainment and community activities following the closures caused by Covid-19. Emma Heys, of Greysouthen, will take up her new post with the charity next week (September 13). Ms Heys ...

Cockermouth charity Kirkgate Arts and Heritage has won a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a year-long celebration of Dorothy Wordsworth, the town’s most famous daughter. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the £67,100 grant for Kirkgate’s ‘I Am Dorothy’ project will fund a ...

Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre is ready to ‘Shine’ the spotlight on the blossoming Cumbrian music scene as it prepares to re-open its doors to live events. Whitehaven pop and rock outfit The Little Lies launches the Kirkgate’s summer selection of live music events next Saturday – a programme that includes an ...

Two Cockermouth businesses are joining forces to cook up a new spin on Friday nights out on the town. From this week (Friday, June 4), film fans at the Kirkgate Centre cinema will be able to order in pizzas from nearby Fermento, Market Place, to enjoy before the film in the ...

Stars of stage, screen and sport are set to shine a light on the entertainments scene in West Cumbria as the region emerges from the darker days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre is preparing to welcome back visitors in a socially distanced and COVID-safe way on Monday, May 17, ...