Flookburgh is an ancient village on the Cartmel peninsula in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and being close to

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

, cockle and

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

fishing plays a big part in village life. Flookburgh has a

Haven Holidays Haven Leisure Limited (formally Haven Holidays) is a company operating a chain of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. It operates self-catering static caravan holiday parks with many also including touring and camping facilities. The compan ...

site called Lakeland Leisure Park. Flookburgh is sometimes thought to derive its name from a flat fish, known as the Fluke, found in the area. (Many people in Flookburgh say, in fact, that Flookburgh wasn't named after the Fluke; the Fluke was named after the village.) However, it is far more likely that the name is Norse, an adaptation of 'Flugga's Town'.

Location

Flookburgh is located away from the nearest town,

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...

. Travelling by road, it is to the south of

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

, to the east of

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

, to the east of

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

and to the west of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Governance

Flookburgh is part of the

Westmorland and Lonsdale Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017). Westmorland and Lonsdale is the Lib ...

parliamentary constituency, of which

Tim Farron Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since ...

is the current MP representing the Liberal Democrats. For

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

purposes, it is in the Grange and Cartmel ward of

Westmorland and Furness Westmorland and Furness is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Cumbria, England. The economy is mainly focused on tourism around both the Lake District and Cumbria Coast, shipbuilding and the Royal Port of Barrow, Royal ...

and Lower Holker civil parish.

Stan Laurel connection

Hollywood film comedian

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

was a regular visitor to Flookburgh as a child. His uncle and auntie, John and Nant Shaw, ran the village's co-operative store and Laurel and his grandmother, Sarah Metcalfe, would catch the train from

, where Laurel was born in 1890, to visit them. Laurel would play with his numerous cousins during his excursions to Flookburgh.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Holker, Lower
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)

by ITV's Keith Wilkinson (reporter)
ITV Local report on Cross Bay Challenge from Flookburgh 2008

The Cumbria Directory page on Flookburgh
Flookburgh Flookburgh Morecambe Bay {{Cumbria-geo-stub

Location

Governance

Stan Laurel connection

See also

References

External links