Salta, Cumbria#Climate

The name "Salta" comes from Old English "sēalt-tir", meaning "salt land". In Anglo-Saxon times, salt making was a major industry on the Solway coast, and there are remains of medieval salt pans near Milefortlet 21, only a few miles down the coast from Salta. Salta appears in older documents with several variant spellings, including "Sathowe".{{cite web|last1=Kendal|editor=Francis Grainger and W G Collingwood|title='Records : The Holm under Elizabeth', in Register and Records of Holm Cultram|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/n-westmorland-records/vol7/pp167-176|publisher=British History Online|access-date=13 December 2014|pages=167–176|date=1929}}

File:Salta looking Southwest.JPG

On Salta Moss, an area of common land next to the hamlet, a Bronze Age rapier (a kind of sword) was discovered in the 1980s, proving that the area was settled by ancient Britons millennia ago.{{cite web|title=The Celtic Solway|url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/celts.htm|publisher=Holme St Cuthbert History Group|access-date=18 October 2009|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172305/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/celts.htm|url-status=dead}} The rapier currently resides in the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, and archaeologists date it as being crafted as early as 1100 BC. Two perforated axe-hammers and a polished axe dated to the Neolithic period were unearthed at nearby Mawbray.{{cite book|last1=Hodgkinson|first1=David|last2=Cundill|first2=P. R.|last3=Huckerby|first3=Elizabeth|title=The lowland wetlands of Cumbria|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcsqAQAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, University of Lancaster.|page=111}} After the arrival of Romans in Britain, the area around Salta was fortified as part of the coastal defences which extended beyond the western end of Hadrian's Wall. By the 1550s, Salta participated in a system called "seawake", which was a night watch to guard the coast against incursions across the Solway by the Scots. These incursions were frequent, and on one occasion in 1592 at Dubmill, near Salta, a Mr Barwise the local miller was taken prisoner by Scottish raiders.

One of the properties in Salta is known to date from the 16th century, and the hamlet has been continually inhabited ever since. During the Second World War, 43 evacuees from the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne area were billeted to the parish of Holme St. Cuthbert, and several ended up in Salta.{{cite web|title=Holme St Cuthbert history group – The Evacuees|url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/evacueestxt.htm|access-date=20 December 2014|archive-date=23 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723043743/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/evacueestxt.htm|url-status=dead}} Development in the 20th century saw new houses built, but mainline water and electricity arrived later than in other parts of Britain, perhaps due to the small population. Excavations of a cropmark enclosure at Edderside, beyond the Moss to the southeast of Salta, were conducted in 1989–1990 by Robert H. Bewley.{{cite book|author=Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society|title=Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmoreland Antiquarian & Archeological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-UhAQAAIAAJ|access-date=19 July 2012|year=1998|publisher=The Society|page=107}}

The Kelsick House wind turbine was approved for construction in 2013 in spite of local opposition, {{convert|6|mi}} to the northeast, to the south of Abbeytown, and will join a number of other wind turbines in the area around Salta.{{cite web|url=http://planning.allerdale.gov.uk/portal/servlets/AttachmentShowServlet?ImageName=262861|title=Kelsickhouse Wind Turbine |publisher=Allerdale Council|access-date=13 December 2014}}

File:The hill at Salta.jpg

File:Salta Moss ditch and track.jpg

Salta lies near the coast of northwestern Cumbria. By road it is situated {{convert|1.1|mi}} south of Mawbray, {{convert|1.8|mi}} north of Allonby, {{convert|2.3|mi}} southwest of Holme St Cuthbert and {{convert|7.4|mi}} southwest of Abbeytown.{{Google maps | url =https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Abbeytown,+United+Kingdom/%2754.79656,-3.426123%27/@54.8321417,-3.3629002,14798m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m11!4m10!1m5!1m1!1s0x487d2f4b6a02070b:0xecfe5554e2a20e19!2m2!1d-3.288249!2d54.844664!1m3!2m2!1d-3.426123!2d54.79656?hl=en | access-date =13 December 2014}} It shares very close community ties with nearby Mawbray,{{cite book|title=Plain People – Bygone Times on the Solway Plain|date=2004|publisher=Holme St Cuthbert History Group|isbn=0954882318}} although the city of Carlisle provides wider amenities, some {{convert|25.1|mi}} to the northeast. The shore of Allonby Bay, an inlet of the Solway Firth, is a mere half-a-mile to the west of the hamlet. A beck (a local word meaning "stream") flows through Salta, fed in part by irrigation channels. This beck eventually joins the Black Dub and drains into the Solway Firth at Dubmill.

File:Salta looking Northeast.JPG

Salta Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, both for its natural and historical significance, and is itself is located in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty{{cite web|title=Salta Moss – Unit 1 Salta Moss (001)|url=http://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/UnitDetail.aspx?UnitId=1014958&SiteCode=S1000469&SiteName=salta%20moss&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=|publisher=Natural England|access-date=13 December 2014}} which covers much of the Solway Plain. The Moss is an area of peatland, containing "mainly oligotrophic semi-fibrous grass-sedge peat" according to Soil Survey Record.{{cite book|last=Beard|first=G. R.|title=Soil Survey Record|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFdLAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Soil Survey of England and Wales|page=10}} It combines characteristics of both a raised bog and a valley mire, and lies atop deposits of glacial sand from the last ice age. It was designated an SSSI in 1954.{{cite web|title=Site Name: Salta Moss|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000469.pdf|publisher=Natural England|access-date=13 December 2014|date=1982|archive-date=28 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028091030/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000469.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Having been cut with irrigation channels, and been the site of burning and peat working, Salta Moss has different flora than other bogs or mires on the Solway Plain. The Moss today is common ground, but a track runs through it to provide access for local farmers to outlying fields, which surround it. An irrigation ditch has also been dug to provide drainage to the surrounding farmland.

There is some concern that areas of the Moss have been damaged or partly destroyed as a result of agricultural activity, including the digging of drainage ditches. Natural England, the agency responsible for the management of SSSIs in England, has suggested that no further irrigation channels should be dug, existing ones should not be deepened, and that the area should not be exposed to fertilisers or surface water run-off.{{cite web|title=Views About Management, Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Schedule 11(6)|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/sssi/vam/VAM%201000469.pdf|publisher=English Nature|access-date=13 December 2014|date=22 December 2004}} Natural England further notes that the site's continued status as an SSSI depends on maintaining a high water table.

Salta, like the rest of the Solway plain, has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with mild summers and winters which generally avoid extremes of temperature. Salta has a cool climate, with average daytime highs of around 19 °C during July and August, and 6 °C during December. Overnight lows are 12 °C in July and August, falling to 2 °C in December, January, and February. Temperatures as high as 30 °C have been recorded in particularly hot summers, as have lows of −12 °C in winter. It is wet year-round, with rain or drizzle expected on 16 to 19 days of most months.{{cite web|url=http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/United-Kingdom/Cumbria/Salta.aspx|title=Salta|publisher=Myweather2.com|access-date=13 December 2014}} Snowfall is relatively uncommon. Salta, and this part of the Cumbrian coast, can be subject to high winds especially during the winter months, with windstorms and gale-force winds most likely to occur between October and April. The hamlet avoided major flooding which hit the region in 2009, and escaped the worst effects of Storm Desmond in 2015. Severe weather warnings were in effect in December 2015 as Storm Desmond hit,{{cite web |title=Storm Desmond |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-storm-centre/storm-desmond |website=Met Office |access-date=31 July 2019}} including a "red" warning for rain indicating severely bad weather. Wind gusts in the area exceeded 80 mph (129 km/h) during this storm.{{cite web |title=Storm Desmond Case Study |url=https://www.alevelgeography.com/storm-desmond-case-study/ |website=A Level Geography |access-date=31 July 2019}}

{{Weather box

|location=Mawbray

|metric first=Yes

|single line=Yes

|Jan high C = 7

|Feb high C = 7

|Mar high C = 9

|Apr high C = 12

|May high C = 15

|Jun high C = 17

|Jul high C = 19

|Aug high C = 19

|Sep high C = 17

|Oct high C = 13

|Nov high C = 9

|Dec high C = 6

|year high C = 12.5

|Jan low C= 2

|Feb low C= 2

|Mar low C= 3

|Apr low C= 4

|May low C= 7

|Jun low C= 9

|Jul low C= 12

|Aug low C= 12

|Sep low C= 9

|Oct low C= 7

|Nov low C= 4

|Dec low C= 2

|year low C= 6

|Jan precipitation mm=93.6

|Feb precipitation mm=105.1

|Mar precipitation mm=72.0

|Apr precipitation mm=63.5

|May precipitation mm=60.1

|Jun precipitation mm=70.3

|Jul precipitation mm=58.4

|Aug precipitation mm=76.2

|Sep precipitation mm=73.4

|Oct precipitation mm=109.4

|Nov precipitation mm=93.2

|Dec precipitation mm=102.5

|year precipitation mm=977.7

|source 1=World Weather Online{{cite web|url=http://www.worldweatheronline.com/Mawbray-weather-averages/Cumbria/GB.aspx|title=Mawbray|publisher=World Weather Online|access-date=14 December 2014}}

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File:Gorse flower on Salta Moss.JPG

Salta, and the Moss in particular, is home to a variety of plant and animal life, including some rare specimens. Adders, Britain's only native venomous snake, are seen on the Moss, and prey upon small rodents, such as voles. Many wild bird species inhabit Salta and the surrounding area, including larger species such as pheasants, which are also bred locally for hunting.

The Moss contains several varieties of heather, as well as the purple moor grass Molinia caerulea. Ferns and gorse are common too, and in areas where peat has been cut in the past, there are bog mosses, the bog bean Menyanthus trifoliata, and marsh pennywort.

File:Salta public bridleway.JPG

Salta today is still a very small settlement, home to approximately 35 people. Most of the houses are fairly modern bungalows, such as those named Barnfield, Heather Moor, Moss View and Tamberry, although there are older two-floor cottages on either side of the hamlet. Another bungalow is named Anchorage, which features a ship anchor scheme on its gates.Google Street View

There is still a functioning farm in Salta, which is passed on the lane accessing the hamlet. There are other farms in Mawbray and Allonby, and the hamlet is surrounded by farmland belonging to these local farmers. Though the road through the hamlet comes to a dead-end, and is accessed by lane only from the coastal B5300 road or Mawbray, two public bridleways at the end provide access over the fields to Hailforth and Mawbray,{{cite web|title=T:UK – Trigpoint list|url=http://trigpointing.uk/info/user-logs.php?u=5960|publisher=Trigpointing UK|access-date=18 October 2009}} with the latter emerging right next to the pub in the centre of the village. A caravan park, Manor House Park, is situated across the peat to the southeast, to the southwest of the hamlet of Edderside.{{cite web|url=http://www.manorhousepark.co.uk/|title=Welcome to Manor House Park|publisher=Manorhousepark.co.uk|access-date=13 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426075037/http://www.manorhousepark.co.uk/|archive-date=26 April 2015|df=dmy-all}}

Cumberland Council provides refuse collection, streetlighting, and other modern amenities.{{cite web|title=My Property|url=http://mapping.allerdale.gov.uk/myallerdale.aspx|website=mapping.allerdale.gov.uk|access-date=5 December 2014}} The nearest primary schools are Allonby Primary School in Allonby and Holme St Cuthbert School near Mawbray,{{cite web|url=http://home.rm.com/SchoolFinder/ShowSchools.aspx?l=Salta,Cumbria&t=pri|title=Primary schools near Salta, Cumbria|publisher=Home.rm.com|access-date=13 December 2014}} and the nearest secondary school is Beacon Hill Community School in Aspatria.{{cite web|url=http://home.rm.com/SchoolFinder/ShowSchools.aspx?l=Salta,Cumbria&t=sec|title=Secondary schools near Salta, Cumbria|publisher=Home.rm.com|access-date=13 December 2014}} Modern Salta is a predominantly Christian community,{{cite web|title=Area: Holme (Ward) – Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do;jsessionid=ac1f930d30d5fc5323569db84a91a485d671b75c3a1c?a=3&b=6076639&c=CA15+6QJ&d=14&e=15&g=431565&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1255826572218&enc=1&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1024|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=18 October 2009}} though the local Church is located at Holme St Cuthbert, several miles away. As at 2014, a bus service runs between Silloth and Workington on the B5300 approximately every two hours, and can be requested to make a stop at Dubmill, near Salta.{{cite web| title =City Hopper Buses| publisher =Reays| url =http://www.docs.reays.co.uk/PDF/60ServiceTimetable060514.pdf| access-date =14 December 2014| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141214124646/http://www.docs.reays.co.uk/PDF/60ServiceTimetable060514.pdf| archive-date =14 December 2014| df =dmy-all}}

Salta is part of the Penrith and Solway parliamentary constituency.

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Category:Hamlets in Cumbria

Category:Holme St Cuthbert