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Workington is a large town and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England at the mouth of the River Derwent^[1]. Lying within the borough of Allerdale, Workington is 32 miles (51.5 km) southwest of Carlisle, 7 miles (11.3 km) west of Cockermouth, and 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Maryport.

Historically a part of Cumberland, the area around Workington has long been a producer of coal, steel and high grade iron ore.

Workington is the seat of Allerdale Borough Council, which is one of three borough councils in Cumbria and has a population of around 45,975, making it the third largest urban area in Cumbria. Tony Cunningham is the local MP for the constituency of the same name that includes other towns in the hinterland of Workington.

Workington is twinned with Selm in Germany and Val-de-Reuil in France.

The name Workington, is derived from three Anglo-Saxon words; Weorc or Werc (a man's name), ingas (people) and ton (settlement/estate/enclosure)^[2]. The settlers were a group of people whose leader called himself Weorc. It's an unusual name but not unknown, Worksop is another place based on the same name. Over a thousand years ago, the original inhabitants of the land would have called themselves Weorcingas (Weorc's people) and the settlement Weorcinga tun (estate of the Weorcingas). Other local place names with similar origins are Harrington, Distington and Frizington.^[3]

The Old English name Weorc is defined as accomplishment, achievement, act, action, deed, labour, measure, move, work,^[4] possibly work linked to a fortification^[5]. In Old English, weorc is a noun and wyrcan the verb^[6]

The spelling of the town's name has varied over the centuries: c1100 Wirchington; c1150 Wirchingetona; c1150 Wirchintona; c1190 Wirkeinton; c1240 Wirgington; 1278 Wyrkinton; 1297 Wyrkington; 1298 Wirkington; 1300 Wirkinton;^[7] 1350 Workyngton; Maps show the following spellings: 1569 Woork-kington^[8]; 1573 Wynkinton; 1576 Wyrkenton; 1599 Wirkinton; 1607 Wirkinton; 1611 Werkinton; 1628 Wirkinton; 1695 Werkinton; 1695 Wirkinton; 1701 Workinton; 1724 Workington; 1741 Workington; 1744 Workington.^[9]

Over a period of 900 years, the town’s name has been written at least 16 different ways. However, the letters wknton are always present. This is understandable, because for most of our history, ordinary community members were neither able to read nor write, and few communications were ever written down. The spellings in historic documents were often decided by visitors, especially officials, monks and later mapmakers, who wrote down the names as they believed they had been spoken to them.

So, Weorc has been spelled as Wirch, Wirke, Wirg, Wyrk, Wirk, Wirc, Werk, Woork and Work^[10]. Weorc is the West Saxon form of the name, and therefore the Old English form that most language experts would quote, because the centre of power and literacy was in the southwest at the time of the Danish wars. The 'eo' letters in Weorc can confuse people, but for pronunciation purposes the 'o' may be ignored, but it can help when trying to produce a strong rolling r sound. Anglo-Saxons would have strongly pronounced the r. Today, when speaking in dialect, locals say they come from Wukitun or Wuki'n, with the emphasis on the Wuk sound.

In 1533, John Leland believed the town derived its name from the River Wyre. But, the River Wyre has its origins at Ellerbeck, Hunday and Distington and actually enters the Solway at Harrington^[11]. In 1688, William Camden quotes Leland, writing that the Wyre “…falls into the Derwent at Clifton…’’^[12], but it does not.

Between AD79-122, Roman forts, mile-forts and watchtowers are established down the Cumbrian coast.^[13] They act as coastal defences against attack by the Caledonii, the strongest inhabitants of what we now call Scotland. ^[14] Gabrosentum fort, known today as Burrows Walls, is established on the north bank of the mouth of the River Derwent, near present day Siddick pond and Northside. Another fort or watchtower would have been on How Michael to the south side of the river, near present day Chapel bank. ^[15] In AD122, the Romans begin building Hadrian wall from the Bowness on the Solway Firth to Wallsend. The name Gabrosentum or Gabrocentio has its origins in the Welsh or Ancient British ‘gafr’ meaning ‘he goat’ and the word ‘hynt’ (‘set’ in Old Irish) meaning ‘path’.^[16]

After the defeat of her forces at the Battle of Langside and disguised as an ordinary woman, Mary, Queen of Scots^[17] crosses the Solway Firth and lands at Workington. She spends her first night in England as an honoured guest in Workington Hall . On 18 May 1568, Mary is escorted to Carlisle Castle after spending a day at Cockermouth. Mary is 25 years old. ^[18]

In 1577, William Camden began to write his book Britannia, a county-by-county description of Great Britain and Ireland. Rather than write a history, Camden wanted to describe in detail the lands of the present (1577). His stated intention was "to restore antiquity to Britaine, and Britaine to its antiquity." Written in Latin and first published in 1586 it was very popular. ^[19], .

This extract from Philemon Holland's English translation of Britannia(1610)^[20] describes Wirkinton:

...Derwent, having gathered his waters into one streame, entreth into the Ocean at Wirkinton, a place famous for taking of Salmons, and now the seat of the ancient family of the Curwens Knights, who fetch their descent from Gospatric Earle of Northumberland, and their surname they tooke by covenant and composition from Culwen a family in Galloway, the heire whereof they had married; and heere have they a stately house built Castlelike, and from whom (without offence or vanity be it spoken) my selfe am descended by the mothers side.

9. From thence some thinke there was a wall made to defend the shore in convenient places, for foure miles or there about, by Stilicho the potent commander of the Roman state, what time as the Scots annoyed these coasts out of Ireland. For thus speaketh Britaine of herselfe in Claudian:

"And of me likewise at hands (quoth she) to perish, through despight

Of neighbour Nations, Stilicho fensed against their might

What time the Scots all Ireland mov’d offense armes to take &c."

There are also, as yet, such continued ruins and broken walles to be seene as farre as to Elne Mouth... ^[21]

Key education developments include: Patricius Curwen's school on High Street (1664-1813), becoming the 'National' school in Portland Square (est. 1813), Wilson Charity School (1831-1967) on Guard Street which became the Higher Standard Council School (locally called 'Guard Street', St John's School (1860-) on John Street, St Michael's School (1860- date), Lawrence Street School (Marshside) (1874-1979), Victoria School, Northside School (1878-1977), Siddick School (1902-1967), Seaton School,^[22] Bridgefoot School, Westfield School, Moorclose School (1967-1984), Newlands School (1909-1984), Workington Grammar School/Technical and Secondary School (1912-1984) , Lillyhall School at Distington (1961-84), Distington School, St Joseph School (1929-date), Derwent Vale School at Great Clifton, Ashfield School, Salterbeck School (1961-1981), Southfield School (1984-date) ^[23], Stainburn School (1984-date), Beckstone Primary School at Harrington.

Workington is bounded on the west by the Irish Sea and on the north by the River Derwent. Workington is made up of various districts, many of which are housing estates. These include:Barepot, Northside, Stainburn, Derwent Howe, Ashfield, Banklands, Frostoms (Annie Pit), Port and Oldside, Mossbay, Moorclose, Salterbeck, Seaton, Bridgefoot, Lillyhall, Harrington, High Harrington, Clay Flatts, Kerry Park, Westfield and Great Clifton. The Marsh and Quay^[24], a large working class area of the town around the docks and a major part of the town's history was demolished in the early 1980s. Much of the former area of the Marsh is now covered by Clay Flatts industrial estate.

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The Cumbria iron ore field lies to the south of Workington, and produced extremely high grade phosphorus-free haematite. The area had a long tradition of iron smelting, but this became particularly important with the invention of the Bessemer process by Sir Henry Bessemer, the first process for mass production of steel, which previously had been an expensive specialist product. For the first 25 years of the process, until Gilchrist and Thomas improved it, it required phosphorus-free haematite. With Cumbria as the world's premier source of this, and the local coalfield also available for steel production, the world's first large-scale steel works was opened in the Moss Bay area of the town. The Bessemer converter continued to work until 1977, the world's first and last commercially operating Bessemer converter. The Moss Bay steel works were themselves closed in 1982, despite having received significant infrastructural investment and improvement almost immediately prior to the closure.

During World War II, a strategically vital electric steel furnace crucial to producing steel for aircraft engine ball bearings was relocated to Workington from Norway to prevent it falling into Axis hands.

Workington was the home of Distington Engineering Company (DEC) the engineering arm of British Steel Corporation (BSC), which specialised in the design of continuous casting equipment. DEC, known to the local people as "Chapel Bank" had an engineering design office, engineering workshops and a foundry, that at one time contained 6 of the 7 electric arc furnaces built in Workington. The 7th was situated at the Moss Bay plant of BSC. In the 1970s as BSC adapted to a more slipstreamed approach to the metals industry the engineering design company was separated from the workshops and foundry and re-designated as Distington Engineering Contracting. Employing some 200 people its primary purpose was the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of continuous casting machines.

One offshoot of the steel industry was the production of steel railway rails. Workington rails were widely exported and a common local phrase was that Workington rails 'held the world together'. Originally made from Bessemer steel, following the closure of the Moss Bay steel works (ending actual steel production in Workington), steel for the plant was brought by rail from Teesside. The plant was closed in August 2006, the final end for Workington's long and proud association with the steel works. (Although welding work on rails produced at Corus' French plant in Hayange continued at Workington for two years after its official closure, as the Scunthorpe site proved initially incapable of producing rails adequately).

The two industries Workington was built on, coal and steel, having vanished from the town, has led to Workington (as with the whole of West Cumbria) being something of an unemployment blackspot. Industries which exist in the town today include chemicals, cardboard, the docks (originally built by the United Steel Co. and with a seemingly continually shaky future), waste management and a relatively novel industry, recycling old computers for export, mainly to more impoverished countries. The town also contains the British Cattle Movement Service, a government agency set to oversee the U.K. beef and dairy industry following the BSE crisis in Britain. It is located in former steelworks offices. Many Workington residents are employed outside the town in the nuclear industry located in and around Sellafield, West Cumbria's dominant employment sector. None of the nuclear industry is located in Workington itself; much of it is based around Whitehaven.

Workington formerly manufactured 'Railbus' and 'Sprinter' type commuter trains and Leyland National buses. The Leyland National was based on an Italian design, which included an air conditioning unit mounted in a pod on top of the roof of the bus at the rear. Adapting the design for Britain, Leyland replaced the air conditioning unit with a heating unit. However, as hot air rises, much of the heat generated by the heaters was wasted as it escaped out of the top (most vehicle heaters are located low down in the vehicle). This design flaw in the National bus became infamous in certain circles.

The 'Railbus' trains were based on the National bus design, designed as a cheap stopgap by British Rail. This initiative led to Workington's brief history of train manufacturing, the buses already being built there. They are generally considered a poor design, and are very uncomfortable to ride especially on less-than-perfectly-smooth rail lines, as the carriages tend to jump about much more than most trains. This is due to the fact that they are not equipped with proper train bogies, but have two single axles per carriage (each train consists of two carriages), a cost-cutting design feature which when they have been worked on some lines has also caused problems with rounding tight-radius corners. Some industry experts have also raised significant doubts about their level of safety compared to other commuter train types, such as the Sprinter.

The former bus plant, located in Lillyhall, is now a depot for the Eddie Stobart road haulage company.

Workington is linked by the A596 road to Maryport and (via the A595 road) to Whitehaven, and by the A66 road to Cockermouth, the M6 motorway, Penrith and County Durham. The town has bus connections to other towns and villages in West Cumbria, Penrith, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, as well as the rail connection provided by the Cumbrian Coast Line to Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, with occasional through trains to Newcastle, Lancaster and Preston.

The nearest airport is Isle Of Man, although one would have to cross the Irish Sea to get there. Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow are the other closest major airports.

Workington is home to the ball game known as Uppies and Downies [1], a traditional version of football, with its origins in Medieval football or an even earlier form.

Workington has a non-League and former professional football team, Workington A.F.C. known by everyone as the 'Reds', currently playing in the Conference North.

The local professional rugby league team are former Challenge Cup winners Workington Town.

Workington's first golf club was formed in 1893 and played north of the River Derwent near Siddick. Known as West Cumberland Golf Club, it used this nine hole course until the First World War when it closed. After the war the club reformed as Workington Golf Club and moved to the present Hunday location. Five-times Open Champion and renowned course architect James Braid^[25] [2] was consulted on the layout. Considered 'one of the premier courses in Cumbria' it has been influenced by FG Hawtree^[26][27] during the 1950s and by Howard Swan today^[28].

Workington Comets are the town's professional speedway team^[29], which competes in the British Speedway Premier League^[30].

Before World War II racing was staged at Lonsdale Park, which was next to Borough Park, on the banks of the River Derwent. The sport did not return to the town until 1970, when it was introduced to Derwent Park by local entrepreneur Paul Sharp and Ian Thomas who is the present team manager (2009). In 1987, Derwent Park was a temporary home to the Glasgow Tigers (speedway) who briefly became the Workington Tigers prior to their withdrawal from the League. Speedway returned to Workington^[31] and the team has operated with varying degrees of success, but in 2008, they won the Young Shield^[32] and the Premier League Four-Team and Pairs Championships. An Academy team under the banner of Northside Stars, develops young riders who show potential at the Northside training track and may make future first teams^[33].

Workington and District Sea Angling Club takes part in regular monthly matches . It meets every month in the Union Jack Club, Senhouse Street, Workington. It also arranges tuition for its anglers^[34]. Freshwater anglers are active on local rivers, especially the River Derwent^[35].

Workington offers opportunities for track and field, triathlon, road running, cross-country, fell running and orienteering. All of its schools and clubs are affiliated to the Cumbria Athletics Association^[36], except orienteering which is organised through its own national federation^[37]. Athletes tend to join clubs which concentrate on their particular discipline. Cumberland Fell Runners ^[38]; Cumberland Athletics Club^[39]; Derwent and West Cumberland AC; Seaton Athletics Club; Workington Zebras AC and West Cumberland Orienteering Club^[40] are the most popular at present.

Primary schools have a well organised inter-school programme^[41]. Secondary schools focus especially on the Allerdale District School's Championships, which lead on to the Cumbria Schools Championships. The results of Cumbria's championships guide selection of the county teams to compete in the English Schools Athletic Association Championships. Over the years, Workington athletes have earned English Schools Championship honours.

There is a Cumbria Coalition of Motorcycle Clubs^[42]. The West Cumbrian motorcycle club, The Roadburners, was established 20 years ago and regularly attends local and national motorbike rallies, and charity road runs. It welcomes new members interested in multi cylinder machines^[43].

• Freddie Cairns (1863-) - The self-styled Duke of Workington. A good-natured rag and bone man and 'constructor of paper jumping jacks and windmills'^[44], which he sold on the streets from a basket hung around his neck. Freddie featured on Victorian black and white postcards as a significant Workington character. An endearing story of his wedding day adventures made the newspaper in 1895, indicating the level of local affection for the 'Duke'^[44].
• Dale Campbell-Savours, Baron Campbell-Savours (1943-) - Labour politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 1979 to 2001. He was opposition spokesman for international development (1991-1992) and for food, agriculture and rural affairs (1992-1994). Dale was raised to the peerage as Baron Campbell-Savours, of Allerdale in the County of Cumbria in 2001 and now sits in the House of Lords.
• Thomas Cape M.B.E (1868–1947) - Labour politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 1918 to 1945. Thomas, son of William Cape, worked as a miner for twenty-five years. He became General Secretary of the Cumberland Miners Association, and was awarded the M.B.E. in 1917[1][2].
• Mark Cueto - English international rugby union player.
• Carl George Dalton (d.21.06.1987) once lived in Workington Hall, Master Dalton the last remanding titled member of the Curwen Family and then moved onto Ribble Hall, Preston. The Curwen family however is still remembered in Workington to the present day. (The Curwen family has branches extending into present-day New England and in the Midwestern United States (Wisconsin and Illinois). Workington Hall, which stands in the middle of a public park, later passed into the stewardship of the local council and is now a ruin.
• Scott Dobie - Carlisle United and Scotland international footballer
• Troy Donockley - Renowned Workington born player of uillean pipes[3][4][5].
• Sir Joseph Brian Donnelly (UK diplomat) KCMG, KBE, CMG - Son of Workington steelworker, educated at Workington Grammar School and Oxford University. Worked at the GCHQ, and in 1973 began working at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Appointed UK Ambassador to Yugoslavia in 1997. During the Kosovo war, when the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was threatened with NATO intervention especially air strikes, Donnelly stayed on with a skeleton embassy staff[6][7]. British High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Zimbabwe from 2001-2004. During these tumultuous years, his straightforward, but forceful approach to the Robert Mugabe government's human rights record may now, with hindsight, appear well ahead of other international players. [8][9][10]. Made KBE Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003, an honour which in diplomatic circles tends to be associated with service in difficult postings.
• Dronnies - Nickname used by locals for the Dronfield steelworkers and their families, who moved to Workington from 1882. It is estimated that about 1500 people made the move. The Dronnies brought the newly established rules of a ball game with them. These rules for Association Football were established by the world's first soccer club, Sheffield Football Club[11]. Dronnies formed the nucleus of the original Workington FC in 1988^[45].
• James Duffield (1835-1914) and Josiah Purser (1848-1928) - Responsible for moving the entire Dronfield steelworks (opened in 1873) to Workington in 1882. Both later served as Aldermen on Workington Borough Council^[46].
• Harold Dunn (1904-1999) - Engineer and inventor. In 1935, Harold built and then demonstrated the first television set in West Cumbria. He astonished the scientific world, because his set produced a picture in Workington, some 52 miles outside the expected range of the BBC's signal relayed from Alexandra Palace transmitting station. Harold communicated with John Logie Baird and used Baird's mechanical scanning principle in his own TV, which was built from radio and car parts improvised components and what he called junk. The set and Harold's papers are now in the collection of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford. ^[47][48]
• Kathleen Ferrier CBE (1912–1953) - Contralto with a vivacious personality. Lancashire born, lived at Silloth and then Carlisle. Her husband bet her that she would not take part in a music competition. She won the prestigious Gold Cup at the 1938 Workington Musical Festival^[49]. She went on to become an international star not only of opera but British traditional songs.
• Colonel Darren Greene (1860 - 1941)
• Harold Goodall and Herbert Stubbs - World War 2 railwaymen who risked their lives to stop a burning ammunition wagon destroying a 57 vehicle train. They successfully separated the burning wagon, which was full of depth charges from the train. Still fighting the fire, Harold died in the explosion, which shattered hundreds of windows and roofs, but injured nobody else. [12].
• Arthur Guirdham (1905-1992) - Physician, psychiatrist, novelist, and writer on alternative medicine,ESP and reincarnation. Workington born and educated at Oxford University. Arthur was convinced he was the reincarnation of a Cathar priest who lived during the persecution of the Cathars in France in the 13th century. His books The Lake and the Castle (1976) and The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars (1977) describe the Cathar's loyalty to their basic dualist beliefs [13][14]. His book The Theory of Disease (1957) is mentioned in Brian Inglis' History of Medicine[15] and describes Arthur's theory about the link between personality and illness.[16][17]
• Howard Jeffrey (1945-2008) - All round sportsman, teacher and rotarian. Educated at the Workington Grammar School, he represented English Schools at both athletics (sprint hurdles) and cricket. Howard played senior county cricket for Leicestershire and top class rugby union for Coventry, Cumberland, North West Counties and North of England. He was one of the county's most naturally gifted all round sportsmen of his generation[18]. Head of Physical Education at Whitehaven Grammar School, deputy headteacher at Netherhall School, Maryport and stalwart of the Workington Derwent Rotary Club. Howard embodied the best aspects of the West Cumbrian sporting character, and his teams were encouraged to play hard, to win fair and with humility, but to learn to lose (if they had to) with dignity.
• Fred Peart, Baron Peart of Workington (1914-1988) - Thomas Frederick "Fred" Peart, qualified as a teacher in 1936. He served in World War II, gaining the rank of Captain. Member of Parliament for Workington from 1945 to 1976. Served in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s. Fred was made a life peer in 1976, and served as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal.
• Gordon Bamford Preston (1925-) - Mathematician with an original and penetrating mind^[50]. Born in Workington and brought up in Carlisle. During the World War Two, he left Oxford University for Bletchley Park, to help crack German codes with a small group of mathematicians which included Alan Turing. A teacher at Westminster School, London and then The Royal Military College of Science. In 1954 he wrote three hugely influential papers in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society, laying the foundations of inverse semigroup theory. Before Gordon and Al Clifford's book, The algebraic theory of semigroups (Vol 1 1961) (Vol 2 1967) and the Russian, E S Lyapin's, Semigroups (1960) there was no systematic treatment of semigroups. The algebraic theory of semigroups was hailed as an excellent achievement which greatly influenced the future development of the subject^[51]. In 1963, Gordon Bamford Preston moved to Australia to take up chair of mathematics at Monash University outside Melbourne[19][20].
• Albert Rosser (1899-1995) - Watercolour artist, who prefered to work from life and with natural light. Now considered one of the twentieth century's outstanding Lakeland watercolourists. 'A small (he was under five feet) and gentle man whose pursuit of beauty took him to some wonderful lake district locations at some very odd hours'^[52]. Largely self-taught, Albert painted from the age of nine until his eyesight faded in his 80s. He spent time in the America and worked as a crane operator in Buffalo, but he lived most of his life at Moss Bay with his wife Ada (ne Rowe). Fitting painting around his growing family and a variety of jobs (steelworker, meter reader and clerk), he was never prolific and enjoyed giving away more paintings than he sold. Respectfully addressed as 'Mr Rosser' by neighbours and friends alike. 'He was a self-effacing man, his own sternest critic and less intent on creating a status for himself than on creating visions of beauty' ^[52].
• Bill Shankly - the football manager, famous for managing Liverpool F.C, also managed Workington A.F.C.
• Bishop Desmond Sibbald
• James Alexander Smith VC (1881-1968) - Workington born soldier of the 3rd Battalion, Border Regiment during World War I. In France, Private Smith and Private Abraham Acton (from Whitehaven) acted together and both received the Victoria Cross. The London Gazette, 18 February 1915: For conspicuous bravery on the 21st December (1914), at Rouges-Bancs, in voluntarily going from his trench and rescuing a wounded man who had been lying exposed against the enemy's trenches for 75 hours; and on the same day again leaving his trench voluntarily, under heavy fire to bring into cover another wounded man. He was under fire for 60 minutes whilst conveying the wounded men into safety. Charles 'Shadder' Sharpe VC, who also won his award at Rouge-Bancs, spent his last days in Workington[21].
• Helena Thompson MBE, JP - Justice of the Peace and philanthropist. Helped the people of her town in numerous ways, especially by founding the maternity ward in the Workington infirmary. Helena gave away much of her inherited wealth to charity. She bequeathed her home, Park End, and its contents to the town to form the museum which bears her name. Although she had no children of her own, the hundreds of Workington citizens born safely in her maternity ward, represent perhaps, Helena's greatest legacy.[22][23]
• Joseph 'Joey' Thompson - English Senior Amateur Billiards Champion 1936, 1947 and 1948^[53]. Great Britain international at the Empire Games. Joey made a 365 break against the legendary Joe Davis, when they played an exhibition game in 1934. Six hundred towns people gathered outside Gordon's Garage on Washington Street to listen to the 1936 English Championships final match on the radio. The win was considered so important that Lord Lonsdale presented him with a trophy. His picture hangs proudly on the wall of The Veterans Club to this day^[53]
• Patrick 'Paddy' Walls OBE (1847-1932) - Dynamic union leader at Moss Bay Steel Works, founder member of the Labour Party and first president of the Blast Furnace men's Union, Borough Councillor (1893-1931) and the first Labour Mayor (1915). An Irishman by birth, ...he secured improved conditions through militant action, whilst steering his often unruly members along the path to peaceful negotiation and conciliation.^[54] His major achievement concerned reduction in working time of his men, through the replacement of the 84 hour week with eight-hour daily shift work^[54] .
• Workington Town Hall of Fame - Ike Southward, Brian Edgar, Eppie Gibson, James Pickering, Billy Ivison, Gus Risman, Sol Roper and Harry Archer[24].

Workington has recently seen the implementation of a massive town centre redevelopment plan; this included the demolition of the former Co-op building and a former Tesco outlet and their replacement by a new shopping centre known as Washington Square, which includes a new multi-storey car park. Opened in August 2006, the £45 million pound centre's main attractions are a new Debenhams, Next, River Island, HMV and Costa Coffee. But much criticism has been caused by the regeneration overlooking the need to have a supermarket in the town center area.

While successful efforts have been made to find appropriate local names for the major streets of the new shopping centre, the initial external planning title of Washington Square has been retained. But, if Workington is named after the settlement of 'Weorc' the leader of the 'Weorcingas', to use another Anglo-Saxon word 'Washington' (settlement of the people of Wash) for this significant new shopping area may appear 'extremely inappropriate'. The term Washington Square may also be considered an over-used term. When typed into Google search the name results in 32,200,000 hits, of which none of the early pages contain any references to Workington. A renaming or rebranding of the new development may be necessary.

There are still a lot of empty shops/units in the new town center. The council have been criticized for not doing more to help small local businesses out, they seem more inclined to get the big named chains into the town at the expense of losing the local businesses who have been in the town for years, many fear that with the loss of the small local businesses, that the town will become a clone town center of other shopping areas all over the country. A clone town center basically means that you see the same or very similar shops when visiting different towns, cities up and down the country.

Workington is also getting a new Tesco Extra. Its location on the town's Cloffocks site, an important area of common recreational land for the town, is causing significant controversy.

Six new pieces of public art have been installed in the town centre:

• The Glass Canopies^[55] by Alexander Beleschenko[25]
• The Coastline ^[56] by Simon Hitchens[26]
• The Hub ^[57] by BASE Structures[27] and Illustrious[28]
• The Grilles of the Central Car Park^[58] by Tom Lomax[29], St Patrick's Primary School[30] and Alan Dawson [31].
• Central Way Public Toilets^[59] by Paul Scott [32] and Robert Drake [33].
• The Lookout Clock ^[60] by Andy Plant[34].

• The Stars Look Down

• Workington & District Civic Trust
• Workington Town Centre
• Workington Iron and Steel
• Visit Cumbria: Workington with images
• Simon Ledingham's Aerial Photographs
• Workington Golf Club
• The Mighty Seas - Maritime history
• Uppies and Downies Web site
• Uppies and Downies in the Times & Star newspaper
• For locals and visitors
• Russell W.Barnes' Old Workington
• Russell W. Barnes' Defence of Workington
• A website about the twinning of Workington with Val-de-Reuil in France (Check this link)
• The Workington and District Twinning Association
• Document containing estimated population
• Street Map of Workington