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The Sands Centre
Carlisle, Cumbria CA1 1JQ
The Sands Centre, Cumbria and South West Scotland's premier venue for entertainment and sports. The centre caters to over 750,000 customers per year and plays host to an exciting mix of shows for all the family, some of comedy's biggest names, musicals from the West End, international orchestras, pop artists, ballet and opera.
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United Utilities
Haweswater House, Lingley Mere Business Park, Lingley Green Avenue Great Sankey, Warrington WA5 3LP
At United Utilities, we're here to help you. You can rely on us to keep the water flowing from your taps and to take your used water away. If you’re moving home, we can get your water account set up quickly and easily, and offer you lots of ways to save money, as well as water! And for our customers who need a bit of extra support, our Priority Services team are there just for you.
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Eden Rivers Trust.
Dunmail Building, Newton Rigg College, Penrith, Cumbria. CA11 0AH
Eden is a unique and beautiful network of rivers, becks and lakes, stretching 80 miles from Hellgill Force to the Solway. Covering an impressive 850 square miles, it is the lifeblood of the area and it is under threat. Here at Eden Rivers Trust we have a vision for Saving the Eden and we need your help. Eden is your river to explore and it is up to all of us to work together to Save the Eden. We believe people have the power to save rivers and that individual actions add up to make a big difference.
More information
There’s only one Eden Bridge, no not a chant from a local football club but a fact often contradicted by native Cumbrians who talk about the “Eden Bridges.”
Originally there were two separate bridges to the north of Carlisle city centre and as Helen Skelton writes the site has always been a hive of activity.
Once dominated by horse led traps and farmers leading their horses to Carlisle Station anecdotal evidence suggests Eden Bridges has played a vital role in Carlisle’s social and economic development.
George Skelton worked on a stud farm in Tarraby north of the city and says there were days whenhe crossed this bridge four times a day: “I’ve led sawdust out of Carrs biscuit factory, four times a day you did two in the morning had your lunch and two in the afternoon. I remember walking foals to Carlisle station, you didn’t lead it or nothing it just followed its mother.”
That was about 1940, at that time it wasn’t just local farmers that frequented Eden bridge. Once upon a time there was a cattle market on the current site of the Sands Lesiure Centre. The market was mainly for beef farmers and attracted a lot of Irish who came into the county via Silloth.
The days of confirming a deal with a slap of the hand might seem a long time ago to some, but that’s nothing when you consider how far back Eden Bridge dates.
A map dated 1685 and held in the county archive office shows that there used to be two separate Eden bridges in Carlisle, separated by a piece of land referred to as the sands.
The assistant county archivist David Bowcock says that in county records there were repeated calls for the bridges to be repaired and rebuilt throughout the eighteenth century.
Evidence he suggests, that over the years the bridges were damaged by floods. Maps dated 1821 show that the two separate bridges had been replaced by one single structure.
Eden Bridge with its five high arches was completed in 1815 to a design by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect who among other things designed Lowther Castle, Appleby Cloisters and Whitehaven Market Hall.
The current bridge is double its original width, it was widened in 1932.
With four lanes of traffic, a cycle path and a foot path on each side the bridge is busy at almost any point of the day.
Commuters make their way into the city centre, others cross it to join the M6 north of Carlisle and reach the Kingstown Industrial Estate. On foot students head for the arts institute in Stanwix and walkers head to Rickerby Park north of the river.
You would have to be mad to lead a horse over Eden Bridge in today’s traffic but there is still plenty of agricultural activity surrounding this structure.
To the right and north of the bridge you can often see a farmer and his sheep dog rounding his sheep in Rickerby Park
Original Article on the BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/articles/2006/09/12/bridges_eden_bridge_feature.shtml