THE enormous new Eden Project being built in the seaside town of Morecambe is officially underway.
Work started last month on the £100million project and the public will be able to visit part of it as soon as next year with a full opening expected in 2028.
The Eden Project in Morecambe will sit right on the beach frontCredit: Eden Project ‘The Elder Tree’ attraction is the most expensive at £4.5millionCredit: Eden Project
The first part to open will be the Bring Me Sunshine Garden, it will have tall Austrian pine trees, a natural flower meadow and a solar-powered, shell-shaped outdoor pavilion and classroom that harvests rainwater.
The garden was shown off at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show and will open as a permanent part of the Eden Project in Morecambe in spring 2027 – it will be completely free to visit.
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The rest of the Eden Project Morecambe is scheduled to fully open in winter 2028.
The biggest part that has been unveiled so far is called ‘The Elder Tree‘ – it will be 65 feet tall and will guide visitors on a journey from its roots to the trunk hollows.
It is set to show people how to “reconnect” with and “restore nature”.
There will be two very different experiences called The Realm of the Sun and The Realm of the Moon.
The Realm of the Sun has been described as “a bright, lush landscape of the near future — a place where humanity has rediscovered how to repair and re-engage with the broken rhythms of the natural world”.
The Realm of the Moon is as an immersive but “darker” space with a hyper-real rockpool which will have sped-up cycles of tides.
The two realms, will be linked by an area called Metronome, where visitors will buy their entry tickets.
It was revealed today that the Pears Foundation has gifted the attraction £2.5million towards the Eden Project’s habitations zone.
The Realm of the Moon will be a ‘darker space’ with a hyper-real rockpoolCredit: Eden Project
This area of the attraction has been described as Eden Project Morecambe’s “signature experience”.
Inside will be four theatrical spaces, named High Street, Market, Farm and Town Square with immersive activities in each.
Eden Project Morecambe said the activities will “reflect people’s daily lives, sharing how local place-based adaptation and world-wide innovation can collide to help us adopt approaches that can positively impact our planet”.
There will be a 750-capacity Tidal Theatre, a 300-capacity restaurant and a shop at the attraction as well.
Inside the biome will be paths around exotic plants and even waterfallsCredit: UnknownAt the very top is expected to be a restaurant with a large outdoor terraceCredit: Eden Project
Other details that have been previously mentioned include hangingplants,mini gardens, a multi-sensory area, and awaterfall.
There’s plenty to around Morecambe too like the Happy Mount Park, the Eric Morecambe Statue and The Smugglers Den pub all rated highly on TripAdvisor.
Morecambe has a pretty five-mile English beach too which in 2024 was named one of UK’s most beautiful in a list of 37 by Time Out.
Filming locations include SunderlandPoint, a village of 30 houses at the end of a tidal causeway and the Stone Jetty which is all that remains of the original Victorian harbour.
OUR Spotlight On column gives you the lowdown on what to see and do in some of the best holiday destinations abroad as well as some lesser-known spots in the UK.
Learn about the town’s history in wool at Witney Blanket Hall, which dates back to 1721 and is free to visit (make sure to pick up a blanket at the gift shop too).
And kids will love Cogges Manor Farm with 17 acres to explore which includes an adventure playground and animals they can feed and pet.
Tickets start from £12 for adults, see cogges.org.uk.
Otherwise a short drive away is Blenheim Palace as well as Jeremy Clarkson’s The Farmer’s Dog.
HIDDEN GEM
Only known by locals, head straight to Sandwich de Witney for one of the heartiest baguettes you’ll have ever seen.
Just don’t be too late – most of them sell out shortly after lunch.
For evening entertainment, catch some comedy or some live tribute acts at the very tiny Fat Lils music venue.
Previous comedians have included Greg Davies and Milton Jones. Tickets from £5. See fatlils.co.uk.
Did you know the town was known for its blanket making?Credit: Alamy
BEST VIEW
Grab a coffee and head down to the banks of the River Windrush which runs through the town.
The peaceful break from the bustling town is the ideal escape, where you’ll be mainly joined by joggers and a few cows in the distance.
It even used to host the World Pooh Sticks Championships, so grab a stick and get racing.
RATED RESTAURANT
If there is one thing Witney has an abundance of, its pubs.
And one of the finest in town for a meal out is The Fleece, a gastropub and hotel.
You’ll be licking the crumbs off the plate of the Devon crab cakes, and I’d go back just for Aubrey’s Cheeseburger, complete with the crispiest chips and pickles.
There’s a fantastic list of desserts, but my sweet tooth was satisfied by the bizarre, yet strangely delicious Banana Brulee Old Fashioned.
BEST BAR
If you love a beer, head to the Crafty Pint Bar.
It was recently named Oxford Pub of the Year by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), with a number of independent beers both on tap and by the bottle.
Try the Little Ox which is brewed just down the road.
Otherwise for the best vibes on a Friday night, head over to the Como Lounge in the centre of town where you can get two cocktails for £13.25.
HOTEL PICK
The Blue Boar ticks all the boxes – central location, cosy-yet-modern bedrooms and a fantastic restaurant downstairs.
Originally a 17th century coaching inn, there’s just 20 rooms to choose from, each with four poster beds, DAB radios and Nespresso machines.
Some rooms have views over the town centre, and easy has lush bathrooms kitted out with fluffy towels and luxe toiletries.
After recent renovations to the bar and restaurant, it reopened last week. Rooms start from £81. See acornpubs.co.uk/blueboar.
What’s the edgiest region in the UK? I don’t mean in the sense of sketchy or fashionable, but where on the map of these four nations feels most at the margins of everywhere else? For my money, the north Cumbrian coast is a strong contender. Hemmed in by the Lake District fells on one side and the Solway Firth and Irish Sea on the other, this strip of towns and villages, farms and nature reserves, clinging to the low-lying littoral, has been battling nature, weather, geology and geography throughout its history.
Coastal erosion is part of the challenge. Like the railway navvies before them, the planners and builders of the England Coast Path (ECP) have done sterling work at plotting a viable footpath and shoring it up. But there are and always will be sections that are compromised and even impassable. I chose a section that would take three days, walking southwards, and my final destination, St Bees, was only reachable via a diversion. It’s all part of the adventure, and we’re lucky to have the ECP as a national trail, as it means issues and obstacles on the English coast will usually be promptly addressed.
The harbour at Maryport. Photograph: John Morrison/Alamy
I began my walk at Maryport, a natural choice as it’s where the Cumbrian Coast Line, travelling south from Carlisle, meets the seashore. I resisted the urge to jump off the train and set off walking, instead taking time to look around. I’m glad I did. It’s a lovely place, in a ramshackle way, and quite fascinating. The Romans, who called it Alauna, built a fort here; the Senhouse museum boasts Britain’s largest collection of Roman altars and inscriptions found at a single site.
An LS Lowry trail takes in places he painted. I followed it from the church beside the quay, up the steep town steps, and along some of the streets he worked into his compositions. Information panels celebrated less well-known, similarly gifted local painters: Sheila Fell, from nearby Aspatria, and Percy Kelly, born in Workington, known for his thick lines and dark landscapes, who played for Workington AFC under Bill Shanklyand, in later life, became Roberta Penelope.
Out on the coast path, I took in my first views of Dumfriesshire to the north. There were few walkers on the empty strand. At Flimby, the “path” was just a line of kelp on a pebble beach, bordered by flowering sea kale. Clouds of cabbage white and small blue butterflies sprang up as I walked. West Cumbria is the only area where the latter can be found in northern England. An unfamiliar call and a flutter of white wings sent me to my birder app. It was a pair of sandwich terns – an “amber” status bird on the RSPB website.
There were patches of heather and rosehip, occasional dunes and a few birds. Swallows picked off flies. Herring gulls shouted. Black-headed gulls planed. Carrot-beaked oyster catchers fluted their alarm calls. On my left, above the marram grass, I could see industrial plants and old workers’ terraces. The Cumbria coast is more Morrissey lyric than Countryfile fantasy. Boulders have been arrayed to protect against storms. Two teenage girls bronzed (or pinked) themselves on rocks in the midday sun.
St Bees Lighthouse, near Whitehaven. Photograph: Alan Novelli/Alamy
Workington welcomed me, after seven miles. I’d been here before, for a “Where tourists seldom tread” feature for this newspaper, but it felt new arriving on foot and from the shore. Workington looks as its name sounds. Decades of industry have made the people steely and friendly. I spent the night above town at the Hunday Manor hotel, which has superb views over the coast and back to the fells.
The next day’s walk to Whitehaven was the longest at about 12 miles. The opening stretch, back down into Workington, was a pleasant surprise. From above town, I’d noted fuel silos, warehouses and industrial estates, but around the harbour the land was all grassy knolls. I could see Scafell Pike rising up to the south-east, and Scotland shimmering to the north. In the distance were cliffs and a wide inlet – my destination, Whitehaven.
I undertook this walk during the the UK’s fifth heatwave, one of the driest, warmest periods in living memory in these parts. As the mercury rose, I climbed up on to the clifftops, pausing at the Howe, a hill originally created from industrial slag, to gulp down water and look up at a 3-metre steel and wood crucifix put up by a local man in memory of his wife. From here, there was a messy section with scant waymarking, but I eventually came to Harrington, a bonny little suburban village, with kite flyers on the bluff and smart little terraces marching up the side streets. I ate lunch and watched trains come and go; they’re regular enough that you can always cut short a walk and hop on one.
Up on the cliffs again, I passed a large windfarm, and approached the village of Parton on a bridleway that sliced through sheep fields. The air was filled with the hairy seeds of thorns, bursting in the heat.
A path beneath dramatic sandstone cliffs guided me into Whitehaven. One of northern England’s loveliest towns, it has all the amenities a tired walker needs. But while it caters to visitors, it hasn’t sold its entire soul to tourism – which is the case with some Lakeland towns.
Whitehaven used to be an industrial powerhouse, shipping tobacco, coal, ceramics, iron ore, limestone and textiles, and it was the fifth most active British port involved in the transatlantic slave trade. The older streets are lined with crumbling mansions. Victorian-era lighthouses and a chimney known as the Candlestick are unmissable landmarks; between these are ghostly traces of tenements, coastal batteries and long-silenced engine houses. Silting and larger ships led to the town being eclipsed by the deepwater ports of Liverpool and Glasgow. Shipbuilding moved to Belfast. Nostalgia, grit, grandeur and decay all mingle in Whitehaven’s collective maritime memory.
The coastal path, with St Bees in the distance. Photograph: Simon Evans/Alamy
I swotted up on Whitehaven’s layered history at The Beacon, one of the UK’s finest and most rejuvenating town museums. Underneath the museum, the Howling Wolf Bakery and cafe serves delicious cakes, toasties and coffee. There are great restaurants all over town – I can recommend The Peddler, in the former bus station, and Zest on the waterside – and every kind of pub, chippy and cafe.
The Edge hotel, which opened last October, will bolster Whitehaven’s ambitions to compete with the Lake District. It was created as a base for coastal activities; the harbour commission, which owns the property, is committed to supporting walkers, cyclists, musicians and community groups. There are 16 ensuite rooms looking out over the marina – an attractive mix of historic quays and jetties (known as tongues), and modern add-ons. The Edge’s irregular polyhedral shape is striking and yet apt. Rust-coloured, it looks post-industrial but also like a storm barrier. Its air-source underfloor heating and solar panels are in keeping with a region famed for renewable energy.
An alternative route was in place for the final leg, with erosion on the footpath forcing me inland. But I was too elated to be bothered by a minor diversion. My coast walk (23 miles direct, but considerably more with walks around towns and hikes to/from the Workington hotel) culminated at St Bees Head with views of spectacular coves, secret beaches and sheer cliffs.
Where the ECP crossed paths with the recently inaugurated Coast to Coast National Trail, I met a few walkers, Aussies rather than Brits, all heading inland for Ennerdale and Helvellyn, there to encounter crowds and join queues. My only company was fulmars, cormorants, herring gulls, ravens and kestrels. When I came across a little colony of kittiwakes nesting on tiny ledges, I decided it was time to sit down too, and soak up the gentle sea breezes and the wide, all-encompassing silence.
The trip was supported by Cumbria Tourism, Avanti, Northern and Stagecoach buses. Stagecoach has DayRider and 3-day Explorer passes. Doubles at The Edge from £117 B&B and at Hunday Manor Country House hotel from £125 B&B.
