Port Carlisle featured a little in episode three of the third series of the excellent Britain at Low Tide.  

You can currently watch it on catch-up here.

The episode focused on the area round the Solway Firth, covering: the Solway Viaduct; a little bit about the port and the canal; a Victorian swimming pool at Powfoot, and; the Wellington Pit disaster.

I covered the Wellington Pit disaster in a post which you can find here.

An old summary by Channel 4 says:

“Britain at Low Tide is a mixed-menu archaeology format… In every episode, Tori Herridge and Alex Langlands will strip back a different area of our coastline to tell a new story of our nation’s extraordinary maritime, industrial and natural history. Using the latest technology, Britain at Low Tide will reveal one of the richest historical treasure troves on Earth.”

An ideal location on all counts

Port Carlisle is, of course, a perfect place for that, with the remains of the canal, railway, jetty, and harbour etc still visible. And along with its (brief) history as a port, the coast is a haven for wildlife.

Its role as a starting point for people emigrating to a new life in ‘new worlds’ also makes it of interest – indeed, the researcher who contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in taking part in the programme said that was an angle they were looking into.

In the end, that aspect wasn’t covered.

I declined the invitation, but David Ramshaw (author of The Carlisle Ship Canal) did get to talk a little about the port and the canal.

Sadly, with three distinct topics covered in a one-hour (less adverts) programme, there was nothing about the village, or the people who tried so hard to make it work.

Port Carlisle – a history built on hope

If you are interested, you can read about them, the canal, the viaduct, the railway, and a lot more, in my book, Port Carlisle, a history built on hope which, if you haven’t already done so, you can read more about in this post.

• The postcard used as the image for this post is from a family album. It’s a slightly odd view, being mostly road! Sadly, it is blank on the other side. Someone wanted a souvenir/reminder of Port Carlisle, rather than buying it to send. There is no date, either handwritten or printed, to show when the card was published.