Recent Posts
Seathwaite riot
Seathwaite is a small hamlet in Borrowdale valley, in the Lake District (1991 population 152 people). It’s hard to imagine anywhere less likely to be a hotbed of violence, but Seathwaite has two dub... Read More
William Robinson Martindale & Port Carlisle
William Robinson Martindale isn’t buried at St Cuthbert’s, Carlisle, but he is ‘name-checked’ on a gravestone. Which is how I came to take a photo of the latter and write a blog piece on the f... Read More
Kendal town clock
Kendal town clock has told the time on the town hall since 1861. But it had a predecessor. By 1837, the previous town clock (with a wooden face) had been marking time for 70 years. It was atop the old... Read More
Abraham Greenhow Penrith postman
Abraham Greenhow: the man who delivered the mail. Continuing a look into the lives of just a few of the thousands of people buried at Beacon Edge Cemetery, Penrith: Abraham Jacques Greenhow was baptis... Read More
Jubilee time, in 1832
The Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was celebrated from June 2-5, 2022. In June 1832, there were jubilee celebrations of a different kind – they marked a move to make Parliamentary elections ... Read More
Wicked Jimmy’s ghost
Wicked Jimmy’s ghost : James Lowther, the first Earl of Lonsdale, was feared and hated in life. And like all heavy-duty villains, those feelings didn’t end when he died, aged 66, in 1802. His name... Read More
Jonathan Thompson quiet Penrith hero
Jonathan Thompson wasn’t perhaps not a hero in the sense of brave deeds (though he put himself in danger as a fire fighter). But he was well-regarded by his contemporaries and deserves to be remembe... Read More
May Day – ruined by the Puritans!
May Day celebrations have been more lamented than practised since the killjoy Puritans came on the scene, even if the village of Temple Sowerby still has a maypole (main image). Origins of May Day cel... Read More