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Cumbria stories you may have missed this week

BBC Sarah Varty standing outside her shop, The Healthy Skin Clinic. She has black hair and is wearing a black uniform.BBC
Sarah Varty's skincare business moved into premises in Maryport vacated by the area's former MP

A missing tortoise, an ongoing zip wire battle and the announcement that a mental health ward will close.

Here are some stories you may have missed in Cumbria this week.

Tortoise missing for months found a mile from home

Rachel Etches Leonardo the tortoise walking on a lawnRachel Etches
Leonardo was missing for nine months

A tortoise missing for nine months has been found a mile from home, to the delight of his baffled owner.

Rachel Etches had owned Leonardo for 13 years when the beloved pet disappeared from the garden of her Ulverston home last July.

A social media campaign was set up to find the reptile and finally a dog walker spotted him walking down a street and took him to a pet shop.

Mrs Etches said: "He's led a very comfortable life for 13 years under a heat lamp in my house, so we didn't think he was going to survive the winter being out for the first time."

  • Read more about Leonardo here

Can people power save 'abandoned' town's High Street?

Sean Parnaby standing outside shops on Senhouse Street, Maryport. He has grey hair and a grey beard, and is wearing glasses along with a navy jumper. There are lots of shops behind him.
Businessman Sean Parnaby says the people of Maryport are taking more control over regeneration projects

In common with many places across the UK, the Cumbrian town of Maryport has been hit hard over the last decade or more with shops shutting and council services pared back.

The BBC spoke to several local businesses who are taking a central role in the town's regeneration efforts.

  • Read our feature on the issue here

'Isolated' mental health ward to close

The main entrance to West Cumberland Hospital
Officials said the West Cumberland Hospital ward was "isolated" on a site that lacked other mental health facilities

An acute mental health ward in west Cumbria will close in the coming months after NHS officials approved the move.

The 16-bed Yewdale Ward at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven will shut, with extra beds due to be added in other facilities, mainly in Carlisle more than 40 miles away.

The Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) said there were concerns around safety and the quality of care at the ward.

Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington Josh MacAlister said the closure should be paused until the trust could show it had reduced demand for acute services.

  • Read more about the mental health ward's closure here

Judge to consider Lake District zip wire ruling

An aerial view of Elterwater Quarry. Layers of grey rock are to the right of a pool of water and some trees.
Zip World wants to operate a zip wire tourist attraction at Elterwater Quarry

A hearing into a long-running plan for zip wire attraction in the Lake District has ended, with a ruling expected on a future date.

Friends of the Lake District claimed planners misunderstood their responsibilities when they gave the go-ahead to a proposed zip wire at Elterwater Quarry.

The charity said a "tranquil" vision of the national park was at stake in the case.

A lawyer for the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) told a judicial review hearing the body had applied the relevant law when awarding planning permission.

  • Learn more about the zip wire plan here

Video shows felling of much-loved tree, jury told

Watch: Video footage shown to jurors in Sycamore Gap tree trial

Mobile phone footage which prosecutors claim shows the moment the "iconic" Sycamore Gap tree was felled has been shown to jurors.

The tree had stood for more than 100 years in a dip on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before it was felled in a "moronic mission" in the early hours of 28 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman wall.

Jurors were told the tree was a much-loved feature in Northumberland and had global significance for its position on the former frontier of the Roman empire.

  • Read about what you may have missed during the first week of the trial here

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