Last updated 11:53, Tuesday, 18 March 2008

From the Files

150 Years Ago

KESWICK: A pair of stockings said to have been the finest ever knitted by hand has been presented to Crosthwaite Museum at Keswick by Messrs Alexander Cruickshank and Sons, hosiers of Edinburgh.

They were knitted for his late Majesty, King George IV, and are beautiful specimens of the work of the women of the Shetland Islands. They took a woman upwards of a year to knit them, and cost the firm about seven pounds.

SIR, – Now that Mr Cameron has taken up the matter of the insanitary condition of the town, and the unsatisfactory manner in which the employees of the same do their duty, I trust something will be done to prevent it continuing in the same chronic condition.

Many of our sewerage arrangements are a perfect scandal to humanity and the filthy state of our streets cries aloud for vengeance. It is no uncommon thing in some of our most densely populated streets to find a dead cat for three or four days, knocking about to the immense gratification of the juvenile vagabonds living in the neighbourhood; not to speak of the number of rats pitched out after having undergone the process of worrying by some pet terrier to the gratification of adult vagabonds – Joseph Bowes.

125 Years Ago

DEAD DONKEY. It is often said that there is not one person in a thousand who has seen a dead donkey and we venture to say that never before did we hear of a dead donkey being buried twice.

The donkey which belonged to Mr William Malkinson, Gosforth, had strayed away and had got onto the moors above Gosforth known as Raismoor and there died. Mr Malkinson buried it where it fell but it appears that the owner objected to having Raismoor being made a burial ground and Mr Malkinson received notice to have it disinterred and removed. This seemed a rather serious business, as the dead animal had been buried nearly three weeks.

Mr Malkinson procured a quantity of disinfectant for outward application and the operation was performed without any serious difficulty and a second time interred. The event has caused quite a lot of gossip and on Tuesday, two gentlemen were so interested in seeing the two places of interment that they travelled all over Raismoor with no other object but that of finding the last resting place of the donkey.

100 Years Ago

A DEPUTATION representing the Civil Aviation Section of the London Chamber of Commerce has visited Carlisle in connection with a proposed landing ground near the city for aircraft.

The matter has been approached in view of the geographically important position of Carlisle, and also it is understood there is a likelihood of a Belfast-Glasgow-London air service being established.

75 Years Ago

THE question of whether Lowca was to have a fish and chip shop or whether the inhabitants were to have to walk to Parton for their suppers was discussed by Harrington Council. At the conclusion, an application to erect a hut for a fish and chip business on the Lowca recreation ground was refused.

A REPLICA of the Lourdes Grotto and a Calvary, built by the unemployed men of St Begh’s Parish, has been blessed by the Bishop of Lancaster, Dr T Watson. The structure was built from the stone removed from the church when the spire was demolished on safety grounds.

The blessing coincides with the 75th anniversary of the miraculous events which made Lourdes famous.

EGREMONT Parish Council is to make inquiries about the electricity supply at weekends.

It has been said that Sunday dinners have been ruined by the failure of the supply, and there was a suggestion that electric washers and cookers have been banned in some streets because the cables were already overloaded.

50 Years Ago

A NEW competition, which should commend itself to all villages in Cumberland, and which should stimulate village pride, is to be inaugurated this year by the Cumberland Council of Social Service. The objective is to encourage a general tidying up of villages and to discover the tidiest villages in the county.

THE West Cumberland Industrial Development Company has announced that it has let the factory at Hensingham, previously occupied by the Ivy Mill Co Ltd, to Messrs Smith Brothers, manufacturers of paper bags, waxed paper and food wrappings. The company has also let a factory at Salterbeck in Workington.

MIREHOUSE Pond, once a 10-acre colliery reservoir, is to get a new lease of life for coarse and trout fishing and will be open to local anglers. The owners, the National Coal Board, have agreed to the restocking of the water with £3,000 worth of young fish.

25 Years Ago

TWO burning issues at Moresby Parks brought residents out in force to discuss the future of the former Miners’ Welfare Hall, and the poor state of repair of the roadway at Back Lanes. A public meeting held at Moresby Sports and Social Club attracted more than 70 people and issues were discussed, heatedly at times, with Moresby Parish Council.

WHITEHAVEN enjoyed a seven-try romp over a youthful Batley side. Vince Gribbin, Steve Lane, Bob Mackie, Neil Frazer, Alan Thomson and Alan Banks (2) got Haven’s tries in the 27-5 win.

Meanwhile, football legend Bobby Charlton was in town to promote his ‘Masterclass Soccer School’ to be held in Whitehaven in May.