The building housing Penrith and Eden Museum is 350 years old this year and its staff have celebrated the milestone with the help of youngsters in the area.
The venue, on Middlegate, was formerly Robinsons School and museum staff launched a tree dressing project.
Artist Karen MacDougall created the project working with Penrith and Eden Museum curators Sydney Chapman and Rebecca Short and all three classes of Year 5 at Beaconside Primary School and their teaching staff.
A spokesman said: “This was quite a challenge because of COVID-19 and all the ‘bubbling’ arrangements in place.
“This meant ‘Zooming’ into the classrooms, leading workshops remotely about the museum and its collections, drawing artefacts and then showing the pupils how to make chosen motifs into felted sheep’s wool when none of them had made felt before.”
All the designs were then assembled to make belts for the tree outside the museum and tourist information centre.
The museum doorway inscription design was recreated onto one of them.
The wrestling belts that inspired the idea were those of William Jameson who was Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling’s world champion in Victorian times.
Some of his prize belts are on display in the museum.
