Docker, Cumbria

Docker is a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the English county of Cumbria. Docker is 4.3 miles north east of the market town of Kendal. At the 2011 census Docker was grouped with Lambrigg giving a total population of 260. In 1870–1872, John Marius Wilson from the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Docker as: "a township in Kendal parish, Westmoreland; near the river Mint and the Lancaster and Carlisle railway 3 miles ENE of Kendal"

Diana Whalley's A Dictionary of Lake District Place Names (English Place Name Society 2006) has this name either as meaning "the shieling at the hollow" or "the shieling where the plant called dock grows" (from Old Norse erg = "summer pasture", taken from Irish airge), or as a personal name which "may have been a link with the family traced in Parker 1918" (Parker C. A. A pedigree of the family of Docker. CW2 18, 161–73). Whalley also refers to "the same problematic syllable in Dockray and Dockray Nook" (NY3921 & NY0820).

The population in 2001 was 55. In the in 2011 census the parish was grouped with Lambrigg, the total population more than quadrupled. The population fluctuations in Docker can be seen in the graph showing the census data every 10 years since 1801. There was no census taken in 1941. This is most likely to have been down to a change in the boundaries of the Parish. It may have been thought having a parish with a population of 55 was not significant enough and as a result the council may have changed the boundaries to even out the distribution. The male population for Docker and Lambrigg was slightly higher than the female population according to the 2011 census. There was 135 males to 125 females. The number of people aged 16 and over with 5 or more GCSEs grade A–C (or equivalent) was 10.63%, 4.67% lower than the national average.

The nearest railway station to Docker is Kendal station which is 4.7 miles away. The TransPennine Express runs through Kendal from Windermere to Oxenholme. Although Docker does not have its own railway station, the West Coast Mainline runs through Docker from London Euston to Glasgow. The line runs along the Docker viaduct. On 24 February 2007 the 17:15 Virgin train travelling from London Euston to Glasgow Central was derailed 2 miles from Docker near the village of Grayrigg. Several carriages were turned on their side. Cumbria Ambulance service were alerted to the crash at 8.16 pm near Little Docker Cottage. An inquiry found the "immediate cause" of the Grayrigg derailment was a "degraded and unsafe" set of points known as Lambrigg 2B. The train was reported to have lurched side to side in "a very dramatic way"; the train then careered down an embankment, killing 84 year old Margaret Masson and injuring 22 others. As the rear of the train was crossing the Docker Viaduct, the front of the train was derailed, just beyond the bridge. Thermal imagery equipment was used to detect any trapped survivors. Following the crash, the points that caused the derailment were removed and the line is now welded continuously including the segment on the Docker Viaduct.

The closest primary school to Docker is the Grayrigg Church of England school, 1.5 miles to the north west. The nearest secondary school is the Queen Katherine School in Kendal, a coeducational academy for 11 to 16 year olds, 3.1 miles away. The nearest hospital is Westmorland General Hospital, 6.3 km away on Burton Road in Kendal. The nearest major shopping area to Docker is the Westmoreland Shopping Centre in Kendal, 4.7 miles south west.