Looking back through the archives of The Keswick Reminder from around this week 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
20 years ago
New-look centre opens
The Forestry Commission Whinlatter Visitor Centre, which has become the focus of world-wide attention through its work on the Lake District Osprey Project, has reopened after a £500,000 redevelopment programme.
TV personality John Craven OBE, presenter of ‘Countryfile’ and former host of ‘Newsround’, officially opened the new-look centre on Wednesday in front of an audience of supporters, volunteers and other guests who have been involved in the extensive project.
The opening came in the same week as the hatching of two chicks by the only ospreys currently nesting in northern England. Although, sadly, one of the chicks has not survived, the other is thriving and being cared for and fed by the adult ospreys.
Guests were able to see and hear live action from the nest on four giant TV screens at Whinlatter’s new Osprey Experience – an interpretative exhibition dedicated to the world famous birds which have nested in the area for the past three years.
MBE for local lady
A Keswick woman has received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list which was announced on Friday.
Mrs. Ann Bowker, 67, who lives in Portinscale, has received the award for services to tourism in Cumbria, after running an Internet web site for almost ten years. The site, Mad About Mountains, began life after she came to the Lake District after taking early retirement from her post as lecturer in computers at Nottingham Polytechnic in 1991.
Her site has grown more popular since she acquired a digital camera and trained the camera on Skiddaw each day from her garden.
She began taking the camera with her on her many walks each week and publishes the pictures on her web site.
Mrs. Bowker and her husband Rowland are keen walkers not only in the Lake District but around the country and abroad. She is secretary of Keswick Ramblers Club and a member of the Keswick Natural History Society and has also been a National Park warden for ten years.
30 years ago
Mr. Les Burnyeat
The death of a former Keswick sportsman at his home in Malvern last week has brought back memories to many of his contemporaries in his home town.
Les Burnyeat was the youngest of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Burnyeat and he was educated at Keswick School. Another old Keswickian, Richard Viney, writes: “When one was at school, anyone showing athletic prowess in the seniors was an immediate hero with the juniors.”
Les held the Keswick School 100 yards and 440 yards records for many years, and at 220 yards he held both the Keswick School and the County Schools’ records. He was also an excellent rugby player, playing in the same teams throughout his school and Rugby Union years with such legendary sportsmen as Herbert Craghill and Ashley Noon.
He left school at 16 and joined the RAF and at the outbreak of war he was serving in Egypt, being stationed in Ismailia, the Canal area and Cairo, where he played Rugby Union for the Inter-services team. He returned to England in 1943 and played for the famous RAF Pocklington team. During his athletic career he was timed at 9.8 seconds over 100 yards when running for Transport Command at the RAF Championships.
Les was demobbed in 1946 and returned to Keswick, joining the Keswick Rugby Union team which was made up of many ex-service men. He was selected to play for the Cumberland & Westmorland twin counties side against Northumberland, and for the twin counties against Yorkshire. After the latter game he was approached by Workington Town Rugby League club; at the age of 26 Les became the Town’s first signing after the arrival of Gus Risman as manager, for a fee of £150 plus £25 when he made four 1st team appearances.
He stayed with Town only 18 months because on his successful completion of his Civil Service examinations he was posted to Worcester. He never played rugby again, and kept fit for several years playing soccer for the Civil Service in the Worcestershire League.
Les retired in 1982, from the Civil Service, and he and his wife Betty lived at Malvern. They had two daughters, and four grandchildren. His elder sister, Mrs. Elsie Hindmoor, still lives in Keswick.
Keswick Carnival
Carnivals are always a great day out for the family, and for one local family Keswick Carnival last Sunday was a family event in every sense.
Eleven year old Katie Houghton, of Latrigg Close, was crowned Carnival Queen by the Mayor, Councillor Sean Crawford. Katie’s Carnival Queen float won the prize for the best decorated float as well as the overall award in the splendid procession.
But that was by no means the end of the Houghton family’s winning day. Mum Cathie pushed the best decorated pram in which Katie’s two year old twin sisters, Jessica and Shelley-Ann, rode with their six month old brother, William. They went under the imaginative and apt title “Rub a dub dub, three babes in a tug”.
Katie’s 4 year old sister Angela played her part; she was the Princess on the crowning platform. And Mrs. Houghton’s niece Rachel came over from Morpeth to be the Fairy Queen.
Mrs. Houghton said she had been working for weeks towards the Carnival Day. “I’m just so pleased it has turned out to be a fine day — I think I would have cried if it had rained,” she added. And she spoke of the help and support of her neighbours, Teri Clark and Amelia Frampton, and her own mother who had made the dresses for Katie and Angela.
40 years ago
Retirement of Keswick doctor
After thirty-six years in general practice in Keswick, Dr. John Harrow is retiring at the end of June.
Last Thursday evening the matron, Mrs. Betty Scoon, members of the nursing and domestic staff of the hospital, ambulance staff, physiotherapists, doctors and community nurses said farewell to their senior doctor at a social evening held at the Mary Hewetson Hospital. During the evening Sister Sheila Dean, on behalf of the hospital and ancillary staff, presented Dr. Harrow with an occasional table and Mrs. Harrow with a set of silver teaspoons.
Guests included members of the committee of the Friends of the Hospital whose chairman, Mrs. Doris Bragg, presented a stainless steel tray from Keswick Industrial Arts to Dr. Harrow.
An excellent buffet supper had been prepared by Mrs. Anne Lawson and helpers.
For several years, Dr. Harrow represented the general practitioners on the East Cumbria Authority’s District Management Team. He has also been Keswick School’s doctor, caring for the boarders in four boarding houses since he came to Keswick in 1947.
Lakeside service
A congregation of some three hundred members of the Derwent Deanery and visitors 10 Keswick gathered on Crow Park on the shores of Derwentwater on Wednesday for a communion service to commemorate the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Carlisle.
The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt. Revd. David Halsay, the Archdeacon of West Cumberland, the Ven. T. R. B. Hodgson, and the Rural Dean, the Revd. R. C. Johns, led a team of thirteen clergy, together with two lay readers, representing all lay readers in the Deanery. The singing was led by choirs from the Deanery led by the Borrowdale Church Choir, accompanied by an orchestra directed by the vicar of Cockermouth, the Revd, J. Craw ley. Crosthwaite Handbell Ringers also took part, and the offertory was for the Cathedral Restoration Fund.
50 years ago
It’s a Knockout
On Sunday, June 17th, a team from Keswick travelled to Manchester to compete against other
Youth Clubs from the North West of England in their own version of the TV game “It’s a Knockout.”
Eight teams from Macclesfield, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Stockport, West Wythenshawe, Flixton and Keswick took part and a large crowd watched tennis balls, buckets, fishing nets and vast quantities of water travelling in peculiar fashion around the field.
The Keswick team, having beaten all other teams from Cumbria earlier in the year, took an early lead by winning the first game. They held this lead throughout the afternoon and at the start of the last game were four points clear of their nearest rival.
The aim of the last event was to get as much water as possible from one dustbin to another in three minutes. In turn, the team members had to fill a bucket (complete with holes in the bottom) and dash up the field which was beset by various obstacles. The Keswick team collected several inches more water in their dustbin than any other club and so won the final game, making themselves overall victors by eight points. They now go on to the finals at Warwick in July.
The winning team was Maggie Stoker, Kay Martin, Caroline Nixon, Peter Robinson, David Robinson and Chris Robinson.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Sir, — Mr. J. W, Slee retired recently as District Commissioner for Scouts in Keswick. Bill Slee has been actively connected with Scouts and Cubs in the area for over forty years and his great involvement in Scouting continued until his retirement, although he has been in poor health for some years. Indeed, he is still active in
Scouting in one sense, since he has continued to act as Camp Secretary for the County, which has the greatest concentration of Scout campers in the country.
There must be hundreds of ex-Cubs and Scouts, and their parents, who have cause to thank Bill for his work with young people in Keswick and beyond. He would say that he has had his thanks in seeing “his boys” grow in confidence and responsibility, but we in the Group Scout Council feel that he should have something tangible also to commemorate his contribution to Scouting.
We intend to make a presentation to Bill at the Morton Hut in the near future. Your readers who have reason to be grateful to him for his work might wish to contribute, and donations will be gratefully received by me as Treasurer or paid directly to the Manager at Barclays Bank, the Market Square.
Yours truly,
Brian Wilkinson,
On behalf of the Keswick Group Council, 25 High Hill, Keswick.
18th June, 1973.
The previous week: When two Georges from Keswick were honoured by the Queen
