At the start of the Cumbria Way

When I walked the Cumbria Way back in 2009, I didn’t particularly feel enthused with the way the walk just seemed to end next to a bin lorry depot at the edges of Carlisle. I know a lot of people reckon it ends in the market square, which is more imposing, but my guide book said it ended at the bin lorry depot and that’s what I’m sticking with.

But whilst the end was naff, the start in Ulverston was far better. For starters, they celebrated it properly. There’s a sign and everything.

Yeah, it’s a bit small. And there’s a bin next to it, but at least it’s there.

But if you turn around, you’ll see a lovely ‘cairn and compass’ sculpture which has a representation of the whole route on it.

It’s a lovely sculpture, and there’s a good chance you’ll see it a lot on your travels, especially if you visit pubs that is, for the sculpture is included on the pump clip of Hartley’s Cumbria Way ale, available in many Robinsons pubs in Cumbria.

The version on the pump clip is a bit of a stylised version – the sculpture’s next to a parking area near Ulverston town centre, rather than overlooking a lake, surrounded by hills – but as the beer is a fine pint to enjoy after a hard day of walking, we’ll let them off for their poetic license.