A new walking trail around the south Cumbrian village of Haverigg has been launched, with the aid of an app which guides visitors around the two-mile route and provides fascinating information about the village’s history and its links with the Cumbrian poet Norman Nicholson.

To obtain the trail, download the ‘Situate’ app from GooglePlay or the App Store, and select ‘Norman Nicholson’s Millom’. It’s free!

The trail is the latest initiative by the Millom-based Norman Nicholson House project, which obtained funding from Millom Town Deal to create the app in 2021. The app initially contained two walking trails, and has now been expanded to offer this 90-minute walk around Haverigg, starting and finishing at the Inshore Rescue lifeboat station on Sea View, LA18 4GY.

Chair of the project Charlie Lambert said: ‘We’re grateful to Millom Town Deal for providing the funds for our walking trails app. As well as being a wonderful location at the mouth of the estuary, Haverigg has a fascinating history and the trail is a memorable journey in more ways than one.’

Visitors will find out about Haverigg’s links with bygone industries, how a World War Two bomb lay unexploded for years below what is now a housing estate, what happened when rioters drove the police out of the village in 1866, and exactly why an enormous statue of a dragon stares out over the Duddon Estuary.

Text and photographs show the way from one location to the next and there’s the option of audio commentary as well. Walkers can also activate a GPS triggering system which means the app will automatically tell you where you are as you reach each point on the trail.

Children from Haverigg Primary School have helped to develop the trail which takes visitors past a series of mosaics illustrating aspects of village life, originally created in a project with the school in 2015. An audio commentary includes conversations between the children and local historians explaining the significance of the images within the mosaics.

The Norman Nicholson House project is working to buy and renovate the lifelong home in Millom of the 20th century poet Norman Nicholson and create a museum to celebrate Nicholson’s work as well as a café and a space for small community activities. More details at www.normannicholsonhouse.co.uk