What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 6pm Tuesday 8:30am - 6pm Wednesday 8:30am - 6pm Thursday 8:30am - 6pm Friday 8:30am - 6pm Saturday 8:30am - 4pm

Allisons Chemist

Home
United Kingdom
Cockermouth
Allisons Chemist

Your local pharmacy The pharmacy has been trading under its current name since the turn of the 20th century.

JWW Allison & Sons is a long-standing independent pharmacy that has been in its premises on Cockermouths Main Street for over 200 years, widely known as Allisons or Allisons Chemist. The pharmacy has had the same owner, Mrs Vera Lowrey for over 30 years. The shop is very lucky to have many loyal staff, who between them have served JWW Allison & Sons for almost 200 years!!

08/02/2026

🎉 NEW PRIVATE SERVICES COMING IN 2026!

We’re excited to share a sneak peek of some of the new health services we’ll be introducing this year — designed to offer you even more convenient, accessible support right here at the pharmacy. We’d planned to have all of this and more in place by now, but circumstances (which you may be aware of) have dictated that other more pressing matters became more of a priority. So rather than get to July and not got going yet, we’ll try a soft launch and see how it goes. So although the poster says “COMING SOON” they have already arrived. At present it’s only me that runs these clinics so appointments will be available on weekdays as long as I’m in.

✨ Private services launching in 2026:
✔️ Period delay
✔️ Hair loss support
✔️ Vitamin B12 services
✔️ Jet lag treatment
✔️ Ear infection (otitis externa) service for adults*

We’re committed to expanding our private clinics so you can get fast, professional help when you need it — without the wait.

📍 Other services to follow (I must be mad)

It is important to realise that these are private services which aren’t available on the NHS from pharmacies. We’ve had previous requests for these services, which prompted our decision to offer them. More information and prices can be found on our travel clinic website (link in comments)

Thanks

*Please note that we can’t treat patients with perforated ear drums, grommets or those with longstanding ear problems.

06/02/2026

.**REPETITIVE POST ALERT**

If you have prescriptions that have been ready with us for a little while, we’d really appreciate it if you could come along and collect them when you’re able.

Our building work upstairs is nearing its completion and we will be moving the majority of our dispensing up there by the end of the month. We will be phasing in our new pharmacy and shop systems over this time so this is where collecting your medication will really help us.

From March onwards we won’t be able to search for prescriptions dispensed on the current system. So we will basically have to just go to the shelf and see if there’s something there (easier said than done), all whilst trying to integrate prescriptions dispensed on the new system.

Having as many older completed prescriptions off the premises as possible will really help us to focus on the work we have to do going forward, rather than struggling to locate work we’ve already done.

👉 If you’ve only just ordered your prescription, this message isn’t aimed at you – it may not even be ready for collection yet.

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and continued support. We really appreciate it 😊

03/02/2026

Good morning,

The renovations upstairs are going well and the implementation of our new electronic systems are following suit (at present).

One feature that our new Patient Medication Record (yes its way more than just sticking labels on boxes) is its integration with the NHS technology in place.

One way that will benefit patients is that those who order using the NHS App will be able to see what’s going on with their prescription from the time they order it, right through until when they pick it up. Once we get used to this system and we are using it as our only medication record (which will be in March) it should really help patients to have the confidence that their prescription is with us and that we are either working on it or have it ready to collect. But please be patient as we are undergoing a lot of changes, which will take considerable adaptation.

I’d personally recommend that patients make the best use off the NHS App as it has lots of feature besides this.

I’m not going to go back to sending text messages out when prescriptions are ready. That was too expensive and not reliable enough. However, this system has the option to send emails when your prescription is ready, and this could be an option for those who don’t order using the app but who use email regularly. We will give this a go once we’re up and running and see how it works.

Thanks

Link to the NHS App in the comments.

29/01/2026

Good morning,

We’ve been making strides with our renovations of our upstairs dispensary after the sad demise of Mickey the robot.

W***y our builder has been with us for so many days now that he said that he’ll come to our Christmas party. Well it was either that or he’ll still be with us in December!

Our new computer system is taking shape in the background and the new till system and card machines will be with us in the next week or so. These changes will be huge for us, and those who use our services as we invest in the future of our pharmacy.

As always, we’ve had our little helper in when it’s safe to do so. But maybe it should’ve been the very experienced builder showing her the ropes rather than me!

23/01/2026

Apologies for banging the same drum here.

If you have prescriptions that have been ready with us for a little while, we’d really appreciate it if you could come along and collect them when you’re able.

We’ve been busy carrying out a few alterations in the pharmacy, and we need all the space we can get to keep things running smoothly. Our staff have managed brilliantly, operating at our usual capacity from a much smaller space. This will all be worth it when we are working from a bigger and better space.

There’s also the point I raised at the weekend where I tried to explain the logistical issues changing a pharmacy computer system will bring with regard to existing uncollected medication dispensed on the old system.

Having all older completed prescriptions off the premises will really help us to focus on the work we have to do going forward, rather than struggling to locate work we’ve already done.

I did have one of my volunteers very kindly offer to help by calling patients to remind them that they have uncollected medication on the shelf. Phone calls may well be the route we go, especially if we can’t make the bags sprout legs like in the image!

👉 If you’ve only just ordered your prescription, this message isn’t aimed at you – it may not even be ready for collection yet.

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and continued support. We really appreciate it 😊

19/01/2026

Out for a belated Christmas meal with my wonderful team of flu and COVID clinic volunteers. They’ve kept our service going for almost 5 years now and they’ve formed such a great team. Massive thanks to those on the team who couldn’t make it tonight and to Helen and Peter who have allowed us to use the Globe for all this time.

I’m very fortunate to have two groups of people who are friendly, efficient and who work hard to make me look good!!

18/01/2026

Good morning,

Unless you’ve been under a stone, you’ll likely be aware that we’re having a bit of a re-jig in the pharmacy after the sad demise of our dispensing robot.

We are reconfiguring upstairs and this will eventually be where most of our dispensing will be done as there’s simply more space up there.

Whilst building works are loud and messy and obvious, we will be making another change which will be just as significant, if not more so than this. We are going to be installing a new pharmacy computer system and till system in the next month or so and these two changes are massive and will take considerable adaptation from our staff. The pharmacy system upgrade should really help us to streamline our work and keep up with the increased demand we are seeing whilst continuing to innovate.

One area where you as a patient can help us with this is by picking up any prescriptions you might have sitting on our shelves, as once we change systems it will be tricky to look up prescriptions done prior to the change.

Having all older completed prescriptions off the premises will really help us to focus on the work we have to do going forward, rather than struggling to locate work we’ve already done.

This change isn’t imminent so you don’t have to chase prescriptions you’ve recently ordered, but we have uncollected prescriptions on the shelves from November and it would be great if these were resolved before the switchover.

Thanks for your help on this.

17/01/2026

Similarly to the NHS Blood Pressure service, we have yet to really get going with this service due to being extremely busy with everything else we do. So why not start doing it whilst we’re having a bit of a refit 😬. We hope that we can fit this very useful service into our routine so that it helps patients who may benefit from it. We’ve started seeing more patients using the service and it’s working well thus far.

We are able to supply oral contraceptives to patients without the need for them to visit their GP surgery. This service is ideal for patients whose pill stays the same and who merely need a blood pressure check (if required by the service) and a new supply. However, we can also initiate new oral contraceptives if this is needed and is appropriate after a short consultation.

This services will usually require a short appointment for a consultation with one of our pharmacists.

NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service

Convenient. Confidential. Free.

Who is eligible?
• Anyone needing the contraceptive pill
• New starts and repeat supplies
• Assessment required to make sure the pill is suitable

What we do:
• Private consultation with a trained pharmacist
• Medical history review and blood pressure check
• Supply of the combined or progestogen-only pill
• Follow-up and ongoing support available

No long waits. No hassle.
Speak to the pharmacy team today.

14/01/2026

Good morning,

It’s been a week since we started work on our life after Mickey phase and the builder has made great strides in that time. There’s been quite a bit of banging and drilling and yesterday there were even sparks which reminded me a bit of the film Flashdance!

He’s worked around us really well and even had apprentices at the weekend in the form of a caggy handed pharmacist and his 10-year old sidekick on Sunday. There was very little power tool usage during this period, before anyone calls Childline. If anyone needs a diligent, if slightly bossy flat pack assembler then give me a call.

At the end of the week we will be reaching a quite messy phase of the improvements and accessing upstairs will be quite tricky. We still have lots of medication up there as well as the toilets so you can imaging how this might be a challenge.

If you could give us as much time as possible for a few days from Friday if you don’t need to collect your medication, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

13/01/2026

It’s a New Year and travel is back on peoples’ agenda and the diary is filling up. So far in 2026 we’ve administers all the regular vaccines we administer every week and we’ve even done our first Dengue vaccine.

We’ve managed to obtain hard to get vaccines such as rabies and Japanese Encephalitis so please give us a call if you are off somewhere nice and need protection.

Information about our services and prices can be found on our dedicated travel website.

cumbriatravelclinic.co.uk

10/01/2026

Good morning,

Since the pandemic the use of cards over cash has rocketed and nearly everyone uses their flexible ‘friends’ whether it be in the form of an actual card or sometimes a phone or watch.

Over the years like many businesses we’ve had a love hate relationship with American Express. They loved taking what I feel are excessive fees off us and we hated paying them.

Lately they’ve been very difficult to deal with and this has resulted in us no longer accepting their cards for payment. This may not be forever, but we just wanted to let you know to save the potential embarrassment of a card being rejected.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will continue to assess the situation.

We continue to accept all other major forms of payment. Even cash!

Thanks

07/01/2026

Good morning,

The past few months have brought their challenges and we’ve navigated them pretty well.

Today we face a new challenge, where we make the first significant steps in achieving a new way of working without Mickey the robot. So you may hear a bit of banging as the builder has started today making the changes needed upstairs so that we can continue to serve you efficiently. Once this is done there will be other significant steps such as new computers and tills, but let’s not worry about that for now 😬

So please be patient if you’re in for a prescription. If we have to go upstairs for stock, it won’t be without a degree of peril. You may be asked to call back if we need to give the builder some space at that point. I’m sure he likes a brew and a cake so we may find that an efficient way to manage the situation 😂

Thanks

Address

31 Main Street
Cockermouth
CA139

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 6pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 6pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 6pm
Thursday	8:30am - 6pm
Friday	8:30am - 6pm
Saturday	8:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+441900822292

Website

http://allisonschemist.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Allisons Chemist posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Allisons Chemist:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Practice
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Cockermouth?