Looking back through the archives of The Keswick Reminder from around this week 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago
20 years ago
Death of Keswick’s ‘Mr Theatre’
Lindsay Temple, the man in the immaculate evening suit and bow tie who welcomed thousands of theatregoers to Keswick’s famous old Blue Box for more than four decades, has died aged 80.
Lindsay died in Keswick Cottage Hospital on Monday. He was synonymous with theatre in Keswick and did more than anyone to keep the tradition alive during the period when money was being raised to build a state of the art £6 million new theatre on the Lakeside site.
His links with the once-mobile Century Theatre went back to the first time it rolled into Keswick in 1961. Mr Temple thought it was a novel attraction and went along to take a look and got involved.
His interest in the performing arts actually dated back to his early childhood when he went to the Victoria Hall, above where Fishers famous mountain shop is now situated, to watch the touring professional variety acts. But it was his amazing connection with the eccentric Blue Box theatre that made him a familiar figure to the thousands or Cumbrian theatre fans and tourists who went along to watch the productions at the various locations it had in Keswick before finally coming to rest at the Lakeside.
Mr Temple was very much Keswick’s ‘Mr Theatre.” He never trod the boards himself, but he did practically every other job in the theatre, ranging from tearing up tickets and greeting audiences to being chairman of the Century Theatre board for a number of years. During his association with the theatre it moved to various locations in the town – the Town Cass, the bus station, and two sites on Central Car Park before finally arriving at the Lakeside. A shortage of funds characterised its life in Keswick and Mr Temple used to call it ‘a crisis on wheels’ because of that. On one infamous occasion when Keswick was besieged by an army of rioting mods, he defended the Blue Box against an arson attempt. Not a single show was lost.
He used to lock up his drapery shop in Main Street and get changed into his evening suit and hurry down to the theatre every night there was a performance. He was the only person to have seen every production ever staged at the theatre and he also travelled the country to put his personal stamp of approval on the shows the Century Theatre toured in the winter time.
He once said: ‘The Blue Box gave Keswick a civic theatre at very low cost to the town. After a hard day in the shop I used to dash home and change for my evening role at the theatre. I always tried to look the part-being scruffy would present a poor image and in a way it was like dressing up for a part even if that part consisted of tearing up tickets at the door.’
A great supporter of the performing arts, he was a past president of the Circus Fans Association and helped to bring the Lewis London ballet to Cumbria annually as well as organise and book the autumn season in Keswick. “Ballet and circus are truly international. You don’t need to know a language to understand them,” he said.
One of the theatre’s greatest helpers and also one of its keenest critics, Lindsay saw thousands of performances and was the Blue Box theatre’s first point of contact with its patrons who came from all over the world to see plays performed in unique surroundings.
But he did not allow sentiment to cloud the vision of a new theatre for the town and one of his friends, Stan Hinde, said: “It was fitting that Lindsay should live long enough to see Keswick’s new Theatre by the Lake come into being. A bar in the new theatre was named in his honour and, following the funeral service this Friday, people will be gathering there for a drink in tribute to him.”
Mr Hinde added: “Lindsay was one of Keswick’s great characters. He was always there at the theatre to welcome audiences and say a smiling goodnight at the end of the show. He epitomised the Keswick theatre experience for so many years.” And Rosemary Kemp, another theatre enthusiast, said: “Without him theatre in Keswick would not have survived. His devotion and resourcefulness kept it going. He was known to locals and visitors alike for his cheerful welcome and old world courtesy.”
Joint chairman of the Century Theatre, Vicky Robinson, said: “He loved the theatre and all forms of the arts. Lindsay was the welcoming face of the Century Theatre for so many years and weathered many adversities with a strong conviction for theatre in Keswick.
“We will always remember the twinkle in his eye. The theatre we have today is very much his legacy and will endure.”
Derwent steps down
Derwent Tyson, the long-serving chairman of one of Cumbria’s oldest-established traditional countryside days out, has stepped down. He joined the committee of Threlkeld Sheepdog Trials 55 years ago and has been present at the event every year since, with Just one summer’s exception when the dog day went into abeyance.
On Wednesday, at this year’s show, he was presented with a photograph of famous Blencathra Foxhounds’ huntsman Johnnie Richardson and his hounds, with a snow-capped Blencathra in the background.
Mr Tyson is succeeded as chairman by Tom Bell although he intends to continue serving the event as a committee member. Before becoming chairman, Derwent was secretary for 14 years and became vice chairman in 1979, then chairman in 1986.
He said: “The only year I missed Threlkeld dog day was in 1958 when it went defunct for a year. The late Dan Birkett met me in Keswick and after we had discussed it he said he would be treasurer if I would handle the writing. That was it for me and I did the secretary’s job for the next 14 years.”
30 years ago
Methodist ministers leave Keswick
The Reverend Norman and Reverend Margaret Wallwork left Keswick earlier this week after nearly nine years in the town. They and their son Aidan have moved to Exeter where Mr. Wallwork will be the minister of the Methodist Church known as The Mint and he will also be a Chaplain of Exeter University.
Mr. Wallwork was brought up in Penrith and was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. He trained as a teacher and taught for four years at Caldew School, Dalston, before training for the ministry.
He spent his first six years in Keswick as Minister at Southey Street Methodist Church. Two years ago he was appointed Ecumenical Officer for Cumbria and he has worked extensively with churches of every denomination throughout the county. Margaret was ordained and during these two years she has taken over the work of minister at Southey Street Church.
Norman and Margaret have contributed fully to every area of community life in Keswick and will be greatly missed.
On Sunday they conducted their last Holy Communion Service at Southey Street Church. This was followed by a farewell buffet luncheon for the Wallwork family and also the minister of Cockermouth Methodist Church, the Revd. Trevor Hoggard, who is leaving to take up a post at Woodhouse Grove School, Bradford, the Methodist school.
A special service was held on Sunday afternoon at which Norman and Margaret and Mr Hoggard were presented with gifts by church representatives, and spoke of how the communities have benefited from the three ministers.
Fred Thompson, of Blindcrake Methodist Chapel, described Norman Wallwork as “the best preacher I’ve ever heard” and he told the full church he felt sure he wouldn’t hear better!
40 years ago
18 holes at last
Keswick Golf Club took another significant step at the weekend when, at long last, the club was able to open eighteen holes for play at Threlkeld Hall as a sizeable tract of land on the south side of the old Keswick to Penrith railway line joined the existing part of the course nearer the A.66.
It was in 1969 that the pioneers of the Golf Club, like Harvey Hodgson the current president, Joe Honeysett and Bob Bainbridge, completed the purchase of the swampy land just east of Threlkeld Village. Anyone seeing it at that time would have compared it more with a jungle than a potential golf course. Former Ryder Cup player Eric Brown was called in to make the original course design and the Sports
Council and English Tourist Board gave grants which proved vital to the development.
The clubhouse was actually built in 1976 and opened the following year. There was a time when Keswick Golf Club made more headlines as the “club with no course” than they do nowadays for the incredible transformation effected on the land.
By 1978 there were five holes playable, and a year later this has increased to a rudimentary nine. In 1981 they had ten holes open and last Sunday the first ever competition was played over 18 holes.
The work has not been finished by any means. Another two holes are still under construction, to be opened hopefully next Easter, and when they are ready two of the existing holes will become spares for practice.
Miss Kathleen Sutton
Many Keswickians will be saddened by the death of Miss Kathleen Sutton who lived with her twin sister Marjorie in their beautiful home on Rogerfield for over fifty years.
Kay came to Cumberland in the early thirties as assistant to the Physical Education Adviser of the County Education Authority. She also became a visiting teacher at Keswick School and gave the girls, accustomed to old style gymnastics, an insight into the ‘new’ P.E. with emphasis on rhythm and on the search for self-discipline and self-awareness. She taught with enthusiasm, humour and complete dedication.
Her work in the County, in which she was later joined by her sister, took her to schools large and small, in towns and rural areas, and she introduced to the teachers the new policies in P.E. teaching – in games, swimming, folk dancing and other aspects. She was always a welcome visitor with her encouragement for teachers and pupils alike, sharing with them her love of beauty, of music, and of gardening, and her insistence on excellence in all aspects of living.
She retained her interest in her former pupils and colleagues and continued to show loyalty and affection for her many friends.
50 years ago
Major G. S. Bragg
The death occurred at his home in Stanger Street on Monday, after a long illness, of Major George Sidney Bragg. He was 74.
A Keswickian by birth, Major Bragg attended Keswick School and later joined his father who was managing director of Threlkeld Quarries. During the first world war he served as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps and after the war he took over the managership of the quarries, his father having retired.
When the second world war broke out he joined the army and became a Major in the Pioneer Corps with whom he served first in South Africa and later through the North African campaign. He remained in the Army after the war, serving in Egypt and Palestine, and when he retired from the Army he bought Fletcher’s coal business in Keswick and ran this until about five years ago.
Major Bragg is survived by his wife, one son Mr. Anthony Bragg, and a married daughter Mrs Susan Reid of Royston, near Oldham.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Sir, – I think it is disgraceful that Keswick can not afford a swimming pool when smaller places like Greystoke and Lazonby can. Both villages have lovely outdoor heated pools with picnic areas attached. If villages can do this, a town the size of Keswick should be able to do the same. Is there nothing that can be done about this?
Yours sincerely,
Alison Davison (aged 12)
23 Bank Street
Keswick.
