Haltwhistle claims to be the centre of Britain because it is:
- 290 miles from Portland, Dorset (south coast) and 290 miles from North Orkney (north).
- 36.5 miles from Wallsend (east coast) and 36.5 miles from Bowness on Solway (west coast).
This is much celebrated around Haltwhistle, including a plaque in the market square and street sign post on Main Street. There is also a hotel/pub named 'The Centre of Britain'.
The location of the geographical centre of Britain is open to debate, because there are multiple methods for calculating this. Haltwhistle's claim is based on being the midpoint of the longest north–south meridian, and also being approximately the midpoint of each of the lines through it across Great Britain along the 16 main compass directions.[1]
