Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• 
• Contact
• Info
  • How to Get There
  • Solway News
• Projects
  & Events
  • Volunteer Group
  • Events Guide
  • Volunteer Work Days
  • Dunes Project
  • Banks Project
  • People for Peatlands
  • Greens Awards
• About the
  Solway Coast
  • Sites of Interest >
    • Salt Pans
    • Crosscanonby Carr
    • Roman Milefortlet
  • Family Walks >
    • Codes of Practice
    • Solway Villages Trails
    • Eden Estuary Trails
    • Beckfoot Burial Grounds
    • The Smugglers Route
  • Open Access
  • History >
    • History of the AONB
    • Holm Cultram Abbey
  • Landscape >
    • Agricultural Land
    • Raised Mires
    • Sand & Mud Flats
    • Sand Dunes
    • Salt Marsh
  • Wildlife
• Solway Coast
  Discovery Centre
  • The Discovery Centre
  • Tourist Info & Shop
  • Solway Art Gallery
  • Exhibitions
  • Star Profiles
  • Films
  • Publications
  • History of Centre
• Education
• Management
  • Staff
  • Job Descriptions
  • Management Plan
  • Draft Management Plan
  • Joint Advisory Committee
• Find it
  Locally
  • Local Business Directory
  • Accommodation >
    • Hotel or B&B
    • Self-Catering
    • Camping or Touring Park
    • Alternative
  • Events & Attractions >
    • Whats On
    • Attractions
    • Eating & Drinking
    • Culture
    • Shopping
    • Leisure Activities
    • Places to visit
• Sustainable
  Development

Please note: the Solway Coast Exhibition is closed for refurbishment. It is due to reopen in Early May 2008. The Tourist Information Centre and Gift Shop will remain open

The Gateway to the Solway

The Solway Coast Discovery Centre has been fully re-furbished for the 2005 season to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Solway Coast as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains a wealth of new attractions and interest. The Centre remains as the 'gateway' to the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and brings to life the landscape, heritage and wildlife of the area.

Don't let the Victorian school exterior make you think twice about coming in! Enter the special world of the Solway, learn about its history, enjoy its artists, find its places of interest and above all share in its beauty. There is no other place like it on earth.

The interactive exhibition; fun and facts for all age groups

A celebration of the special qualities that exist along the Solway Coast is contained within the permanent exhibition. Upon entering the exhibition you are transported back in time to the last ice age where you will learn about woolly mammoths, gigantic ice sheets and massive freshwater lakes. The ice age period is followed by the spread of stunning forests that almost covered the whole of northern Cumbria; they were home to wolves and giant deer.

Man colonised the Solway and began clearing the forests for farming, the Romans built Hadrian's Wall and later the Vikings settled and left us their ancient fishing technique called Haaf netting.

The journey through time then moves forward to the Norman Conquest and the establishment of the monasteries. This is where things really take off! Things we take for granted like place names, field sizes, drainage ditches and saltmarsh ponds all combined to make the landscape prosperous. The monks caught salmon, made salt from sea water and made barrels from local trees, this meant that fish could be preserved and sold at market as far away as London. The industrial revolution follows and describes ports, canals and railways until we reach the present day.

The final part of the exhibition celebrates our wealth of natural and cultural heritage describing bird migrations, habitats and life within the inter-tidal zone.

Your guides for this adventure in time and space are Auld Michael the wise monk and Oyk the cheeky but friendly oystercatcher.

Read our Star Profiles: