Robert Gate took me on a surprising journey when I looked into the history of a battered piece of luggage… The leather-coated wooden trunk I keep my jumpers in is a family heirloom. I was told i...Read More
The Mitre Inn (or Mitre Hotel), in King Street, Penrith, is now the The Lounge Hotel And Bar Mitre House. I thought I’d try to find something about its history. Not least because of the the 17th doo...Read More
Christopher Alderson is buried at Beacon Edge cemetery, Penrith, with his wife Isabella. In looking to find out something about them, he turned out to have a story of bravery in his past. The grave Ch...Read More
‘Dockray Hall in Penrith is being sold for £500,000…’ So read the story in the News and Star a few days ago. The pub: ‘comprises two bars, with separate, snug dining areas, all traditio...Read More
The grave of Joseph Dalton and his wife Ann Dalton stands out a little among the thousands in Beacon Edge Cemetery, above Penrith. The stone is black and there is a white, circular plaque inset at the...Read More
John Scott Brown was a ‘low-bred’ man with a chip on his shoulder. The violent assault he committed gives an idea of life in 1878. Cumbrian Characters usually tries to be impartial, not to judge p...Read More
The photos I took at Beacon Edge Cemetery, Penrith, last summer, were pretty random. Just a handful or so between the chapel and my great-great-grandparents’ (side-by-side) graves. Some of them turn...Read More
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
When I looked at the photos I’d taken of ‘random’ gravestones at Beacon Edge Cemetery, Penrith, the name ‘Thomas Lambert’ seemed familiar. A little digging, and I worked out why. Thomas Lamb...Read More
The gravestone of William Parkin and his wife Elizabeth has an anchor carved into it, above their names. Which suggests some maritime connection – despite Penrith being a long way from the sea. But ...Read More