Penrith

Penrith is located in central Cumbria just at the north western corner of the Lake District and just east of the Pennines. Today it is a thriving market and tourist town, as well as being a natural route centre.

The thriving town centre is better than most town of this size, being 20 miles south of Carlisle and 25 miles north of Kendal the town attracts in shoppers from a wide area as well as tourists visiting the Lakes. A photo Gallery for Penrith where photos can be viewed and uploaded can be found on our Galleries Page

The town has played a major part in life throughout its history and there are several historic sites either in or near to the town. Today the town is easily reached by car, the M6 at junction 40 is lest than a mile away from the town centre, whilst the A66 trunk road connects the town with the A1 at Scotch Corner. Breaking news for Cumbria including the Penrith area can be found on our Cumbria News Page.

The A6 and M6 in Penrith

The A6 enters Penrith from the north, before the coming of the M6 it was the main north south Trunk Road, however today it has been relegated to a non primary route, north of Penrith it is a quite country route, but as it comes into the town traffic increases rapidly.

The A6 now bypasses the town centre on the western side in a one way system. The original A6 through the town centre the A6 enters a small one way system before going down a very narrow street, which at one time was two way and controlled by traffic lights at either end.

Leaving the town centre the road continues south carrying traffic to the A66 trunk road. At the edge of Penrith the A6 crosses the A66 at a roundabout before returning to being a country road, however as there are some large villages just to the south of Penrith and some travelers who prefer to take the A6 all the way to Kendal rather that going on the M6 for one junction the A6 is a little busier than it is north of Penrith. During the 18th and 19th Cenrury the main road through Penrith was under the control of the Carlisle and Eamont Bridge Turnpike Trust.

The M6 came to Penrith in 1968 a little earlier than it may have as Penrith was such a bottleneck. In those days it was the Penrith bypass running off a temporary junction on the A6 about 4 miles south of Penrith, crossing the A66 at junction 40 still the main junction for Penrith north and south, then continuing on another 2 miles to a junction with the B5305 which was improved to take traffic back to the A6. In time the Penrith bypass was extended south to join the rest of the M6 and north to Carlisle.