Remember when there was a Woolworth in Middlegate and a Walter Wilson at the entrance to Queen Street? Then you were definitely looking around Penrith in 1978!
Television herb expert Carole Atkinson’s newly published book, Penrith Town Trails, features 50 photographs which were all taken in that year by the late Gordon Browne, who lived at Sandgate and worked as a surveyor.
Ten years earlier Carole had married her late husband, Jeff, who hailed from Penrith, at the town’s St Katherine’s Church.
Carole writes near the beginning of her book: “I remember the first time I saw it (Penrith) in 1967.
“I stepped down from the London to Penrith train, with my new Penrithian fiance called Jeff Atkinson. I was 18 years old and had never been away from my family home, in north London, before.”
She continues: “I’ll never forget coming out of the station, looking round me, as we dragged our suitcases and saying: ‘What a lovely little village!’
“It seemed so old and quaint, just like some of the people going by, who kept staring at us. I didn’t realise, with my high heels, mini skirt and long dark hair, and Jeff with his bell bottom trousers and Carnaby Street coloured shirt, we looked different.
“It felt as if I had stepped back in time, to a place where time had stood still for centuries.” That feeling of “time standing still” is also evoked by the book itself. While the names above shop buildings have changed, their shape and size remain intact – 45 years on from the photographs being taken.
The book started life as an assignment which was given to her while she was training to be a teacher at Castleford as a mature student.
She chose to do a town trail of Penrith and made a promise to Gordon — the cousin-in-law who had helped her by taking the photographs — that one day she would get it published.
The book was given back to her by the college after she qualified to become a teacher in 1980, but was then put in a loft and forgotten about.
Carole and Jeff had two children, Mark and Samantha, before he died at the end of 1981, aged 36, after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.
“The book was left in the loft until COVID and then I found it. I couldn’t believe I found it. I thought it had gone forever.
“I was so pleased, because I had made a promise that I would get it published and I couldn’t find it.
“It was wonderful that I could, but it is a bit late I know,” said Carole.
Printed by Reeds, in Penrith, it contains a total of four mapped-out trails catering for all ages, including fun ideas youngsters.
In total, 500 books have been published and they can be purchased at Hedgehog Books, Beckside Books and Penrith Tourist Information.
The books are being distributed by Carole’s niece, Jill Stobbart, and her daughter, Donna, who works in Penrith. Jill was born in Penrith and lives at Brampton, near Carlisle, with her husband, Brian, who has a garage repair business.
After writing the book in Penrith, while staying with her in-laws, Carole qualified as a teacher in January, 1980, at the age of 30, with two young children.
“I went from teaching to starting my own nursery and tearoom business, specialising in herbs,” she said. “I won awards at the Great Yorkshire Show and others. I wrote various articles on herbs each month for a Yorkshire magazine called Down Your Way. Then, I was asked by Sky TV to appear on many of their gardening and cooking programmes, as a herb specialist. Also BBC, Channel 4, Discovery filmed my gardens. It was fun.
“Now, I am 74 years old and retired. I still have relatives and friends in Cumbria.
“I’m hoping my book will be of interest to Penrithians, who I know are always interested in their town and the buildings which are still there.
“My book shows 1978 people, how they dressed, their cars and what the buildings looked like then. It’s got four different trails, to suit all ages and levels of agility.
“It’s educational, because I’ve included, at the end, ideas about how it can be used in schools for young children and older students.”
She added: “I love history and Penrith, which holds happy memories for me.”
