Cumbria: True of False?

View from Friars Crag

Time for something a little different - a fun quiz all about Cumbria.  I don't have the fancy software to set one up with whistles and bells so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way.  Below are 20 statements about Cumbria, all you have to do is identify which 10 are true and which ten are false.  At the bottom is a link to another page on the blog where you can check your answers.  Oh - and I should perhaps warn you, it's not entirely serious...or is it?

1.  Friar's Crag is named as it was the site of a popular Victorian chippy.

2.  They used to race horses on the top of Racecourse Hill - that's how it got its name.

3.  Someone once tried to blow up Long Meg with dynamite but was stopped by angry villagers who said a storm that blew up at the same time was a sign she was displeased.

4.  Coniston is an ancient measure of weight.  One Coniston = 2 x Ulverstons or 5 Wigtons

5.  Haggs Wood near Arnside is named after giant flying worms that were said to live there.

6.  Surprise View is so called because it marks the spot where William Wordsworth jumped out from behind a tree and surprised Dorothy.

7.  Maryport is a Cumbrian coastal town just to the north of Mungoport and Midgeport

8.  Fairfield gets its name from the giant Ferris Wheel and Helter Skelter which once marked the summit.

9.  Grange-over-Sands got its name from an angry vicar who was fed up of his post going to Grange in Borrowdale.

10. Tebay marks the site of an ancient tea market.

11.  Parting Stone near Grizedale Tarn is named to commemorate the spot where Wordsworth said goodbye to his brother.

12. The pub in Kentmere village was once so rowdy it changed British law.

13.  Levens is the site of the first bakery in Britain to add yeast to its bread.

14. Tarmac was invented in a quiet valley just outside Arnside.

15.  Kendal is twinned with the US town of Barbidal

16.  The street plan of New York is based on Whitehaven.

17. The trouser press was invented in Kirkby Stephen.

18.  The monks of Furness Abbey were world class smugglers.

19.  Hardknott Pass takes its name from the adjacent Roman Fort.  They placed a gate across the road which was secured two ropes joined in a complex knot.

20.  There was once a plan to drill into Shap Granite as a source of geothermal energy.

How do you think you did then?  Check here for the answers.  And if you enjoyed it then it's worth getting a copy of our book, it's chock full of fascinating, true, facts about Cumbria.

View from Arnside Knott