Published at 11:11, Thursday, 19 July 2012

COPELAND has again retained four of its Green Flag Awards, highlighting that our borough has some of the best parks and community spaces in the whole of Britain.

Each year, the borough council and members of the community work hard to ensure our parks and open spaces are well-maintained and are given much-needed tender loving care.

It is encouraging to see that their efforts have once again been recognised.

The Olympic Games coincide with a tourism drive pointing out the beauties to be found throughout the UK. Well we should blow our own trumpet: the borough has a lot to offer in addition to our open spaces. We have tourist attractions, a scenic coastline, family fun days, community events and much more.

As the school holidays begin, families will be looking for things to do and places to go with their children – both locally and further afield.

You don’t just have to travel to London to enjoy the Olympic events, as a myriad of sporting activities are taking place in Copeland.

A free athletics taster day is taking place on Saturday for sporting enthusiasts. A host of Olympic-themed activities are also happening at Lakes College over the summer.

And next weekend – when summer will truly have arrived! – there will be a whale and dolphin watch taking place at St Bees (see page 5).

The Beacon, Rum Story, Haig Mine, Libraries, Civic Hall and other venues have plenty of ideas to stop even the most energetic children from getting bored.

We have the advantage of being sandwiched between the Lake District in the east and the coast on our western edge. Eskdale is just a steam train ride away and the coast – as another blindingly-obvious scientific survey has shown this week – offers a fun way to stay fit and healthy.

From Whitehaven you can cycle the start of the Coast to Coast cycle route, and from St Bees you can start the Coast to Coast walk. All that’s needed is the rain to stop for a few days.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk