Looking back through the archives of the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald.
25 years ago — 1998
Penrith
The Queen arrived in Penrith at the start of a day of engagements in Cumbria, to be greeted by hundreds of cheering well-wishers. People crowded behind barriers erected outside the town’s railway station, lined Ullswater Road and stood on the banking in front of the castle. On alighting, she said it was a bit daunting to see snow on the fells, to which Eden Council chief executive Ian Bruce replied that she was lucky it wasn’t on the platform.
Penrith ambulancemen John Pearson and John Corbishley were among the 23 members of the county ambulance service NHS trust presented with the Queen’s long service and good conduct medal by Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria James Cropper. The medals were awarded following 25 years of service and good conduct in operational duties.
Alston
Plans for the £2.5m redevelopment of the derelict Falmech foundry site at Alston go on show to the public next week. They include a countryside centre and riverside walks, with access to underground boat trips along the Nent Force Level. The scheme is one of the elements rescued from the town’s unsuccessful Rural Challenge bid in 1996 but has been modified. For example, sports facilities such as a swimming pool are no longer included.
Whinfell
The Queen had her first experience of a supermarket when she visited the food hall area at the multi-million pound Oasis holiday complex at Whinfell, near Penrith. A look around the supermarket and a chat with two of the till operators was just part of her 40-minute tour of the forest holiday complex which opened 10 months ago. Her visit proved to be a momentous and memorable occasion for 29 pupils of Temple Sowerby Primary School, which is the closest school to Oasis.
Threlkeld
Many Cumbrian farmers have diversified their businesses in the face of the current crisis in the industry, but few have chosen a new activity as novel as that adopted by Derek Scrimgeour, of Lonscale Farm, near Threlkeld. An expert sheepdog handler, Mr. Scrimgeour has run weekly sheepdog demonstrations in Keswick and also at country shows for several years and has now branched out again with the launch of a video on working with sheepdogs on the fells.
Greystoke
One Man finally laid his Cheltenham jinx to rest and confounded his critics — and the best two-milers in Europe — with a convincing victory in the £150,000 Queen Mother Champion Chase. Gordon Richards’s charismatic grey gave a front-running exhibition of jumping and stormed up the dreaded hill to the Cheltenham finish to add the champion two-miler crown to his already phenomenal record.
50 years ago — 1973
Penrith
Following consultations with the Chamber of Trade and Ratepayers’ Association, Penrith Urban Council agreed unanimously at a special meeting not to apply to the Local Government Boundaries Commission for a Parish Council when the Urban Council disappears early next year in Local Government reorganisation. One of the main reasons for the decision was that it was thought there were enough “pressure groups” already to monitor local matters.
The new toilets built by the Pentih Urban Council on the site of the old Blue Bell Inn, in Little Dockray, came into use yesterday. The inn which formerly stood on the site was one of the oldest in the town and was a great favourite of country people on market day.
Appleby
The distinction of being the last Mayor of Appleby before Local Government reorganisation has fallen on a woman — Mrs. Audrey Wappett, White House, Parkin Hill, who was chosen by the Borough Council. Mrs. Wappett later told the “Herald” that two of her daughters, Vera and Kathleen, would share the office of Mayoress and she joked: “It looks like Women’s Lib. year for Appleby.”
Kirkby Stephen
What is believed to be part of a meteorite has been found in the back garden of a Kirkby Stephen man, veterinary surgeon Mr. James Hamilton, High Street. The discovery was made by a workman who was digging in the garden of the house.
100 years ago — 1923
Keswick
The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Company has been absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish group and, at the final meeting of the directors, its history was recalled. The chairman, Mr. J. W. Pattinson, said the first sod was cut by Mr. Hoskins on 1st May, 1862, and the line opened in January, 1865.
Nenthead
The village of Nenthead is to use its sulphur springs to try to attract visitors. At the annual ward meeting, Mr. T. W. Thompson said the spring was difficult to locate now but he believed the brewery sump scheme was the best, for water could be brought to the surface there. That was the property of the Nenthead Mining Co. and, if permission could be obtained to bring the water to the surface, it would be an acquisition for Nenthead.
