Recent Posts
Twelfth Night – and twelfth cakes
Twelfth Night these days just means ‘time to take down the Christmas decorations’ – and a Shakespeare play – right? Well perhaps, but it used to mean a lot more. Twelfth cakes It is st... Read More
New Year traditions: ginger and coal
New Year traditions in today’s UK tend to go like this: people crowd into pubs/parties; drink too much; sing an obscure Scottish poem while linking arms; shout out the numbers 10 to one backwards; s... Read More
Christmas in Penrith – in 1853
‘Christmas in Penrith’ as an historical search left Cumbrian Characters rather spoiled for choice of material. The year 1853 is totally random – but as good as any other, perhaps. Charle... Read More
Joseph Timperon and his jilted love
Joseph Timperon broke poor Sally Simpson’s heart, in a tale that brings to mind the old song: O soldier, soldier, won’t you marry me, with your musket, fife and drum? Oh no, sweet maid, I cann... Read More
John Tweddle – unlucky in business and politics
John Tweddle, of Alston, may not have been born in Cumbria, but his story definitely qualifies him as a Cumbrian Character… Looking at some old postcards with a Cumbrian angle, I spotted one of ... Read More
Quack medicines and ‘miracle cures’
A further look at the discomforting world of Victorian ‘cures’ for illness In July 1863, a former Carlisle weaver named Thomas Hetherington was fined £5 by magistrates in Hartlepool for selling q... Read More
The Solway viaduct – a bridge too much for Port Carlisle
The Solway viaduct was an amazing concept – it was also the final nail in the coffin of Port Carlisle as a working port. The following is an extract from my book, Port Carlisle, a history built on... Read More
Armistice Day centenary
A post for Remembrance Sunday, with a reminder of a just a very few First World War Cumbrian casualties. The ever-poignant commemorations of Remembrance are upon us in the UK. As a child, it was seei... Read More