Salta, Cumbria

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Coordinates: 54°47′46″N 3°25′34″W / 54.796°N 3.426°W / 54.796; -3.426
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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Cumbrian hamlet. For other uses, see Salta (disambiguation).

Salta
Above: Salta after an uncommon winter snowfall. Below: The road leading into the hamlet at the top of the hill.
Salta is located in the former Allerdale Borough
Salta
Salta
Location in Allerdale, Cumbria
Salta is located in Cumbria
Salta
Salta
Location within Cumbria
OS grid referenceNY083455
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMARYPORT
Postcode districtCA15
Dialling code01900
PoliceCumbria
FireCumbria
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cumbria
54°47′46″N 3°25′34″W / 54.796°N 3.426°W / 54.796; -3.426

Salta is a hamlet in the parish of

Carlisle
. It has a population of about 35 people.

Salta can only be accessed from the lane from Mawbray, which goes on to join the B5300 coast road, although two public bridleways provide access over the fields from Hailforth and Mawbray. The hamlet consists of mainly bungalows, and a farm is still in operation in the vicinity. A caravan park, Manor House Park, is situated across the Moss to the southeast, to the southwest of the hamlet of Edderside.

The settlement's name is derived from "sēalt-tir", meaning "salt land" in

Adders, Britain's only native venomous snake, and several varieties of heather, as well as the purple moor grass Molinia caerulea
.

History

The name "Salta" comes from Old English "sēalt-tir", meaning "salt land". In Anglo-Saxon times, salt making was a major industry on the Solway coast, and there are remains of medieval salt pans near Milefortlet 21, only a few miles down the coast from Salta. Salta appears in older documents with several variant spellings, including "Sathowe".[1]

The road in Salta after being resurfaced in 2014.

On Salta Moss, an area of

Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, and archaeologists date it as being crafted as early as 1100 BC.[2] Two perforated axe-hammers and a polished axe dated to the Neolithic period were unearthed at nearby Mawbray.[3] After the arrival of Romans in Britain, the area around Salta was fortified as part of the coastal defences which extended beyond the western end of Hadrian's Wall. By the 1550s, Salta participated in a system called "seawake", which was a night watch to guard the coast against incursions across the Solway by the Scots.[1][4] These incursions were frequent, and on one occasion in 1592 at Dubmill, near Salta, a Mr Barwise the local miller was taken prisoner by Scottish raiders.[1]

One of the properties in Salta is known to date from the 16th century,

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne area were billeted to the parish of Holme St. Cuthbert, and several ended up in Salta.[5] Development in the 20th century saw new houses built, but mainline water and electricity arrived later than in other parts of Britain, perhaps due to the small population. Excavations of a cropmark enclosure at Edderside, beyond the Moss to the southeast of Salta, were conducted in 1989–1990 by Robert H. Bewley.[6]
The Kelsick House wind turbine was approved for construction in 2013 in spite of local opposition, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the northeast, to the south of Abbeytown, and will join a number of other wind turbines in the area around Salta.[7]

Geography and farming

Looking up the hill at Salta.
An irrigation ditch runs next to an unpaved track on Salta Moss.

Salta lies near the coast of northwestern Cumbria. By road it is situated 1.1 miles (1.8 km) south of

Carlisle provides wider amenities, some 25.1 miles (40.4 km) to the northeast.[8] The shore of Allonby Bay, an inlet of the Solway Firth, is a mere half-a-mile to the west of the hamlet. A beck (a local word meaning "stream") flows through Salta, fed in part by irrigation channels. This beck eventually joins the Black Dub
and drains into the Solway Firth at Dubmill.

Salta looking towards the Northeast.

last ice age. It was designated an SSSI in 1954.[11]
Having been cut with irrigation channels, and been the site of burning and peat working, Salta Moss has different flora than other bogs or mires on the Solway Plain.[11] The Moss today is common ground, but a track runs through it to provide access for local farmers to outlying fields, which surround it. An irrigation ditch has also been dug to provide drainage to the surrounding farmland.[11]

There is some concern that areas of the Moss have been damaged or partly destroyed as a result of agricultural activity, including the digging of drainage ditches.[9] Natural England, the agency responsible for the management of SSSIs in England, has suggested that no further irrigation channels should be dug, existing ones should not be deepened, and that the area should not be exposed to fertilisers or surface water run-off.[12] Natural England further notes that the site's continued status as an SSSI depends on maintaining a high water table.[11]

Climate

Salta, like the rest of the Solway plain, has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with mild summers and winters which generally avoid extremes of temperature. Salta has a cool climate, with average daytime highs of around 19 °C during July and August, and 6 °C during December. Overnight lows are 12 °C in July and August, falling to 2 °C in December, January, and February. Temperatures as high as 30 °C have been recorded in particularly hot summers, as have lows of −12 °C in winter. It is wet year-round, with rain or drizzle expected on 16 to 19 days of most months.[13] Snowfall is relatively uncommon. Salta, and this part of the Cumbrian coast, can be subject to high winds especially during the winter months, with windstorms and gale-force winds most likely to occur between October and April. The hamlet avoided major flooding which hit the region in 2009, and escaped the worst effects of Storm Desmond in 2015. Severe weather warnings were in effect in December 2015 as Storm Desmond hit,[14] including a "red" warning for rain indicating severely bad weather. Wind gusts in the area exceeded 80 mph (129 km/h) during this storm.[15]

Climate data for Mawbray
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7
(45) 		7
(45) 		9
(48) 		12
(54) 		15
(59) 		17
(63) 		19
(66) 		19
(66) 		17
(63) 		13
(55) 		9
(48) 		6
(43) 		12.5
(54.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 2
(36) 		2
(36) 		3
(37) 		4
(39) 		7
(45) 		9
(48) 		12
(54) 		12
(54) 		9
(48) 		7
(45) 		4
(39) 		2
(36) 		6
(43)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 93.6
(3.69) 		105.1
(4.14) 		72.0
(2.83) 		63.5
(2.50) 		60.1
(2.37) 		70.3
(2.77) 		58.4
(2.30) 		76.2
(3.00) 		73.4
(2.89) 		109.4
(4.31) 		93.2
(3.67) 		102.5
(4.04) 		977.7
(38.49)
Source: World Weather Online[16]

Flora and fauna

A gorse flower on Salta Moss, Cumbria.

Salta, and the Moss in particular, is home to a variety of plant and animal life, including some rare specimens.

pheasants, which are also bred locally for hunting.[11]

The Moss contains several varieties of heather, as well as the purple moor grass

marsh pennywort.[11]

Landmarks and amenities

The public bridleway which leads from Salta to Mawbray.

Salta today is still a very small settlement, home to approximately 35 people. Most of the houses are fairly modern bungalows, such as those named Barnfield, Heather Moor, Moss View and Tamberry, although there are older two-floor cottages on either side of the hamlet. Another bungalow is named Anchorage, which features a ship anchor scheme on its gates.[17]

There is still a functioning farm in Salta, which is passed on the lane accessing the hamlet. There are other farms in Mawbray and Allonby, and the hamlet is surrounded by farmland belonging to these local farmers. Though the road through the hamlet comes to a dead-end, and is accessed by lane only from the coastal B5300 road or Mawbray,[8] two public bridleways at the end provide access over the fields to Hailforth and Mawbray,[18] with the latter emerging right next to the pub in the centre of the village. A caravan park, Manor House Park, is situated across the peat to the southeast, to the southwest of the hamlet of Edderside.[8][19]

Cumberland Council provides refuse collection, streetlighting, and other modern amenities.[20] The nearest primary schools are Allonby Primary School in Allonby and Holme St Cuthbert School near Mawbray,[21] and the nearest secondary school is Beacon Hill Community School in Aspatria.[22] Modern Salta is a predominantly Christian community,[23] though the local Church is located at Holme St Cuthbert, several miles away. As at 2014, a bus service runs between Silloth and Workington on the B5300 approximately every two hours, and can be requested to make a stop at Dubmill, near Salta.[24]

Salta is part of the

Second World War.[26]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salta, Cumbria.
  1. ^ a b c Kendal (1929). Francis Grainger and W G Collingwood (ed.). "'Records : The Holm under Elizabeth', in Register and Records of Holm Cultram". British History Online. pp. 167–176. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b "The Celtic Solway". Holme St Cuthbert History Group. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  3. ^ Hodgkinson, David; Cundill, P. R.; Huckerby, Elizabeth (2000). The lowland wetlands of Cumbria. Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, University of Lancaster. p. 111.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0954882318
    .
  5. ^ "Holme St Cuthbert history group – The Evacuees".
  6. ^ Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society (1998). Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmoreland Antiquarian & Archeological Society. The Society. p. 107. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Kelsickhouse Wind Turbine". Allerdale Council. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d Google (13 December 2014). "Salta, Cumbria" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Salta Moss – Unit 1 Salta Moss (001)". Natural England. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  10. ^ Beard, G. R. Soil Survey Record. Soil Survey of England and Wales. p. 10.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Site Name: Salta Moss" (PDF). Natural England. 1982. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Views About Management, Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Schedule 11(6)" (PDF). English Nature. 22 December 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Salta". Myweather2.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Storm Desmond". Met Office. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Storm Desmond Case Study". A Level Geography. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Mawbray". World Weather Online. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  17. ^ Google Street View
  18. ^ "T:UK – Trigpoint list". Trigpointing UK. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  19. ^ "Welcome to Manor House Park". Manorhousepark.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  20. ^ "My Property". mapping.allerdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  21. ^ "Primary schools near Salta, Cumbria". Home.rm.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  22. ^ "Secondary schools near Salta, Cumbria". Home.rm.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  23. ^ "Area: Holme (Ward) – Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  24. ^ "City Hopper Buses" (PDF). Reays. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  25. ^ "Tories win Workington from Labour". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  26. ^ "A vision of Britain website – general elections section". Retrieved 27 April 2012.
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