25 years ago – 1996
Glassonby
Members of two farming families on the East Fellside are attempting to reduce the number of road casualties among the local frog population.
The Hogarth family, Town End Farm, and the Rowleys, of Newrough, Glassonby, have spent a number of evenings patrolling the road leading into the village from Maughanby to pick up frogs heading to a nearby pond to spawn.
George Hogarth said: “The frogs head for a pond on Mr. Rowley’s land on warm, damp evenings, but scores are squashed by cars as they head up or down Maughanby Lane.”
Penrith
A group of schoolchildren will see the sights of the Republic of Ireland this summer – thanks to the generosity of a Penrith man.
When Penrithian John Stewart, known locally as Jack, died in February, aged 67, he left £20,000 of his estate to St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic School, Drovers Lane, Penrith, specifying that the the money be spent on providing holidays in Southern Ireland for pupils.
His sister, Mrs. Jean Mitchell, Warwick Place, Penrith, said: “He always liked Ireland and our grandmother had origins in Ireland.
He just thought it would be nice if the children had a holiday.”
Former Penrith professional Raj Hans returned to Tynefield Park on Saturday to almost single-handedly defeat his former colleagues.
Hans took six wickets and followed this up with a stylish unbeaten 80 as his new club, Vickers SC, romped to a seven-wicket victory on the opening day of the North Lancashire League season.
Penrith, asked to bat first, made a promising start as Ian Parker and Andrew Hall carefully, and then purposefully, accumulated an opening stand of 69.
Tebay
Residents of Tebay got their own doctors’ surgery this week with the opening of a new health centre in the village.
The new centre in Church Street, built by Lowis Brothers for the Upper Eden Medical Practice, is designed to offer residents a full range of facilities on their doorsteps rather than having to travel to Kirkby Stephen.
Practice manager Christine Wilkinson said: We have had a surgery in the past in Tebay but it has been in the Sunday school.
Now it is a purpose-built building and it should be a lot better for the patients.”
Skelton
Some of the biggest names in the fashion business are backing a new charity campaign launched by breast cancer survivor Pauline Hogg, from Skelton.
Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, actress Patsy Kensit and designers Bruce Oldfield, Betty Jackson, Anna Harvey and Farhi Alexandra Shulman have all put their names to the Fashion Target Breast Cancer Campaign.
It features specially designed T-shirts which will go on sale for the first time on Saturday.
Ravenstonedale
Upper Eden skier Angus Shedden, of Kendal Ski Club, gained overall victories in both slalom events and a giant slalom at the ESC Alpine Race Series, held last week in La Rosiere, France.
Angus, who is 20 and from Ravenstonedale, is currently a member of the England Alpine Squad and narrowly missed a clean sweep of both slaloms and both giant slaloms.
On hard and bumpy early morning snow, he failed to hold his line and skied out at the 25th gate on the second run of the second giant slalom.
50 years ago – 1971
Penrith
The 190 wide-eyed youngsters who formed the first intake at the brand-new Scaws Infants’ Church of England School at Penrith on Monday morning probably did not realise they were setting off a new era in education for Penrith and East Cumberland.
To them, the town’s first school to be run on the open-plan system was an exciting new place with dozens of things to try out.
Headmistress Miss Margaret Proud said: “Don’t take too much notice of what you see today.
“The children are experimenting with all the equipment.
“We will settle down to more of a pattern later on.”
Culgaith
Widely known through his work as a haulage contractor, and on account of his sporting activities, Mr. Gordon Armstrong Stamper, Harcla House, Culgaith, died suddenly on Wednesday evening, aged 47.
He was the youngest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stamper, Rose Bank, Culgaith, his father being formerly widely known as a farmer and as the owner for many years of the Culgaith brick and tile works.
Shap
Shap – the village that nearly died when the opening of the M.6 took away practically all of its motorist trade – received the “kiss of life” on Monday, with the opening of the Kendal “K” Shoes’ new £40,000 factory in the old Co-operative store.
The factory, which makes the uppers for women’s shoes and at the moment employs 30 women workers, will open up jobs for 50 women by 1972, when it expects an ouput of 7,500 pairs a week.
Set at 850 feet above sea level, it can lay claim to being the highest shoe factory in Britain.
Mallerstang
A proposal by the English Lakes Counties Travel Association for a “holiday bonanza” scheme for Mallerstang – with pony trekking water sports and chair lifts to the fells – was rejected at Friday’s meeting of Westmorland County Council in Kendal.
Mr. E. L. Hutchinson, Kaber, told the meeting that the people of the valley thought their district should retain its present attraction as “the wildest dale in England”.
He said a certain amount of integration was needed in the valley and the renovation of old properties was wanted – but not the imposition of a “bonanza”.
100 years ago – 1921
Penrith
The Speaker, Mr. J. W. Lowther, has announced to the House of Commons his desire to retire from the Chair after 35 years as a member for Mid Cumberland, 16 of them as Speaker.
Alston
Mr. T. Lancaster, Spency Croft, one of the district’s most noted farmers, has moved to his new estate at Ann’s Hill, Cockermouth.
On account of the railway restrictions, he had to engage a special train to convey his 61 animals.
150 years ago – 1871
Penrith
Census returns for Penrith showed that the number of people living in the town was 7,777, with 8,318 in the parish as a whole.
The number of town inhabitants in 1851 was 6,668 and by 1861 it had risen to 7,189.
