Tourism and Leisure

The straggling Parish surrounding the linear village of COCKERHAM, at first sight, has little to offer the tourist, but closer scrutiny reveals the attractions. Located in the South East corner of Morecambe Bay, Cockerham has good road communication with Lancaster, Blackpool, the Lake District, the Lune Valley and the Forest of Bowland; the A6/M6 Junction 33 is less than 3 miles away.

The dairy and sheep farming parish is largely unspoilt and is the home to a diversity of flora and fauna; in particular migrant wildfowl. The area, being about one hours drive from major conurbations of Lancashire and Merseyside is an ideal weekend retreat.

The main tourism is in holiday caravans of which there are 562 Static Holiday and 47 Touring pitches licensed within the parish, which together contribute around two million pounds in cash flow and almost £100,000 in local authority rates to the rural economy. The multitude of farm based bed and breakfast accommodation also adds significantly to the local purse.

The parachute club at Hillam Lane, and the microlight flying ground attract a consistent regular following and rural activities of wildfowling, game shooting and fishing are long established in the parish.

David Bellamy would say that all the above activities produce a ‘social hormone’ for urban dwellers to experience country life and at the same time make a major contributor to rural sustainability.