Private Investigator
Thornthwaite

A vital link in the west of the county and connects Barrow-in-Furness to Carlisle is the Cumbrian Coast Line. Windermere Branch Line, most of the Furness Line and much of the Settle-Carlisle Railway are other railways in Cumbria. With some services running to neighbouring areas such as Lancaster, several bus companies run services in Cumbria serving the main towns and villages in the county. Founded in 1974 from the traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Cumberland County Borough of Carlisle along with the North Lonsdale or Furness part of Lancashire usually referred to as "Lancashire North of the Sands", (including the county borough of Barrow-in-Furness) and from the West Riding of Yorkshire, the Sedbergh Rural District. It is governed by Cumbria County Council, was the county of Cumbria.

The only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the southwestern tip of the county is Carlisle, Cumbria's county town in the north of the county. With textiles, pencils and biscuits among the products manufactured in the region, Kendal, Keswick and Carlisle all became mill town. Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Penrith and Oxenholme Lake District are the busiest railway stations in Cumbria.

Tourism is the largest and most widespread industry in Cumbria. Every year, the Lake District National Park alone receives some 15.8 million visitors. Fewer than 50,000 people reside permanently, despite this, within the Lake District - mostly in Ambleside, Bowness-on-Windermere, Coniston, Keswick, Grasmere and Windermere. The largest natural lake in England is Windermere. Carlisle Lake District and Barrow/Walney Island: are the only two airports in the county.

One of the UK's newest universities having been established in 2007, the only university in Cumbria at present and has campuses across the county together with Lancaster and London is the University of Cumbria. With Barrow being one of the best supported non-league football teams in England, Barrow and Workington A.F.C.-who are always known locally as "the reds"-are well-supported non-league teams, having been relegated from the Football League in the 1970s.

One of the country's largest shipbuilding centres operated by Associated British Ports alongside the Port of Silloth in Allerdale, but the Port of Barrow is only minor, is Barrow-in-Furness. The only professional football team in Cumbria and currently play in League Two (4th Tier in the English football pyramid) are Carlisle United. Carlisle play in the Rugby League Conference and Barrow, Whitehaven and Workington in the RL National Leagues.

Although more recent discoveries near Galloway appear to contradict this, Cumbria was previously believed to have formed the core of the Early Middle Ages Brittonic kingdom of Rheged. Lie in the lowland areas of the county to the north and south respectively, the Solway Coast and Arnside and Silverdale AONB's. Located at the Lakeland Circuit, Rowrah, between Cockermouth and Egremont is Cumbria Kart Racing Club.