Sport in Cumbria
Whitehaven play regular
games in the First Division of the RL Premiership. Other Cumbria
teams Workington Town and Barrow Raiders play regular fixtures.
There is also an active amateur RL scene.
Cumberland Amateur RL www.angelfire.com/sports/cumbriarl
For most of us simply walking up the mountains of Cumbria is demanding enough.
But participants in fellrunning pit their agility and detailed knowledge of
the high fells in gruelling fell races. Among the venues for such races are
the lakeland shows such as Ambleside Sports. There are also notable races such
as the Ennerdale, Fairfield and Wasdale Horseshoe races.
One of the kings of this sport is retired Wasdale shepherd, Jos Naylor
And also the Cumberland Fell Runners at www.c-f-r.org.uk
Other fell running internet sites....
Bingley Harriers
Bowland Fell Runners
British Athletics
Home Page - Fell Running Chat Room
Bob Graham 42
An individual account of running the Bob Graham.
Carnethy Hill Runnners
FRA
Halifax Harriers
Horwich RMI Harriers
Irish Mountain Running Association
Northern Ireland Fell Runners Association
Phil Braysons Home Page - Lists
many clubs by area
Rossendale Harriers
Scottish Hill Races
South Pennine Fell Running
Todmorden Harriers
Valley Hill Running Club
Valley Striders
Cumbrian Orienteering
Location: Carlisle United Football Club Brunton Park Stadium
Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1LL Telephone Numbers Main Office : 01228
526237 Main Office Fax : 01228 530138 Ticket Office : 01228 526237
The
Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association was formed 100 years ago to
purge the sport of the ‘virus of dishonesty and gambling. Roger Robson,
the Association’s current President says: ;In 1906 Cumberland & Westmorland
Wrestling was rife with the kind of problems now facing Italian football. So
senior figures in the sport held a meeting in Carlisle ‘in the interests
of honest wrestling; and decided to form a new governing body.; This traditional
sport is still thriving with competitions taking place across Cumberland and
Westmorland, now known as Cumbria, throughout the summer months. Some of the
most well known events are at Ambleside Traditional Lakeland Sports in late
July, Dalston Show (August), Grasmere Sports (27th August in 2006) and the Westmorland
County Show (14th September in 2006). It is thought the sport was originally
brought to Britain by the Vikings. To start a match, Cumberland & Westmorland
Wrestlers ‘tekk hod’, gripping their fingers together behind the back
of their opponents. Once the referee has said, “Wrestle”, the first
to touch the ground except with the soles of the feet is the loser. The contest
is the best of three falls. If the hold is broken that also constitutes a fall.
At special events the wrestlers wear traditional costumes, white long johns,
sometimes with embroidered pants centrepiece on the outside. However, any thoughts
that this might not be a sport for ‘real men’ are soon dispelled when
a match gets underway. Roger Robson says: “I think people who come to watch
the sport for the first time really don’t know what to expect, especially
if they see the wrestlers in traditional costumes. But everyone goes away with
a real admiration for the people involved in the sport. “Unlike American
wrestling, Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling is not a sport for showmen.
Competitors need to be genuinely strong and skilful.” In the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, wrestlers competed for substantial cash prizes. It
was at this time that match fixing, or ‘barneying’ as it was known,
became a problem. After its formation the Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling
Association banned a number of wrestlers who had been involved in barneying.
Other changes included drawing each round at the events so that no one could
plan in advance who should win which bout. A hundred years later the sport still
attracts great passion from competitors and spectators alike. Further information
on rural shows and sporting events in Cumbria, many of which include Cumberland
& Westmorland Wrestling, can be found at www.golakes.co.uk/events. Possible
contact for the sport: Waberthwaite Wrestling Academy Thursday nights 7:30 p.m.
Possible contact for the sport: Thomas Porter, 9 Wastwater Rise, Seascale, Cumbria.
CA20 1LB
Phone: +44 (0)194 67 280 56
Workington Golf Club
Also details of Whitehaven's golf
course.
Keswick Golf Course
Workington Reds are members of : The Football Association,
Cumberland F.A. The Unibond League, Nissan Wearside Football League,
The CG Youth League, The Allerdale Junior Football League. Ground
: Borough Park, Workington. Capacity : 2,500 (250 Seated)
Club Nickname : "REDS" Record Attendance : 21,000 v
Manchester United 1958 Home strip : Red shirts with white & black
trim, red shorts, red socks Away strip : Fluorescent yellow & black
shirts, black shorts, black socks
Instead of setting foxhounds to hunt
Freddie the fox the sport of hound trailing sets the hounds to
chase after a scented trail dragged for up to ten miles over the
Cumbrian mountains in a test of the dogs' speed and stamina. 
The sport started in the Pennines and an early reference was in
a parish record of 1750 in Wenslydale. This records that 18 old
pennies were paid for a dead cat to be used as the 'drag' to lay
down a scent trail for the pack of trail hounds to race after.
Lighter than foxhounds the trail hounds are carefully bred and
constantly trained. Bookmakers attend all the trail meetings and
vast amounts can be bet on potential winners. Novelist Hugh Walpole
dropped the starting flag on one such trail in Threlkeld in 1927.
In those days thousands turned up to cheer on the racing hounds.
West Cumbria, with its recent legacy of heavy industry, had been
the centre of trail hounding, the working man's alternative to
the rich landowner's foxhunting. A smaller trail hounding enthusiasm
also exists in Cork and Kerry in Eire. Here the sport is called
Draghunting and involves chasing live quarry in the winter and
the drag in summer. The drag is generally a sack of rags and sawdust
soaked in aniseed, turpentine and parafin.
A recent book on the sport is John Coughlan's Hound Trailing
ISBN 0-9525742-2-5.
The Hound Trail Association's web site HTA
Hound Trailing fixtures are generally listed each week in....
The Whitehaven News
Coniston Water.
Boat engines must not exceed 4hp. Boats must display the 'A' flag
when divers are in the water and all divers should use an SMB.
Wastwater.
Permission to dive must be obtained in advance from National Trust
This area is an SSSI and is one of the Trust's 'quiet lakes',
so no boats are allowed on Wastwater, nor may air compressors
be used on site. The maximum number for any group should not exceed
12. Parking is limited and it may be that only one group of divers
will be able to dive at any one time so book early. Warning: There
have been several diving fatalities as this is a deep water site
(England's deepest lake) where the lake bed slopes steeply away
to extreme depth. Good buoyancy control is essential to avoid
going deeper than planned. There is a gnomes' "garden"
at one underwater location! This was the setting for the Lady
in the Lake incident.
Ullswater.
No special permission to dive is required. However, it is advisable
not to trespass over private property to gain access to the water.
Boat engines are limited to 4hp maximum and SMBs should be used.
Grasmere.
Permission to dive must be obtained in advance from the National
Trust
Crummock Water.
Permission to dive must be obtained in advance from the National
Trust This is another 'quiet lake' so powered boats are not allowed,
nor may air compressors be used on site. Parking is very limited,
therefore diving parties are restricted to 12 persons at any one
time. Avoid taking more than three cars. Height above sea level
- 99 metres.
Hodge Close Quarry.
Between Little Langdale and Coniston road Access to the lower
car park and tunnel can be obtained by paying £4.00 per
car at the house with the a Flag in the garden. Warning:
Several divers have lost their lives in Hodge Close Quarry, mainly
as the result of getting lost in the underwater caves / tunnels.
BSAC does not consider this site suitable for use by divers of
less than Sports Diver qualification.
Sea dive charters
from Whitehaven.
For those requiring PADI approved one-to-one diving tuition try:
Derwent Divers
Rowing
Talkin
Tarn Amateur Rowing Club, the only rowing club in the County.
Race Meetings
Carlisle
Race Course
Cartmel-steeplechases
There are small scale dry ski slopes at Kendal and Carlisle.(Carlisle
Club contact no is 01228 810696)
Information on skiing
in the Lakes
The Workington Comets hold regular Saturday events at Derwent
Park Stadium.
Contact Workington Speedway on racedays Tel. 01900 608071 (At
other times Tel. 01943 878448)
North
East Speedway Web Site
Kayaking
A wealth of rivers and lakes means the area is ideal for canoeing.
Please jump to our kayaking page for full
details. Including link to Copeland Canoe Club's site.