Carlisle city centre guide

Established by the Romans to serve the forts on Hadrian's Wall, it became strategically important in the Middle Ages and its castle and cathedral still dominate the skyline.

Carlisle has been voted the most contented place in Britain and to keep its residents happy, there is a wide range of bars and restaurants, amenities and leisure activities.

PROPERTIES
Carlisle has a great variety of housing styles to suit all tastes and budgets, from flats and former local authority homes to terraces, family semis and large detached properties.

To the north of the city, in the CA3 postcode area, the districts of Lowry Hill, Stanwix, Kingstown, Newfields and Crindledyke feature mainly semi-detached homes, with some flats and detached and terraced properties.

Victorian townhouses and flats are in the majority in the actual city centre, which is also in CA3.

The average price for the CA3 postcode area is £181,725. Terraced properties sold for a an average of £147,423 with semi-detached properties valued at £161,279.

Carleton Grange, to the south of the city, has a mix of flats, three-bed semis and four-bed detached homes while nearby Harraby is made up of two and three-bed ex-local authority homes.

Both these districts are in the CA1 postcode area. Also sharing this postcode are Warwick Road and Durranhill in the east of Carlisle. The Warwick Road area has terraced housing while Durranhill has ex-local authority homes.

The average house price in the CA1 postcode area is £129,256. Terraced properties sell for an average of £111,826 and semi-detached properties for £125,240.

The CA2 area is to the west where Sandsfield Park is a development of modern detached and semi-detached homes. Belle Vue is mainly two and three-bedroom semis as is Morton, where the majority of houses are former local authority homes.

The average house price for the CA2 area is £124,242. Terraced properties sell for an average of £99,365 and semi-detached properties for £128,878.

SHOPS

The Lanes Shopping Centre The main city centre shopping streets are English Street and Scotch Street where you will find a House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer, Boots and WH Smith.

The Lanes shopping centre has more than 70 stores including Primark, Debenhams, H&M, Next and Monsoon. There is also the Market Hall , an indoor Victorian covered market with a wide variety of independent traders selling everything from fresh meat and vegetables, haberdashery and clothes to florists, cards and stationery, alongside several cafes.

SCHOOLS
Secondary schools in Carlisle are Trinity, Richard Rose Central Academy, Richard Rose Morton Academy, Newman RC and the private Austin Friars, with many primary schools across the city. Check out their Ofsted reports here .

Carlisle is also home to the main campuses of the University of Cumbria.

AMENITIES

Rickerby Park Carlisle has a great deal of open space for its residents to enjoy. Rickerby Park, Bitts Park, Pettril Valley Park, Chances Park, Kingmoor Nature Reserve, Keenan Park, Melbourne Park and Heysham Park are all worth a visit.

Among the amenities on hand are the Sands Centre , the main leisure centre which doubles as an entertainment venue, the Old Fire Station for arts, James Street Baths, Sheepmount Athletic Stadium, Tullie House Art Galley and Museum and Carlisle Racecourse. The Vue Cinema in Botchergate is a multi-screen showing the latest releases.

LEISURE
Carlisle has a predominately rural and stunningly beautiful setting with unrivalled leisure opportunities. The Solway Estuary is the west, the Pennines to the east, the northern Lake District to the south, the Eden Valley to the south east and Northumberland National Park to the north east.

TRANSPORT
Carlisle is bypassed by the M6 motorway which provides good road links for travel in all directions. Newcastle International Airport in the east can be reached in just over an hour's drive. Other international airports within or around two hours' drive include Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool.

Carlisle is on the West Coast Main Line with fast and frequent services to London in about three hours, 15 minutes, non-stop to Glasgow in about an hour and 15 minutes, and direct to Manchester Airport in about two hours, 15 minutes.

Other direct rail services include Carlisle to Edinburgh which takes about one hour and 20 minutes and to Newcastle and Manchester.

The Tyne Valley line, Settle line and Cumbrian Coast Line - through Workington and Whitehaven to Barrow - all start from Carlisle. For buses, Stagecoach is the main operator for local routes around the city and the surrounding area.

WEBSITES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
Carlisle City Council