Cocklakes
{{Short description|Hamlet in Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| official_name = Cocklakes
| civil_parish = St Cuthbert Without
| civil_parish1 = Wetheral
| coordinates = {{coord|54|51|01|N|02|51|06|W|display=inline,title}}
| static_image = Pow Maugham (geograph 3820665).jpg
| static_image_caption = Pow Maugham, Cocklakes
| population =
| unitary_england = Cumberland
| lieutenancy_england = Cumbria
| region = North West England
| constituency_westminster = Carlisle
| post_town = CARLISLE
| postcode_district = CA4
| postcode_area = CA
| dial_code = 01228
| os_grid_reference = NY454510
| pushpin_map = United Kingdom City of Carlisle
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in the City of Carlisle district, Cumbria
| label_position =
}}
Cocklakes is a hamlet in Cumbria, England. British Gypsum formerly had a plant in Cocklakes.{{cite book|title=Industrial minerals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=os4kAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=19 July 2012|year=1981|publisher=Metal Bulletin.|page=72}} It has a lake which is used for fishing.{{cite web |url=https://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/fishing-marginal-water.435913.html |title=Fishing marginal water |publisher=CW Herald |date=2014-11-28 |accessdate=2020-03-21}} It is served by the A6 road.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/17950508.a6-closed-ways-due-serious-accident/ |title=A6 closed both ways due to 'serious accident' |publisher=News and Star |date=2019-10-06 |accessdate=2020-03-21}}
Name
The name of Cocklakes originated in Old English with the "Cock-" part of the name coming from the Old English word for "throat" or "ravine".{{cite book |first=W.J. |last=Sedgefield |title=The Place-names of Cumberland and Westmorland |pages=36, 142 |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2018 |isbn=9781332027576}} During the Middle Ages, the name was "Cock-Laik", which meant "cockpit" in Middle English. Due to the name, it has been often reported as one of the rudest place names in the United Kingdom, due to cock being a vulgar slang term for penis.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/brothers-go-epic-road-trip-2830071 |title=Brothers go on epic road trip visiting UK's rudest place names |date=2 May 2019 |publisher=Gloucester Live |accessdate=2020-03-22}}{{cite news |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-brothers-embark-hilarious-rude-14979533 |title=Scots brothers embark on hilarious 'Rude Trip' of filthy UK place names |publisher=Daily Record |accessdate=2020-03-21}}
Mine
There had been small scale local mining in Cocklakes prior to the 19th century. Around 1830, the first commercial gypsum mining operations started.{{cite web|url=https://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/mining-cumbria-s-gypsum-over-the-centuries.215431.html |title=Mining Cumbria's gypsum over the centuries |publisher=CW Herald |date=2000-07-08 |accessdate=2020-03-21}} It was originally owned by John Howe & Co. before being transferred in 1910 to the Carlisle Plaster & Cement Company and later to British Gypsum in 1953.{{cite web|author=Durham Mining Museum |url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/c924.htm |title=Cocklakes (Gypsum) |publisher=Durham Mining Museum |date=2019-04-30 |accessdate=2020-03-21}}{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f9579664-6fdd-4455-b34e-8ca2315912a7 |title=British Gypsum Works, Cocklakes |publisher=The National Archives |date= |accessdate=2020-03-21}} Cocklakes mine was also the first place to manufacture plasterboard in the United Kingdom, despite workers initially attempting to separate the paper from the plaster.{{cite web|url=https://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/cumbrian-gypsum-beds-stretching-from-brough-to-barrow.254421.html |title=Cumbrian gypsum beds stretching from Brough to Barrow |publisher=CW herald |date=2005-06-04 |accessdate=2020-03-22}} Initially the mine operated on a small scale but due to the Second World War leading to a rise in demand for anhydrite for sulfuric acid. From there, the Cocklakes mine had an underground diesel railway constructed to help with the moving of raw materials.{{cite book |first=Gordon |last=Edgar |title=Industrial Locomotives & Railways of Cumbria |chapter=12 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1445648347}}
Following the end of the war, a number of migrant workers from Eastern Europe came to Cumbria to work at Cocklakes mine. The railway changed its locomotives to newer diesel trains in 1970 with their old ones being taken by Carnforth Steam Museum by William Steuart Trimble who would become the High Sheriff of Cumberland.{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Tyler |title=Gypsum in Cumbria |year=2000 |publisher=Blue Rock |isbn=0952302845 |page=149}} In 1975, the railway was put on care and maintenance.
References
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External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}