25 years ago
Shap
A storm of protest has greeted news that the infamous Wildriggs plant could be relocated to a site near Shap.
In their search for a potential new location for the problem plant, Eden Council have said that a site in the vicinity of junction 39 of the M6, near the village, as worthy of further investigation.
However, the news provoked angry words of protest from villagers and business proprietors in Shap. Mrs. Val Dobson, who owns the Greyhound Hotel, Shap, called the idea “disgusting”, adding: “Can you imagine coming up the motorway to Cumbria and the first thing you get is that awful smell?”
Penrith
Work to make Penrith’s Castle Drive access only begins this week.
Traffic will be prevented from turning into Castle Drive from Ullswater Road, unless dropping off or collecting children from the grammar school.
County highways area traffic manager John Slee said: “Access only means people will still be able to visit residents who live on Castle Drive, but motorists will no longer be allowed to use the road simply as a through route.”
The first official day of business in the newly-refurbished Penrith Magistrates’ Court had to be put on ice.
The doors were due to reopen after a closure of four months, during which £158,000 had been spent on improvements, but the court session was cancelled because of the weather.
While the Penrith court has been closed magistrates have been holding sessions at Appleby.
Eden
Rural dwellers in Eden look set to be better off financially this year after a change in financial arrangements by the district council.
Members of the council’s policy and resources committee agreed on Thursday to categorise some items parishes charge for as special expenses, in particular very local services.
It means these items are added to the council tax only in the area which the item is charged for, so many rural parishes could save up to £5 on their council tax.
Keswick
Snow closed schools in the Keswick area and police had to bring in a four-wheel drive vehicle to cope with the conditions. Keswick School had to reopen one of its former boarding houses to provide beds for 40 pupils from West Cumbria who were unable to get home.
A spokesman for the school said the pupils who stayed overnight were able to get home on Tuesday afternoon.
Keswick School has hit the National Lottery jackpot with an award of £516,000 towards the cost of a new sports hall for school and community use.
The hall, costing £794,000, will be big enough to accommodate four badminton courts and it will be available for use by the whole community for a variety of events.
50 years ago – 1971
Penrith
A structural weakness in the beams supporting the gallery at the west end of St. Andrew’s Church, Penrith, has led to the decision to close the main entrance of the church.
This was advised by a structural engineer after an examination this week and the Vicar, Canon H. C. Stewart, has posted notices asking people to use the side entrance.
Weaknesses have been found in the wooden pillars which are mounted on top of stone columns and which rise from side galleries to support the roof.
Penrith’s Regent Cinema, now the town’s only picture house since the Alhambra in Middlegate became a full-time bingo hall, reopened this week after a face-lift costing over £10,000.
Evidence of the re-decoration and re-construction work can be seen both outside and inside the Regent, which stands in Old London Road. The canopy — thought to be quite a luxury in the 1930s when the cinema was built — has disappeared and the facade has been repainted.
Eden Valley
Britain goes one step further into the decimal age next week with traders and bankers in the Eden Valley well prepared to assist any members of the public in doubt as to how to use the new coinage.
Banks in the area are to have special inquiry departments for customers experiencing initial problems in making out their cheques, while shopkeepers and staffs have had the benefit of films and talks on decimalisation to ensure their dealings are as swift and accurate as possible.
One Penrith shopkeeper, Mr. J. J. Varty, said: “I am sure traders will explain the workings of the system to anyone who is confused and there is nothing for shoppers to be frightened about.”
Appleby
Veteran agriculturist, Local Government stalwart of years gone by and a Freeman of the Borough of Appleby, Mr. Arthur Edworth Parkin Slack, Wemyss House, Boroughate, Appleby, has died, following an illness of some months. He was 81.
Mr. Slack served as a member of Appleby Borough Council for almost 38 years, during which time he was twice Mayor and an alderman for 19 years. He was chairman of the Appleby branch of the National Farmers’ Union for 19 years.
100 years ago – 1921
Melmerby
A small paragraph announced the fact that a pedlar, Collingwood Cooper, had been found dead in a shed on Milestone House Farm, Melmerby.
It might have been assumed that he was friendless and unknown, but that is not the case.
Whoever he was he was a man out of the ordinary who will be remembered by Cumbrians for many years to come.
Lord Lonsdale never passed him on the road without having a chat and giving him a piece of silver, and he was such a fluent and interesting talker that it was not unusual for farmers to sit up until midnight listening to his conversation.
Cooper could quote scripture like a Puritan divine and was also something of a poet, and, despite appearances, he was always civil.
Lazonby
Major Sir Gordon Ley, Lord of the Manor of Kirkoswald and Lazonby, intends to take up residence of his newly-purchased Lazonby Hall, for many years the home of the Macleans.
