Looking back through the archives of The Keswick Reminder from around this week 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
20 years ago
North west’s bravest policeman
Police Sergeant Alan Weightman of Keswick, who risked his own life to save a drowning man has been voted the bravest officer in the North West at the annual Police Bravery Awards held in London.
The 44 year old sergeant clinched the title at a glittering awards night organised by the Police Federation and sponsored by The Sun newspaper. It was staged at The Dorchester on Tuesday in the presence of the Home Secretary, David Blunkett and a host of celebrities.
Earlier in the day Sergeant Weightman attended a reception at 10 Downing Street where he met the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, along with 50 other nominees from forces throughout England and Wales
Sergeant Weightman, 44, was among eight regional winners at the ceremony staged to recognise officers who put themselves at risk of death or serious harm while performing their duties.
He received the accolade for repeatedly risking his life diving into Derwentwater to rescue an unconscious man last July. He saved the life of a 27-year-old Blackburn man who had got into trouble wading out to fetch a drifting boat. The man’s friends were hysterical and unable to find him in the lake which is permanently cold at around 4 degrees Celsius, with undercurrents and ledges. In spite of the danger, the officer repeatedly dived into the lake to try and locate. When a rescue boat arrived he climbed aboard and shone a torch over the water.
“After making several passes, I caught sight of an orange body in the beam. I could just make it out on the bottom, about 10ft down, so I dived back in,” said the officer who successfully hauled the unconscious body to the surface and shoreline where an ambulance was waiting.
The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said: “He made a split second decision to act to protect others without thought for the personal risk. Sergeant Weightman’s actions are an outstanding example of individual heroism. I am grateful to him for his dedication and selflessness.”
Peter Iliffe
Peter Iliffe, son of a former Vicar of Bassenthwaite and Organist of the Parish Church of Keswick St John for many years, died last Friday at the age of 85.
Peter was a former pupil of Keswick School who went to Ely Cathedral as an articled pupil to the organist of Ely, Dr Conway, when he left school. He learned to train the choir and play the organ, and he also joined the territorial army at that time. During World War 2 he served with the Royal Engineers, serving in Africa, Italy, France and Belgium.
After taking a teaching course he became a music teacher, first at Ackworth Quaker School, and later at Brookfield, the Quaker boarding school at Wigton where he was a housemaster and, later, Head of Music, and where he also ran the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
On his retirement he lived both at his house at Sandale and here in Keswick, where his sister was one of the community nurse. He then became organist at St John’s and encouraged the Cumbrian Society of Organists to hold their meetings in Keswick and developed the programme of concerts and recitals which are still a feature of the church life at St John’s.
He enjoyed ‘fixing things’, particularly the church clock, and the Vicar, Canon Brian Smith, in his appreciation of Peter recalled the occasions when the clock had to be dismantled because of the work on the tower, and Peter climbing the spiral staircase to put it right, even at midnight!
A family member spoke of “his unique way of seeing the world, his wonderful ability for generating joyful laughter, his unique ticklish off beat humour – guaranteed to lift everyone’s mood, a true gift of himself to others.”
30 years ago
Child’s play for firemen
Keswick Fire Brigade was called out on Sunday to deal with a problem which was mere “child’s play”.
A year old baby had crawled into the kitchen of a flat at the County Hotel, pulled out a drawer from a unit, and became trapped in the room. Firemen got into the top floor flat through a window and rescued the child.
Station Officer Chris Burns said that the parents were anxious, but the child was quite happy and showed no signs of distress. “Apparently he had crawled into the kitchen and pulled out a drawer which blocked anyone’s entry in the room. We had to get in through a window.”
Mr. Burns said this was a “first” for Keswick firemen. They have had children trapped in bathrooms before, when they have slipped the bolt in the door, but this was more unusual.
“Explosive” situation
Reports of the sighting of canisters marked “explosive” bobbing on the surface of Derwentwater brought a swift reaction from the Police.
Some of the canisters had been spotted between Derwent Island and Friars Crag and a member of the public contacted a Portinscale sailing club and the message was passed on to Nicol End Marine who brought in the police. Officers went out in a boat to recover the canisters which were all marked “explosive” and appeared to be tightly sealed.
Sergeant Jim McMonies said: “We thought we may be dealing with a dangerous substance which had been abandoned in the lake, possibly many years previously. We recovered four or five of the containers and as we didn’t really know what we were handling, we dealt with them very cautiously.”
However, the apparently volatile haul proved even stranger than fiction! “Someone told us they were selling the canisters in the local Army Surplus shop — as pencil cases!” said Sergeant McMonies.
He added: “It seems that the explosive cases, when empty, make ideal pencil cases and they have been selling like hot cakes. We can’t ask the shop to withdraw them from sale because we have no authority in that direction.”
Sergeant McMonies says the canisters were obviously imported and the mystery of how they came to be floating in Derwentwater has been solved. It seems that a bowling team from South Wales, who have been on tour in the Lake District, decided to hold a rowing race on the lake.
“They bought some of these containers and filled them with water to ‘bomb’ each other,” said Sergeant McMonies. “They probably thought they would just sink to the bottom of the lake, but they came back to the surface and there they were, bobbing up and down, when we got the call to investigate.”
40 years ago
Low flying aircraft
Our M.P., Dale Campbell-Savours, received three complaints from constituents about incidents involving low flying aircraft during March and April, and he instituted inquiries with the Ministry of Defence.
Two of the complaints were from the Workington area, and one from Portinscale, and the reply Mr. Campbell-Savours has received from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, Lord Trefgarne, on this particular incident reads as follows :—
“Portinscale is not listed as a place to be avoided which means that aircraft may overfly it at heights of 250 feet and above. On 30th March, 1983, at the time stated, two USAF F-111 aircraft from RAF Lakenheath were on properly authorised low level sorties in the Portinscale area. Both aircraft were travelling at a speed of 480 knots and were at a height of 500ft feet. There is no evidence to show that flying regulations were breached in either case.”
Leisure Pool
Ways of financing the building of Keswick’s proposed leisure pool are still being investigated by the Town Council.
Mr. George Hodgson reported to Thursday’s meeting that discussion had taken place with Mr. A. G. Perry, Treasurer to Allerdale District Council, to try to agree on a satisfactory contribution from the district authority.
“Finance is a problem and although we have narrowed the gap considerably between Allerdale’s suggestions and our own, we will need to negotiate further,” he said.
One of the possibilities for further finance which was being looked into was acquiring charitable status for the pool. If a registered charity, the pool could qualify for an urban aid grant, which could be as high as 75 per cent.
It was also thought that a grant might come from the West Cumbria Enterprise Zone, as Keswick was adjacent to the zone and would no doubt draw labour from West Cumbria during the course of building operations.
The English Tourist Board is expected to contribute up to £200,000 and the Sports Council £20,000.
Mr. Eric Impey asked if the possibility of forming a public company for the pool and selling shares to the public had been considered.
Said Mr. Hodgson: “I welcome any constructive suggestions but at this stage we are concentrating on finance from other bodies. If the project falls down through lack of grant-aided finance, we will consider asking various organisations and the public for help in raising the money.”
50 years ago
Nurse Iliffe
Miss Joyce Iliffe, of St. John’s Cottage, and daughter of a former Vicar of Bassenthwaite, was thanked for her eighteen years as a District Nurse at a presentation at the Battersby Hall last week. Dr. T. F. Kirkpatrick, formerly practising in Keswick and now living at Lockerbie, presented Miss Iliffe, on behalf of a large number of subscribers, with an original Heaton Cooper painting and a cheque for over £60.
Introduced by the Rev. V. M. Spencer Ellis, Dr. Kirkpatrick commented on the high standard of nursing which Keswick had enjoyed from Nurse Iliffe and her fellow district nurses. The fact that so many people were present for the ceremony was an indication of the esteem in which Nurse Iliffe was held, and the Rev. Ellis also paid tribute to the support given to Nurse Iliffe by her mother.
In reply, Nurse Iliffe thanked those who organised the presentation and those who subscribed to it. Over the years, she said, she had made many friends and had been shown great kindness and hospitality. She would miss her patients very much indeed but she was very happy that she would still live in Keswick and would meet everyone from time to time.
She was presented with a bouquet by four-year-old Joanne Charlton.
Mr. R. Thompson Metcalf
Mr. Robert Thompson Metcalf died suddenly at his home, 55 Blencathra Street, last week at the age of 61. A member of an old-established family business, he had not enjoyed good health for some time and for this reason he had recently retired.
The eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Metcalf, he joined his father in the family grocery and confectionery business after leaving Keswick School. During the last war he was one of the early members of the L.D.V., and he later joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, attaining the rank of sergeant.
Mr. Metcalf was a staunch Methodist, a life-long member of the Tithebarn Street Methodist Church, where he had held many offices, and he was also a local preacher.
In his younger days he was a keen sportsman with an interest in many games, and at one period he played at fullback for the Keswick Wednesday team.
The funeral service at Tithebarn Street Methodist Church was attended by representatives of several organisations to which Mr. Metcalf belonged, including Freemasons of the Greta Lodge. This service was followed by cremation at Carlisle.
Mr. Metcalf is survived by his wife, formerly Miss Bessie Watson of Aspatria, his son, David, who teaches in Aspatria, and two married daughters, Mrs, Alison Bott who lives in Reading, and Mrs. Margaret Brockbank, who lives in Manchester and by one grand-daughter. He is also survived by his brothers Claude, Cyril and Feddon.
