Cleator Moor

Coordinates: 54°31′16″N 3°30′43″W / 54.5211°N 3.5119°W / 54.5211; -3.5119

Cleator Moor
St Mary's Catholic Church
Cleator Moor  Cleator Moor shown within Cumbria
Population	6,939 (2001)
OS grid reference	NY021150
Parish	Cleator Moor
District	Copeland
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CLEATOR MOOR
Postcode district	CA25
Dialling code	01946
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Copeland
List of places: UK • England • Cumbria

Cleator Moor is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Cumbria and within the boundaries of the traditional county of Cumberland.

The town's skyline is dominated by Dent Fell and the town is located on the 190 miles (310 km) Coast to Coast Walk that spans the North of England. On the outskirts of the town of Cleator Moor lies the village of Cleator with which the town is closely associated; though Cleator has a separate post code (CA23).

Industry

Historically located within Cumberland, the town was based around the iron works industry and was served in this capacity by the Cleator & Workington junction railway. The town had several iron ore mines. Some parts of the town have been demolished due to undermining in the area, most notably the original Montreal Primary School and the whole of Montreal Street on which it stood.

The influx of Irish workers gave the town the nickname Little Ireland. World War I and World War II saw a fresh influx of immigrants from mainland Europe join the settled Irish community. This has since caused occasional conflict between Catholic and Protestant residents of the town.^{[citation needed]}

In 1938, Jakob Spreiregen founded the company Kangol in Cleator, situated across the road from St Mary's Church. The original factory building still stands but Kangol is now empty, after the company ended its association with the town in 2009.

With the decline of traditional industries and the resulting high rate of unemployment, the town's economy is now dependent on the nearby Sellafield complex, which provides jobs to around half the town's people.

Transport

Cleator Moor formerly had two railway stations: Cleator Moor East on the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway, and Cleator Moor West on the Cleator and Workington Junction Railway; but both stations closed in 1931.

Bus service 22 links Cleator Moor to Whitehaven and Egremont. Bus services 31 and 31A also pass through the town.^[1].

Sectarian troubles (19th century)

Following the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s and the rise of the Orange Order, Cleator Moor found itself for a short period at the centre of sectarian troubles. In April 1871 several hundred Cleator Moor miners entered neighbouring Whitehaven and attacked "Anti-Popery" campaigner William Murphy, pushing him down the stairs of the Oddfellows Hall. The following year Murphy died, possibly as a result of his injuries. On 12 July 1884 the combined Orange Lodges of Cumberland, marched through the town of Cleator Moor to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, leading to riots and the death of local postal messenger Henry Tumelty, a 17-year-old Catholic, with others listed as having received injuries from bullets, cutlasses and pikes. Local Catholics later took revenge on members of the Orange Order living in the town.

Church

The E. W. Pugin designed Catholic church of St Mary's was consecrated in 1872, replacing the earlier mission church built in 1853. The grounds are home to a meditative walk on the Stations of the Cross and Our Lady's Grotto, a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes, France.

Education

The town's secondary school, Ehenside School, closed in August 2008 after being open for 50 years, along with Wyndham School, in order to make way for the West Lakes Academy, which is initially using the Wyndham School buildings until a new academy building is constructed.

Sport

Local amateur rugby league team Wath Brow Hornets won the GMB Union National cup in 2004 and 2005. Local association football team Cleator Moor Celtic F.C. won the County Cup in 1999: the team has supplied players to Sheffield Wednesday FC, Blackpool FC, Ipswich Town FC and Carlisle United FC. England and former Liverpool FC goalkeeper Scott Carson, who currently plays for West Brom, was once a member of the team.

Notable people

• Joan Rodgers, international soprano, was born and raised in Cleator Moor.
• Artist L. S. Lowry regularly visited Cleator Moor and Cleator during the 1950s and painted local scenes.
• Andrew Belton the military adventurer, was born in Cleator Moor in 1882.^[2]
• David Gaffney, author of Never Never
• Scott Carson goalkeeper for West Bromwich Albion and played for local team Cleator Moor Celtic.

References

1. ^ http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/Service22from31August2008.pdf
2. ^ Brief Biography of Andrew Belton by local historian Tom Duffy

External links

• Cleator Moor visitor Information
• Cleator visitor Information
• History of Cleator Moor
• CleatorMoor.com
• St Mary's Church
• Guide to Coast to Coast Route
• Wath Brow Hornets
• Irish Diaspora in the UK
• The Irish in Victorian Cumbria
• Account of Orange riot of 1884
• Court charges following Orange riot of 1884
• Kangol website
• Cleator Moor Celtic Amateur Football Club
• Profile of Scott Carson