Cumbria, England

Talkin Tarn slipway

Launch — A council-maintained slipway on the tarn's waterfront, next to the car park and the on-site cafe.

Parking — A council-run pay-and-display car park on site, with general, disabled and coach/minibus bays, at the water's edge.

Access — The country park is open 24 hours a day, reached via Tarn Road off the B6413 about two miles south of Brampton.

Season — The tarn hosts an annual regatta, typically the first Saturday of July, when competitive rowing fills the water. The toilets close at 5pm daily, and the upstairs tearoom keeps shorter, weekend-only hours outside the summer season.

Regulations — Cumberland Council requires a launch permit, bought on the day or annually, for privately owned canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. Commercial boat hire at the tarn is separately licensed under the council's Boatman's Licence scheme.

A slipway on Talkin Tarn, a 65-acre glacial kettle lake in a country park about two miles south of Brampton.

Talkin Tarn occupies a kettle hole, a depression left when a block of ice buried in glacial outwash sediment melted away as the last ice sheet retreated, around 10,000 years ago. It is a marl lake reaching a maximum depth of about 12.5 metres against a mean of 5 metres, and its catchment is small relative to its size, a closed-in hydrology that limits how quickly the water turns over.

The tarn is shared with Brampton Sailing Club and Talkin Tarn Amateur Rowing Club, founded in 1859 and among the oldest rowing clubs in the north of England; the club's boathouse stands on the waterfront, and the club holds its annual regatta there each July. A 1.3-mile wheelchair-friendly path circles the water, useful for scouting conditions or carrying gear down to the slipway.

Nearby

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Talkin Tarn Cafe and Tea Rooms

Cafe on the tarn's waterfront, next to the slipway and car park.

White Rabbit Tea Room

Cafe on Tarn Road between Brampton and Talkin Tarn.

Website

Conditions to check

Boat traffic

The tarn is shared with a sailing club and a rowing club founded in 1859 that holds its annual regatta on the water each July.

Source

Other

Talkin Tarn has recurring blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) blooms, monitored and reported by the Environment Agency.

Source

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