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
‘No’ vote wins Tea Gardens poll
The outcome of Thursday’s poll regarding the proposals to appoint the Tea Gardens to the Theatre by the Lake as part of an
overall improvement scheme for the lakeshore area, went in favour of Keswick campaigners who wish to keep part of the town’s heritage safe.
Residents voted ‘no’ to the proposals, by 771 votes to 373, and following the poll campaigners said that Allerdale Borough Council should listen to the views of locals — out of a possible 4,178 residents eligible to vote, 1,144 people actually turned out on Thursday between the voting hours of 4 pm and 9 pm.
The chairman of Positive Action for Keswick, Mavis Clark, said the pressure group wants to keep the Tea Gardens free from
development and, although the outcome of the poll was not binding, the ‘no’ vote was the will of the people and it should be taken into account by Allerdale Borough Council. She said: “Naturally I am very pleased with the outcome of the vote.”
Mrs Clark said: “Keswick people are often accused of apathy, but once someone rattles Keswick’s cage people do react.”
The Positive Action group will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the outcome of the poll and plan its next move which could be to invite Allerdale councillors to talks over the future of the Tea Gardens. “We can’t force Allerdale to do anything,” said Mrs Clark, “but the local representatives on the authority should take notice and act on it.”
Allerdale Council announced earlier this year that they planned to re-assign the lease for the Tea Gardens to the Theatre by the Lake to enable them to create a new studio theatre and year-round restaurant facility. The project would be part of an overall revamp of the Derwentwater foreshore area.
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor, When we turned up to vote for the Theatre/Tea Gardens Poll, my husband and I were angry and disappointed to learn we were unable to vote as we did not live in Keswick!
Where, and by whom, was it decided that the outlying villages were not entitled to vote? I certainly do not remember reading anything about this in the papers.
As my husband was born in Keswick and has lived and worked here all his life, and myself for the past 30 years, we were disgusted to find we are now not part of Keswick as we have, in recent years, moved only two miles away to Braithwaite.
As ratepayers with an address code and telephone number for Keswick, this appears to count for nothing with Allerdale.
I trust that when the court case between the Tea Gardens and the theatre is over, we will not be expected to contribute towards any of the court costs as we do not appear to live in Keswick!
I am very sure we are not the only people annoyed by this situation!
Yvonne Little
Braithwaite
30 years ago
Paragliding champion
Patrick Holmes of Thornthwaite is the British Champion in the sport of paragliding. Points earned in competitions in Spain, the Dales and South Wales throughout the year have clinched the title for 30 year old Patrick for the first time; in previous years he came fourth and seventh.
Patrick took up the sport five years ago after a trip to Chamonix with his brother Stuart. He left his job as a mineral surveyor four years ago and went to France to practise paragliding and now spends up to six months each year outside Britain on the international and World Cup circuits. This season he has been to Brazil, Japan, Korea and on the European circuit which includes Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
New Catholic priest in Keswick
Father Kenneth Hind has come to the Church of Our Lady of the Lakes and St. Charles in Keswick to succeed Monsignor Wilfrid Buxton, who has moved to Grasmere.
Father Hind is a Cumbrian, born and brought up in Carlisle where he worked as a commercial vehicle salesman before going to train as a priest at Beda College in Rome. At Beda College he was taught for a year by Monsignor Buxton who was on the staff of the college.
After serving as a curate at Blackpool, Egremont, Barrow in Furness and Preston, Father Hind was appointed full time Catholic priest at Brixton Prison in London, and this was followed by an appointment to Walton Prison in Liverpool. Before coming to Keswick on September 25, he was at St. Bede’s in Carlisle.
New hosts at the White Horse
The White Horse Inn at Scales, Threlkeld is to have new hosts.
On Friday Keswick Licensing Justices granted a protection order for the White Horse to Victor Bruce Jackson of Helvellyn Street, Keswick. Mr. Jackson said he and his wife were in the process of purchasing the premises.
Mr. Jackson will be doing the catering side of the business with overall charge of the bar, and Mrs. Jackson, who has worked in a number of local establishments, will be supporting him in the front of house work.
Herdwick ram record
For the second year running the record price for a Herdwick Ram was broken at the annual Show and Sale held at Keswick on October 2nd.
Veteran breeder Joe Folder of Cockermouth took the honours last year at £1,500 and this year broke his own record by selling a 3 shear tup for £1,800. Within minutes this new record became perilously close to being broken when a ram owned by Richard Weir of Chapel Farm in Borrowdale equalled the new record of £1,800. Joe Folder, not to be outdone, went on to establish a new breed record of £500 for a ram lamb.
A Keswickian returns
In the Keswick Museum there is a photograph of Lupton’s Court, off Main Street, which brings back memories to a former Keswickian who this week, at the age of 93, returned with his wife to spend a week in the autumn sunshine, visiting places he remembers from his childhood.
Ronald Lupton has even been up Latrigg to visit the seat which was erected to commemorate his ninetieth birthday. And he has also been up Catbells, walking from his hotel in Keswick and following the footpaths through Portinscale, and to Threlkeld and back.
Lupton’s Court is named after Ronald’s grandfather who had a shop there. Ronald was born in a house in the Court, went to Keswick School and then to Oxford in 1919. His parents later moved to Portinscale where his father stayed until 1944.
But Ronald’s sights were set far beyond Keswick, and he went to teach in Barbados. The journey itself was quite an adventure, taking 16 days to cross the Atlantic whereas now it takes only seven hours. Mr. Lupton returned to Barbados for a visit earlier this year.
Mr. and Mrs. Lupton live in Leicester where he taught classics at a grammar school for several years before retiring. They have been married for 56 years and share an interest in the Lake District, making regular visits. Mr. Lupton is writing some of his reminiscences of Keswick and says he thinks there has been what he calls “an enormous improvement” in the town since he was young. He says the old back yards used to be “such a mess”, but now many of them have shops, giving them new life.
40 years ago
Bland retains Keswick fells crown
Billy Bland retained his title of Keswick Athletic Club fell champion on Sunday with a third place finish in the Butter Crag Race at Grasmere. However he only did so by the narrowest of margins, having just one point to spare over British Fell Runner of the Year Ken Stuart.
Butter Crag was the last 1984 race to count for the championship and prior to the start Jon Broxap was leading the table. However Jon had already used up all his counting events, whereas Bland and Stuart were able to improve their scores on Sunday.
Bland topped the table with 196 points, one in front of Stuart who in turn finished two clear of Broxap.
The race itself provided Stuart with another record breaking performance. His time of 12min. 37 secs. Clipped two seconds of the amateur record set by Brian Robinson of Kendal in 1978. Second was Rod Pilbeam in 13-01 with Bland third in 13-15.
Keswick traffic order experiments
The proposed experimental traffic order for Keswick’s Market Square is likely to come into operation early next month.
A spokesman for the County Council Highways Department said this week that there had been a slight delay over the delivery of signs, but November 10th was the most likely starting date for the Order. The Department are currently awaiting the arrival of the signs in order to give their solicitor a definite date to sign the Order
The Order will result in the closure of the Market Square area to traffic on Saturday market days only for a period of up to eighteen months.
The success of the temporary restrictions would be viewed by many as a prelude to a fuller pedestrianisation scheme for the town centre. However there is certain to be continued opposition to pedestrianisation from a section of the local business community who feel it would hit passing trade.
Helvellyn hundredth
On Thursday of last week a Keswick resident, Mr. John Brown, completed his 100th ascent of Helvellyn.
Mr. Brown, a former college lecturer from Bristol, began fell walking only thirteen years ago after being advised by a colleague that the Lake District was a good place for a walking holiday. His first climb was Helvellyn via Striding Edge and by the end of the week’s holiday he was well and truly “hooked”. From then onwards he returned here every time his college closed for holidays, usually staying in St. John’s-in-the-Vale.
Such was Mr. Brown’s enthusiasm that he successfully took part in the Ramblers’ Association Marathon fell-walk on four occasions, from 1973 to 1976, covering the fifty miles in a fastest time of just over sixteen hours – a great achievement for a fifty year old!
Mr. Brown has climbed all the fells in the Wainwright guides but his greatest love has always been Helvellyn. A few weeks ago he was delighted to become a part of the Keswick community by retiring to a house in Brundholme Gardens. It seemed very fitting that after taking up residence his next ascent of Helvellyn should be his one hundredth
Accompanied by neighbour, Mr. Stephen Ryecroft, Mr. Brown brought his fell walking memories full circle by following the same route which began a new life for him thirteen years ago. Not that he will be ready to hang up his boots for many a long year.
50 years ago
Appeal
A ruined house on land at Forge Brow would be “less offensive in its present form than if developed with a new building” a Ministry inspector was told at an enquiry at Keswick on Tuesday.
The comment came from Mr. John M. Pattinson, chief planning officer with the Lake District Planning Board, which has refused consent to plans by Mr. John Fryer-Spedding of Mirehouse to build a house on the site.
Mr. Spedding produced for the inspection of Sir John Willoughby, who heard the appeal, an oil painting showing that the now derelict property had in fact been a dwelling house in the 1830s, when it came into the possession of the family.
It is five years since he first produced plans for the revival of the old building, which were turned down by the former Lake District Planning Board, one of the grounds being that it would prejudice the line of the A66 trunk road.
“I supported the Board in opposing the construction of the A66” Mr Spedding recalled. “However, the Keswick by-pass is now under construction, and my task, as I see it, is to sort out the bits and pieces left around it and do what I can for the landscape.”
The by-pass will come within 45 feet of the ruined house, and the Planning Board still maintains that building would be undesirable sporadic development.
Letter to the editor
Dear Sir, — John Ruskin described the view over Derwentwater and up Borrowdale from Friars’ Crag as very nearly perfect and one of the three or four most beautiful in Europe. Few people would disagree with this poet and writer, whose memorial now stands in the shape of a monolith on the Crag.
Since 1922, when the Crag and land round about was declared open to the public in memory of Canon Rawnsley, the National Trust has been responsible for preserving this viewpoint which has become more and more popular. Countless feet have gradually worn away the soil on the Crag to such an extent that bare rock now shows and the roots of the distinctive Scots Pines now lie dangerously exposed. The Trust must therefore now take action to rehabilitate the area and this will mean introducing fresh soil, sowing grass seed and replanting trees where required. A new path is also needed to lead visitors on to the Crag.
This work will soon begin and the Trust would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused to visitors and locals alike by the temporary restrictions on access and unusual activity by estate staff.
Your readers will no doubt realise that similar erosion problems exist in other parts of the Lake District and probably no more so than in Great Langdale behind the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel en route to the Pikes. Here the Trust has already begun to resurface the footpaths to render them no longer scars which are visible from miles around.
C. J. Hanson-Smith
The National Trust
