‘With hey, ho, the wind and the rain; … For the rain it raineth every day.’ I think there may have been one (fully) dry day so far in 2026 (writing this on February 15), but I couldn’t tell yo...Read More
Richard III counts as a ‘Cumbrian Character’ because for a time when he was Duke of Gloucester, ‘the north’ was his power base. Richard was, for a while, Constable of Carlisle Castle and Warde...Read More
In my post on the Inglewood Rifles I finished with a section called Last of the volunteers. That reported that by 1926, only four of the original volunteer riflemen had died. And that the last of them...Read More
Thomas Gibson Cant, a Penrith solicitor with strong convictions about Justice, stood up for ‘the ordinary man’ against Penrith police. Part one of his story can be read in this post, but it ...Read More
Debauchery in Penrith is part 1 of a series on a local Victorian solicitor, but also the story of a young woman shabbily treated by her boyfriend. Thomas Gibson Cant Thomas Gibson Cant, a Penrith soli...Read More
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