A well-known Keswick character, Patricia Thompson died recently at the town’s Mary Hewetson Cottage Hospital after a brave fight against cancer.
Pat, who would have been 80 later this year, was born on August 27, 1942, and spent the first 16 years of her life at Browfoot, just off Forge Lonning.
Pat had fond memories of her childhood and early teenage years.
She recalled, at the age of 11, the front row of houses being built on Latrigg Close, and she and friends would spend the timeless hours of their childhood in Townsfield, playing by the River Greta and, in the summer months, swimming or paddling in the pools, known locally as Stoney and Sandy.
Nearby was the Twa Dogs pub and, across Penrith Road from the pub, the little shop, now Greta Cottage, where well-known cartoonist Billy Wilkinson – Wilk for short – would at one time sell groceries and confectionary to local families.
The two businesses, the pub and the shop, were inextricably linked in the minds of Pat and her young pals.
They would go to the back of the Twa Dogs, borrow a few empty lemonade bottles from crates stacked there and carry them round to the front door where landlord Gerald Hayes would give them three pence for the return of each bottle.
The young racketeers then moved smartly across the road to Wilk’s shop where they would buy sweets with their ill-gotten gains.
Midget Gems and liquorice were Pat’s particular favourites.
Twa Dogs landlord Gerald Hayes, a real character in his own right, knew exactly what Pat and her gang were up to. But he went along with it all the same.
Pat’s grandma, Mabel Mawson, lived in one of a small, terraced row of houses at Low Briery when the Bobbin Mill was in full swing. Her grandfather was foreman at the mill.
Pat would walk up the railway line from The Forge and pass through the bobbin mill tunnel to visit her grandparents and to play with friends at the mill.
“My mother used to play hell,” recalled Pat.
“She used to say: ‘Don’t you dare go up that railway line and through t’tunnel … go by the road.’
“But I used to sneak up the railway line, it was shorter and flatter than the road, and if a steam train came, I would jump into one of the alcoves inside the tunnel.”
Those same safety alcoves can be seen today in the re-opened Bobbin Mill tunnel.
Pat went to St John’s Junior School and, later, Lairthwaite Secondary.
She left school at 15 and was for several years an auxiliary nurse at Keswick Cottage Hospital. She was also a nurse at the former Blencathra Sanatorium at Threlkeld and, before retirement, worked for more than 30 years at the old RAFA club and at several public houses in the town.
Latterly she moved to Derwent Close in the centre of town and looked forward immensely to going on regular cruises and holidays.
It was from her top floor flat that Pat enjoyed tremendous views of the town, including local landmarks the Moot Hall and the steeple of St John’s Church.
She could also see the craggy heights of Walla Crag, down the valley into Borrowdale and, to the east, the tops of Clough Head and Helvellyn.
Pat considered herself and her family very fortunate to live in Keswick, a town dear to her heart.
“I wouldn’t have lived anywhere else in the world,” she said. “I love it here and everything about it. I have some lovely friends and there is a wonderful community.
“When I grew up on Windebrowe Avenue everyone was so friendly. And the same is true wherever we’ve been. Keswick is a very special place.”
Although her life was frequently touched by sadness over the years, Pat was full of fun and had a heart of gold.
Her family and friends and the town of Keswick meant everything to her.
Twice married, Pat was pre-deceased by her husbands, Tom Dolby and Bill Thompson. She is survived by her and Tom’s daughters Sharon and Michelle and four young grandsons, Thomas and Harry, and Jonathan and Samuel.
Her well-attended funeral at St John’s Church was conducted by the Rev Charles Hope and the eulogy was given by Pat’s cousin, Keith Richardson.
