Silloth Green

The regeneration of the town’s distinctive seaside Green is crucial to halting the economic and social decline of Silloth-on-Solway. The town grew up around the railway’s arrival in 1856 and the entrepreneurship of businessmen who saw its potential as a port for Carlisle. It became a popular holiday destination, centred on the Green, but the closure of the railway in the 1960s and subsequent rise in cheap holidays abroad signalled the end for the renowned resort.

Following extensive consultation and research we drew up a suite of intepretation, audience development and training plans for inclusion within a Stage I bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Recommendations included a trail of life-size sculptures of historic characters, interactive displays focusing on the Victorians at leisure and artwork created by local schoolchildren. We also suggested ways of enhancing the events and activities programme and empowering the workforce through training.

“Silloth is a fantastic scheme, and it’s been great working with Imagemakers. Knowing that they’ll come up with professional well-thought out proposals, based on really understanding the local community and what the site needs, makes delivering a successful project a lot easier.” Liz Carlisle, Managing Director, Ruby Tiger (project co-ordinator for Silloth Regeneration Partnership).

“It’s been great working with Imagemakers. Knowing that they’ll come up with professional well-thought out proposals… makes delivering a successful project a lot easier.”