Hailforth

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Hailforth
Cumberland
Footpath to Salta - geograph.org.uk - 572472.jpg
Footpath to Salta from Hailforth
Location
Grid reference: NY086462
Location: 54°48’11"N, 3°25’19"W
Data
Post town: Maryport
Postcode: CA15
Dialling code: 01900
Local Government
Council: Cumberland
Parliamentary
constituency:
Workington

Hailforth is a small hamlet in the parish of Holme St Cuthbert, in northern Cumberland. It is approximately half a mile south-west of the village of Mawbray, and a similar distance north-east of Salta. Carlisle, Cumberland's county town, is situated twenty-five miles to the north-east. Hailforth has just four houses, and is to be found on the road which runs from Mawbray to the coast, where it joins the B5300 at Dubmill, three-quarters of a mile to the south-west.

History and name

The name of Hailforth comes from the Old English healh-ford, meaning a corner or secret ford, and in the past has been spelled Haileforth.[1]

While its small size seems to have excluded the hamlet from contemporary maps, it does appear as a named settlement on older maps,[2][3] and Hailforth appears in the historical record of the county.

In the 19th century, several different trades were practised by residents of the hamlet, including carpentry, nail-making, and masonry.[4] The postmistress for the village of Mawbray and many of the smaller outlying hamlets also lived at Hailforth around the turn of the 20th century. "Postie Mary", as she was known locally, would walk daily across the fields as far as Edderside to deliver the post, in spite of suffering a limp.[5]

During the Second World War, three young boys who had been evacuated from the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne area were billeted to Hailforth.[6]

Hailforth today

Hailforth remains very small, and overshadowed by its proximity to Mawbray some contemporary maps exclude it as a named settlement. There is one business which operates in Hailforth aprt form the farms: Newcroft Kennels & Cattery.[7][8]

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References