Lowick, Lancashire

Lowick
Lancashire
St Luke's Church, Lowick
Location
Grid reference:	SD291862
Location:	54°16’3"N, 3°5’23"W
Data
Population:	227  (2011)
Post town:	Ulverston
Postcode:	LA12
Dialling code:	01229
Local Government
Council:	Westmorland & Furness
Parliamentary constituency:	Barrow and Furness

Lowick is a village in Lancashire, running down to a bridge over the River Crake two miles south of the foot of Coniston Water. The village is recorded as early as 1202 as Lofwik, and later as Laufwik: the name has been suggested as being derived from the Old Norse "Lauf-vík" meaning 'Leafy Bay', but since the village is a long way inland, it may instead be from the Old English wic or Old Norse vik, both meaning "village".

The parish is made up of several small hamlets, including Woodgate, Lowick Bridge and Lowick Green. Lowick Green has a red phone box, one of a number surviving in rural Britain.

There is a pub in Lowick called 'The Red Lion' There is another pub called 'The Farmers Arms', on the border between Lowick and the next small village, Spark Bridge.

The village had its own primary school until 2004 when the council closed the school on the grounds that it only had 18 pupils left. After the closure the group operated an independent school for one year, at the time, this gained sponsorship from "The Cooperative". The building is now used by an outdoor activities company named River Deep Mountain High.

Events

There is an annual event in the village called the Lowick Show, known locally as the Lile Royal, which attracts visitors from nearby towns and villages. There are games, stalls, cattle, ferret and dog shows, as well as competitions for bakery, and arts and crafts. In 2005 there was a minor controversy around the disqualification of a prominent local knitter for allegedly entering non-arran weight yarn into the competition: such is the excitement in the villages of High Furness.

Every May bank holiday one household in the village hosts a 'duck race', in which plastic ducks are put into the stream in the house's garden and 'raced' against each other. The race is followed by food and drink until late in the evening, even for the ducks. In 2002 a competitor was disqualified when it was discovered that he had greased his ducks with lard from the Berkshires in order to speed their progress through the weir at Lowick Bridge: clearly a cut-throat contest.

References

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lowick, Lancashire)

Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. p. 305 ISBN 0198691033