THIS week people in Whitehaven were treated to Christmas Markets and a fireworks display. 

The markets were held in St Nicholas' Gardens in the town centre with various traders selling their goods. 

The fireworks display followed last year's event which saw the return of harbourside displays, the first since the Maritime Festivals. 

Whitehaven Town Council organised the markets and display which saw people flock to the town to enjoy what was on offer. 

Legendary actor James Cosmo who has starred in Game of Thrones, Braveheart, Trainspotting, Sons of Anarchy, and other hit movies also visited the town to promote his new whisky, Storyman. 

Mr Cosmo signed autographs and bottles of whisky at Richardson's wine store which saw people queueing right down the street. 

Gerard Richardson, of Richardson's of Whitehaven, who helped the Town Council organise the event, said: "Friday's events which included the Christmas Market in St Nicholas gardens, the annual fireworks display and the visit to Richardsons of Whitehaven by Hollywood actor James Cosmo were a huge success.

The weather threatened everything, but we got away with it and it was just such a memorable day.

"The stalls in St Nicholas Gardens offered a great variety of goods and the fireworks display was attended by just about everyone.

"The lights display on the harbour was a low-budget experiment to see if we could create some nice vistas over the marina and although I only saw it for a few minutes, it was calming and quite mesmerizing.


"As for the visit to the shop by James, well that was magical. We have done some crazy things as a business over the years, but this was off the charts.

"James couldn’t have been nicer and the atmosphere was just so lovely and surreal. All in all, Friday was a cracking way to close off the Town Council's events calendar for 2023 and we are already at work planning for 2024."