A group of dynamic Cumbrian heritage attractions, Cumbria’s Living Heritage, is sending a big message out to visitors from across the UK and beyond, by highlighting how it believes it collectively forms Britain’s biggest cultural umbrella.
The message relates to the fact that the 36 castles, historic houses, gardens, churches and museums in the group offer exciting and engaging things to do in wet weather. The attractions span an area from Birdoswald in the north, to close to Newton-in-Furness in the south and from Whitehaven in the west, to Temple Sowerby in the east. The group estimates that its cultural umbrella covers around 2000 square miles.
Cumbria’s Living Heritage members, including new entrants to the group, The Rum Story and the Forestry Commission, came together to visually launch their message at Blockhole, Windermere.
This year’s campaign will build on successes achieved in 2016, when Cumbria’s Living Heritage created its own Heritage Past-Port, full of quirky facts about each member and downloadable from the group’s website, and celebrated the Queen’s 90th birthday will 90 tweets that highlighted their royal links.
They also created a ‘Guess the Mystery Object’ competition on Facebook, gave visitors ideas of where they could ‘Paws for Thought’ with their dog and highlighted ’20 things to not pass by’ in the stunning gardens that many of the membership boast.
E-newsletters, a contemporary guide and on-going social media support helped boost visits to the county.
2017 promises to be even bolder, bigger and better, with a range of exciting initiatives and a stunning new guide that will be in tourism leaflet racks very soon.
Speaking on behalf of the group, its Chair, Peter Frost-Pennington, said: ‘It’s fabulous to see so many quirky ideas being used to promote our members’ attractions, as we wish to communicate the fact that what we offer is living and vibrant heritage and not dusty and dry experiences.
“We believe we do offer Britain’s biggest cultural umbrella and superb activities to enjoy in the Lake District and Cumbria when the weather is a little inclement, as well as when the sun is out. We would encourage people to pick up our guide, or download our Heritage Past-Port, and see for themselves what we have on offer.”
More details about the attractions, and the Heritage Past-Port download, are available at www.cumbriaslivingheritage.co.uk