Free Attractions In The Lake District

The best free attractions in the Lake District are all the walks shown on this website! So make sure you have a look at the walks available. From walking the highest mountain in England to beautiful coastal walks, we have an amazing range.





Here’s some more:

Haig Pit, Whitehaven

www.haigpit.com

Learn about coal mining and some of the major mining tragedies in West Cumbria.

The museum buildings include the last remaining coal winding headgear in the region.
Within the museum the engine halls are dominated by 2 Bever Dorling steam winding engines, one of which is fully restored and working on compressed air, restored by volunteers over 6 years.

The museum has a selection of displays looking at the many mining disasters in the area, the role of children down the mines, social history of the surrounding area and how the miners lived.

*Update*

HAIG Mining Museum has gone into liquidation. 

Following a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Friday, North East accountancy firm Rowlands has been asked to wind up the company and place the organisation into ‘creditors voluntary liquidation’.

The museum closed unexpectedly earlier this month and meetings will now be held on the advice of Rowlands, who deal with restructuring and insolvency, towards voluntarily winding up the company due to its insolvency. Haig trustee Kay Dempsey said it was “a very sad day”.

Meanwhile, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Copeland Community Fund (CCF) have confirmed that they will not make any further financial contributions to Haig.

In a joint statement, the HLF and CCF said: “The closure of the Haig is very sad news that puts at risk the ability to tell the story of Whitehaven’s proud industrial past.

“First and foremost, our thoughts are with the members of staff who have lost their jobs and everyone who has worked so hard on the site’s redevelopment.

“These are challenging and uncertain times for the museum which has experienced significant funding problems.

“CCF and HLF have been working diligently to resolve the situation to try and find a way forward, and will continue to do what we can to help find a sustainable future for this important site. However we are unable to make any further funding contribution available given Haig’s current financial position.

“Our funding has achieved much already including securing the condition of a scheduled ancient monument and bringing many more visitors to Haig since it reopened last year. We hope that the Haig is able to reopen at some point in the future.”

Dock Museum, Barrow

www.dockmuseum.org.uk

Barrow-in-Furness’s Dock Museum is an exciting attraction and well worth a visit to learn about Barrow’s incredible shipbuilding heritage.

Playgrounds

If you have children there are good playgrounds at Maryport Harbour, Whitehaven Castle, the Dock Museum in Barrow, Hope Park in Keswick, and the Brockhole Visitor Centre, Windermere and at Ambleside.  The Keswick and Brockhole playgrounds are currently the best.

If you are looking for ideas of things to do, but don’t mind if they aren’t free, then check out our things to do on wet days and other tourist attractions.

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