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Maryport

Dramatically located on the Solway Firth, Maryport is a charming Cumbrian coastal town rich in inerest and maritime history. The old part is full of narrow streets and neoclassical, Georgian architecture, most notably in Fleming Square. Some of the first visitors to Maryport were the Romans who built a clifftop fort here, Alauna, which is now partof the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site. The award-winning Senhouse Roman Museum tells the story of life in this outpost of the empire. Housed in the striking Naval Reserve Battery, built in the 1880s, the museum holds the largest collection of Roman altars from a single site in Britain.

Modern Maryport dates from the 18th century when Humphrey Senhouse, a local landowner, developed the harbour at what was then called Ellenport to export coal from his mines, and named the new port after his wife, Mary. Over the next century it ecame a busy port as well as a ship-building centre; boats had to be launched broadside because of the narrowness of the harbour channel. The town declined, along with the mining industry, from the 1930s onwards. It nevertheless attracted the artist LS Lowry, who was a frequent visitor and loved painting the harbour. Today, Maryport is enjoying a well-earned revival, with newly restored Georgian quaysides, clifftop paths, sandy beaches and a harbour with fishing boats.

The town's extensive maritime history is preserved in the vast array of objects, pictures and models on display at the Maritime
Museum overlooking the harbour. Housed in another of Maryport's more interesting and historic buildings, the former Queen's Head public house, the museum tells of the rise and fall of the harbour and docks. Other exhibits include a brass telescope from the Cutty Sark and the town's connections with the ill-fated liner, the Titanic, and with Fletcher Christian, instigator of the mutiny on the Bounty. The Titanic was part of the fleet of the White Star Line, whichwas founded by a Maryport man, Thomas Henry Ismay; Fletcher Christian was also more or less a local man, being born at nearby Brigham in 1764.

Close by the museum is The Lake District Coast Aquarium where a series of spectacular living habitat re-creations introduces visitors to the profusion of marine life found in the Solway Firth - thornback rays (which can be touched), some small sharks, spider crabs and the comically ugly tompot blenny among them. Also on site are a Harbourside Café, gift shop, radio-controlled model boat pool and miniature golf.

North of Maryport, the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty extends for ome 15 miles to the town of Silloth.