Norman Nicholson’s Millom

Two walking trails with audio exploring Millom on the edge of the Lake District

Norman Nicholson was an influential 20th-century writer who grew up during Millom's rise as a significant, bustling industrial town and as an adult witnessed the town's decline when the mines and ironworks closed in the sixties. Millom lost wealth and opportunity almost overnight like so many other British industrial towns.

The trails will help you discover a range of locations around Millom which were significant to Norman’s life and work. These sites and the surrounding area were important to the development of Millom as a Victorian New Town. This place and the people who lived here, in a small industrial town situated between the hills and the coast, provided Norman with a lifetime of inspiration for his writing.

You will discover a long history of mining and iron production, take in spectacular views of Black Coombe, the Lake District National Park landscape, Duddon Estuary and the beautiful coastline while appreciating the renowned local poet, Norman Nicholson.

The app is Bluetooth Beacon and GPS enabled. This is to show you relevant content based on your location along the trail and immediate area.

The app also uses Location Services and Bluetooth Low Energy to determine your location when the app is running in the background. It will trigger notifications when you are close to a location of interest. We have used GPS and Bluetooth Low Energy in a power-efficient way. However, as with all apps that use location, please note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.