Ennerdale Bridge

Ennerdale Bridge is a settlement in the county of Cumbria, England.

Ennerdale Bridge lies at the confluence of Croasdale Beck and the River Ehen and is on the border of the Lake District National Park that uses both watercourses as its boundary. The nearest town is Cleator Moor to its west. Ennerdale Bridge appear in many versions of the Coast to Coast Walk and is 13 miles (21 km) from its western end.[1]

The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is Victorian - dating from 1858 - in the Romanesque style.[2]

Proposed nuclear waste facility

In June 2012, it became clear that Ennerdale (specifically the Ennerdale granite to the south of Ennerdale Water) had been identified as a potential site for a Geological Disposal Facility for the UK's high and intermediate level nuclear waste. Two other sites had also been identified - Eskdale and the Solway Plain. Ennerdale wasn't named by the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership; rather it referred to the 'granitic rocks forming part of The Lake District Batholith'. These are the Ennerdale and Eskdale granites, formed around 450 million years ago in the Ordovician Period. This was stated in (publicly available) document 285 of the West Cumbria MRWS, a letter written by Dr Dearlove, the consultant geologist recruited by MRWS. Three smaller surface exposures of the batholith occur at Shap, Threlkeld and Skiddaw, but these are too small to be considered for the Geological Disposal Facility.

In January 2013, Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils voted to proceed to the next stage (4) of the MRWS process, but this was vetoed by Cumbria County Council, and according to the agreed rules of engagement, this ended the MRWS process in Cumbria. Cumbria County Council is the Strategic Planning Authority and the Strategic Waste Authority, hence any site for burial of nuclear waste would require its consent.

In September 2013, The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced their proposed changes to the MRWS siting process. These included removal of the right of veto from county councils, and a diluted role for parish councils. A referendum in the Ennerdale & Kinniside parish in January 2013 had indicated 94% opposition on a 72% turnout. It is anticipated that Copeland Borough Council will volunteer to enter the new MRWS process in early 2014.

Etymology

" 'Anund's valley'. The name Ennerdale seems originally to have derived from 'Anundar', gen.[itive] sing.[ular] of the ON pers.[onal] n.[ame] 'Anundr'/'Qnundr', and ON 'dalr' 'valley', but there has been cross-influence between this p.n. and 'Ehen', the name of the river which flows through the valley."[3](ON is Old Norse). Plus " the 'bridge' (see 'brycg') in E[nnerdale]~ gives its name to the village beside it."[4] " 'OE 'brycg' develops into modern 'bridge'..."[5] (OE is Old English).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Coast to Coast Walk - Part 1
  2. ↑ Parish website - follow links to church
  3. ↑ Whaley, Diana (2006). A dictionary of Lake District place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. pp. lx,423 p.109. ISBN 0904889726.
  4. ↑ Whaley, 2006, p.109-110,
  5. ↑ Whaley, 2006, p.392

External links

Coordinates: 54°31′50″N 03°26′20″W / 54.53056°N 3.43889°W