Celebrations were in full-swing throughout Copeland in 2019, beginning with a first glimpse of plans for the £3m Whitehaven Activity Centre in February.

Following suit, a new £1.1 million facility to help transform Whitehaven into a hotbed of innovation was revealed in May.

The Watershed is a collaboration between Sellafield Ltd and property developer BEC.

It was designed to complement the plans to convert the town’s bus station into the £4.1 million Buzz Station, and will be created in the 2, 715 sq ft three-storey offices next door, which has been vacant for almost 20 years.

West Cumberland Hospital celebrated saving their under-threat maternity services in July following a 12-month trial period and independent review, with more than 100 people packing themselves into Cleator Moor Civic Hall to hear the decision.

The month’s royal visit saw Princess Anne make her way to Whitehaven to open Mayfield School and St Benedict’s School’s new home, Campus Whitehaven. The Princess Royal was given a tour of the new campus which brought St Benedict’s Roman Catholic High School and Mayfield School together on one site.

She then had the opportunity to meet students and see the new facilities, as well as being treated to a performance of St Benedict’s School’s recent Rock Challenge piece.

The following month saw two major stories break, with bullying within Sellafield being uncovered and mental health charity Mind’s downfalls being revealed.

The scandal included a child sex offender and a shamed former doctor who had been struck off by the General Medical Council being among those involved with Mind in West Cumbria.

September brought happier times, as the month of gurning and crab apples greeted Coronation Street star Shayne Ward to Egremont.

As always, the town’s infamous Crab Fair brought with it sunshine and laughter, and the World Gurning Championships of 2019 saw hundreds gather for a night of fun at the Falcon Club for the popular competition.

Winner for the male section was Guinness World Record holder, who has now won 17 times, Aspatria’s Tommy Mattinson, who, after taking a break last year for health reasons, was thrilled to come back to reclaim his title.

And keeping in wacky-tradition, November saw Phillip Gates crowned the World’s Biggest Liar at the annual contest.

To complete the year, Conservative Trudy Harrison was re-elected as Copeland’s MP, winning with 22,856 votes against Labour’s Tony Lywood, who received 17,040 votes.