Cockermouth to be better

£100m of insurance money to help rebuild Georgian heartCumbrian town Cockermouth devastated by the surging river Derwent wants to regenerate Georgian heart using insurance cash to make the town better than before, the Guardian reports.

Darren Ward, an architect and head of Cockermouth and District Civic Trust said: "It's a golden opportunity - not just to repair the town, but to transform it into something much better."

An exhibition at Christ Church, organised by the trust and Allerdale council, highlights specially-designed shopfronts commissioned for an initial 10 businesses.

Quality of design

"We can't go back to Georgian times but we can match their quality of design," says Ward. "Some shops have been allowed to degrade over the years. Others had renovation which was frankly no good."

The council has set aside £50,000 for work on the 10 pioneers, with more to come as an estimated £100m of insurance money gets Main Street and Market Place back on their feet.

The National Trust, busy with repairs to Wordsworth's birthplace, which backs on to the river he called "a boyhood playmate", is also supporting the plan.

Appeal raises £1m

The flood appeal has topped £1m, a tenth of it given by Cockermouth's biggest employer James Walker, whose 350 staff are back at work after valve-making equipment was rescued from the flood. Jennings Brewery, currently making its beers in Wolverhampton, is giving 10p for every pint.