A high energy extrovert who took Keswick to his heart when he retired to the town in the early 90s has died, aged 85.
Bob Bryden could never be described as a shrinking violet and his passion for Keswick shone through in all that he did to promote the town to residents and visitors.
He is probably best remembered for being town crier for 16 years and in 2020 he teamed up with his successor, David Hall, to create some light-hearted but very loud relief during the coronavirus lockdown. They created a series of six videos of them telling jokes while dressed in their full costumes, including handbells.
The veteran comedians dubbed themselves The Two Meeters after making sure they always observed social distancing rules while running through their comic repertoire in various locations around the town.
The Keswick Reminder also reported in 2021 his appeal for people to donate home-made woollen wartime swimming costumes from 1939 to 1945 to help promote what was then an embryonic campaign to safeguard Keswick Leisure Pool.
Bob was a valued active member of Keswick Lions club and over the years had been involved in many of the club’s activities. He was one of the main organisers of the talent show held at the Theatre by the Lake. The show highlighted the talent of local performers and provided a lot of pleasure for a lot of people.
Bob was heavily involved with Christian Aid and persuaded all the local hotels and shops to donate food for the Lent lunches so that all the money went to the charity. He also organised speakers to entertain after each lunch.
In his Christian Aid work he went door-to-door to a large number of homes and while many people collected for one hour in the street, Bob always insisted on two. He was the main organiser of the carol singing, even getting friends to help him wheel a piano into the street for the accompaniment.
The Rev Charles Hope, of Keswick St John’s, said that Bob was a valued member of the congregation who sang in the choir for many years and was also very active in Churches Together in Keswick.
Bob was also a leading light in the formation of the Keswick and District Fair Trade campaign. He also wrote, performed in and directed many street theatre performances and in particular, one that depicted the history of Keswick. Another of his plays focused on St Herbert and was performed beside and on Derwentwater.
Possibly one of Bob’s most powerful introductions to the lives of people in Keswick began with a meeting to discuss problems facing the town. At that meeting the highly successful Keswick Community Housing Trust was born.
Born in Leeds to a family of nine, Bob’s love of the Lakes began with many teenage expeditions. After National Service in Cyprus during the Nasser Crisis, Bob’s Cambridge University interview included how he managed to accidentally lead a group down the wrong side of a fell and into the wrong Lakeland valley. Studying history at Selwyn College, Bob met Brenda, then training as a nurse at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, through a shared love of music. Their 1961 honeymoon started from Keswick station and was partly spent camping near the Honister mines.
Bob’s teaching career took him to Great Yarmouth, East Ham, Penrith – a very happy stay at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School – Cheshire, Littleport in Cambridgeshire and Barlby in Yorkshire.
These last two posts were headships totalling 17 years, but Bob was delighted to retire to the chalk face aged 50. He marked this with a Coast to Coast walk with friends starting at St Bees Head.
Bob’s later teaching career in Cumbria ended at Wyndham, with homes at Blencathra Street and Calvert Way, in Keswick.
Bob’s wife Brenda died in October 2021. He is survived by five children and five grandchildren
His daughter Fran Bryden said: “We are so pleased as a family that dad and mum found such a wonderful place to live. Both he and my mother were so happy in Keswick.”
Bob’s funeral will take place at St John’s Keswick on Friday April 28, starting at 2.30pm.
