On Saturday 6th December 2008, many people turned out in Cockermouth to see the celebrations that marked the official opening of the new-look Market Place, it has taken a year to complete the renovations (see photos), and includes new road and pavement stonework, artwork, lighting and seats.

The day began early with a farmers’ market which was extended into the afternoon. The afternoon celebrations consisted of the All Saints Samba Group, and a cookery demonstration from Mawbray cook Annette Gibbons. Belfagan Women’s Morris, the Gardenelles Folk Duo, and The Fairly Famous Family kept people entertained throughout the day.

Nick Lawler, Cumbria’s Slow Food Group champion, cooked sausages all afternoon to find the best Cumberland sausage.

Champion Cumberland Sausage winner - Richard Lindsay (right), 26, from W Lindsay & Sons of Station Street, Cockermouth receives the certificate from Nick Lawler (left), Chef-Patron of Winder Hall, and Cumbria Slow Food Group member, who cooked all the sausages that were sampled by the public during the Market Place Revitalisation celebrations on Saturday, December 6th. Richard is the fifth generation Lindsay to become a butcher, and uses a recipe that dates back to the founding of the business in 1868.
Peter Wilson (left) from Market Place, Cockermouth, winner of the Champion Speciality Sausage for his chilli & lime sausage receives the certificate from Nick Lawler (right), Chef-Patron of Winder Hall, and Cumbria Slow Food Group member. Peter used his 50 years of experience as a butcher to devise the combination of flavours that won public acclaim at the Market Place Revitalisation celebrations on Saturday, December 6th.

Around 150 people took part in the community lantern parade that wound its way through the streets and ended in Market Place, with many young children, as well as Workington MP Tony Cunningham, Cumbria County Council chairman Tom Clare, and many local councillors.

All Saints Junior School performed an innovative piece of street theatre using masks which led up to ringing a huge bell made from wicker and tissue paper. This coincided with the first actual ringing of the newly restored Market Bell in over a century by town crier Keith Irving.

Photos by David Stephenson