A Quick Reminder: Looking back through the archives of The Keswick Reminder from around this week 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
20 years ago
Stan Edmondson
Stan Edmondson of Borrowdale, one of the area’s best known personalities, died on Sunday in the Cumberland Infirmary at the age of 76.
Mr Edmondson farmed at Seathwaite, the last farm in the valley for walkers setting off on the trek up to England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike.
He was a familiar figure with locals and thousands of visitors who passed through the farm on their way into the hills.
Mr Edmondson was born at Seathwaite on December 13, 1926. He grew up in the hamlet and took over the farm from his father.
In his younger days he was one of the area’s top fell runners and three years in succession he won the prestigious Grasmere Sports event.
Mr Edmondson was a member of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team in the early years and was also a lifelong follower of the Blencathra Foxhounds.
His great love was Borrowdale and Mr Edmondson was a familiar and popular figure in the Cumbrian hill farming community. He took pride in being one of the National Trust’s oldest tenants.
He was a director of Mitchells Auction Company in Cockermouth and was present at the final sale in the old town centre mart and at the opening of the new premises on the outskirts of the town.
Just recently Mr Edmondson flew to Cyprus on a holiday to see his daughter Janet who lives out there. It was the first time he had flown and been outside Britain.
Correction
In our report of a special meeting of the Derwentwater Lodge of Freemasons in last week’s issue, we incorrectly gave the figure for the collection for needy children as £250,000. In fact the sum collected was £250.
The Lodge correspondent’s response was “If only!”
30 years ago
Keswick Town Council: No change
At last week’s meeting of the Town Council it was decided not to support the public meeting held recently at which there were calls for Keswick to move out of Allerdale to join Eden District.
The Mayor, Councillor Sean Crawford, said the public meeting was called to give the people of Keswick a chance to present their views and not, as had been suggested, to give an opportunity to the pro-Eden lobby to make their statement. “Everyone in the town was given the opportunity to attend and present their opinions,” he said.
The Deputy Mayor, Mrs. Maysie McCambridge, supported Mr. Crawford and said he had shown commendable impartiality. The public meeting had voted 45 to 5 in favour of asking local government commissioners to move Keswick into Eden, but Mrs. McCambridge felt that statements had been made from the floor which were not accurate.
Councillor Mrs. Sheila Hawkrigg supported the idea of considering a move to Eden saying she thought that if there was a referendum they might be surprised at the result. Councillor Martin Jordan felt they should wait before deciding a response, so that they could have a clearer indication of the options being considered by the commissioners.
Councillor Denstone Kemp stressed there was no need for the Council to pay attention to a vote taken at a meeting attended by less than one per cent of the population of the town. He thought that Allerdale would be a viable unitary authority, while Eden was not large enough to become a unitary authority on its own.
At the end of the discussion the Town Councillors agreed to state they wished to join the “most efficient grouping of local population which can be worked out” and not to specify which council structure they favoured.
40 years ago
Market Square
Local consultation will begin shortly on a proposal to ban traffic from the Market Square on Saturdays during the period of the market.
The experimental order, which would run for eighteen months, has been suggested by the County Council Highways General Purposes Sub Committee. The order would “prohibit the driving of all motor vehicles, except for loading and unloading” in the Market Place on Saturdays between the hours of 8-30 am and 4-30 pm.
The future of the Market Square has proved a long running saga. From time to time over the past twenty years there have been suggestions for either total pedestrianisation or traffic management schemes.
Local driver’s R.A.C. Rally success
Local rally driver Geoff Davidson took on some of the world’s top competition in the R.A.C. international event and emerged with flying colours.
Driving his home built Ford Escort R.S. 2000, Geoff, service manager at High Hill Garage, worked his way up from an original starting position of 131st, to 62nd place as the rally reached its climax on Tuesday – a magnificent performance by a driver who had virtually built his car from scratch in the garage of his home at Portinscale and who was taking on leading international drivers with the backing of huge motor companies and service facilities.
Geoff’s wife June said: “It’s not a bad effort for someone who was being classed as an ‘also ran’ before the event began. Although Geoff has been feeling pretty tired, the car has gone well and his position at the halfway stage was magic.”
Driving through home territory in the Lake District on Monday, Geoff and co-driver Andy Barnard from Cockermouth were going strongly in the 68th spot and seventh in their class.
In fact the overnight rest stop at Windermere enabled Geoff to return home for a night’s sleep away from the hustle and bustle of the rally, and to get away from his car for a few hours – a rather unusual step to take in the middle of the biggest event in the international calendar. June said: “It certainly must be unique for a driver to break off in mid-event and nip home for a night’s sleep, but with the stop being in Windermere this year we felt it would be better for Geoff to be driven home by his service crew and take advantage of a proper rest.”
All round sportsman Geoff brought his own brand of quiet determination to the rigorous demands of the five day rally to show that, even in a world where big business seems to rule, there’s a place for the privateer driving his own home-made motor on which months of loving care have been lavished.
By Wednesday evening’s finish in Bath, Geoff had improved his finishing position still further, coming home a highly creditable 44th overall and sixth in his class. Only around half the original number of starters actually completed the entire rally.
Parking charges
Allerdale Council have been accused of “blatant discrimination” over local parking charges by Keswick’s newly re-formed Chamber of Trade.
The Chamber, at their meeting on Monday night, were outspoken in criticism of the charges being borne by local residents, and also of the District Council’s attitude to the tourist industry.
“It is clear to us that Allerdale Council is plundering Keswick for all it is worth,” said the president Mr. Tony Nobbs. “Keswick is the only place in Allerdale which makes money and it is being used to subsidise other parts of the District,” and he said the Chamber of Trade was writing to Allerdale expressing members’ anger and concern.
According to figures they had produced, the charge was 80p to park in Keswick for twelve hours, yet in Wigton it was only 10p and 30p in Cockermouth. Mr. Nobbs said that some car parks in Workington charged just 10p for twelve hours and he said the proposal to put up season ticket charges from £5 to £10 was another measure which hit local people and was unjust.
Mr. Nobbs said that parking charges in Keswick were significantly higher than most other tourist areas and this must have an adverse effect on the visitors.
“We feel that the level of charge must be a disincentive for visitors to travel north of Dunmail Raise,” said Mr Nobbs. He agreed that parking was a major source of revenue during the holiday season, but said it appeared that Allerdale were “playing it for all it is worth.”
50 years ago
Council matters
At Monday evening’s meeting of the Council’s Public Health and Highways Committee a number of matters affecting the Market Square were under consideration. These included a petition signed by 1,250 people objecting to any move to change the venue for the market; about twenty-two letters written by various individuals in response to a letter in the “Reminder” by Mr. E. C. Hicks; and another letter from the Friends of the Lake District, expressing disappointment that the Council have appeared to have dropped the pedestrian precinct plan.
Divergent views were put forward in the course of a debate ranging from support for the view that the market venue should not be changed to criticism of those people who, it was alleged, set themselves up as “little tin gods” to “stir it up” for the Council, and criticism of the market traders who, it was alleged, were outsiders except for one person, but had not been willing to discuss ideas with the Council.
