Category: History (Page 3 of 20)

After a few hectic weeks in Liverpool, Bessy decided she needed some fresh air and a change of scenery so a trip away to the Lake District was arranged. Driver David wound his way through hours of nose to tail traffic on the M6, Navigator Juliet said “turn left” at Penrith and we headed towards the little known town of Maryport, looking out over the Irish channel towards the hills of South West Scotland.

Bessy settled down nicely on a grassy pitch overlooking the small Marina, nestled between other caravans and motorhomes of all shapes and sizes. Only thing that was different was that Bessy was minus a dog or two, which everyone else had. David and Juliet decided to explore……

Their first job was to rate the pubs/eateries within walking distance, so a relaxing chilled pint was downed firstly in the Lifeboat Inn before heading to the Captain Nelson pub, sadly all full of cobwebs and forlornly closed. Fortunately right next door was Maryport’s “award winning” Tandoori restaurant, so in they went! The menu selections, rated at a 2.5 out of 5, turned out to be an expensive and disappointing meal, not to be repeated, lesson learned! Not sure how they won any awards for all three dishes being the same colour, taste and mild strength so I’m guessing its 🏡 cooking from now on!

Not sure exactly what Maryport has going for it, apart from it being famous for being at the end of Hadrian’s Wall and it has a few Roman ruins otherwise its a small ex-fishing northern village with an awful Indian restaurant. However, sunsets are pretty, when the mist clears.

Day 1 – Another chilly misty day, while the rest of the UK is having a heatwave!!! David and Juliet left Bessy safely parked up and took a drive to nearby Keswick and one or two Lakes, firstly Bassenthwaite then down to Derwent Water. Bit of information for you…..Bassenthwaite is the only true Lake of the 16 lakes in the Lake District, the others are Waters or Meres.

We parked in Keswick and mooched about the town, perfect place if you are a hiker, mountaineerer, or fell walker – every other shop was aimed at the outdoor types, or food shops with the odd art gallery thrown in.

We walked down to Derwent Water, got ripped off buying a sausage roll, meat pie (for dinner) and a bottle of drink for £20 and that was to take away from the lakeside cafe!! We admired the quiet and calmness of the lake and imagined how chaotic it would be in the height of summer, madness I’m sure!

We noted how well cared for the whole town was, including the town’s park, it was bursting with colour, scent and activities.

We decided to take a different route home but also took a short detour off the main road to a viewpoint, and what a view! It was at the other end of Derwent Water to where we had been in Keswick and we could see Bassenthwaite in the distance.

We then took a loop back to the coast to look at Allonby beach, the only exciting thing we saw was an beautiful converted church with an unusual turreted clock tower. The day ended with another colourful sunset!

Allonby – a little bit of history.

Allonby originally started life centuries ago as a tiny community scattered around four farms but over many years it grew into a small fishing port, with the main catch being herring which were salted or smoked to preserve them for transport to market. In 1703 the Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as Quakers, converted a cottage in the village into a Meeting House and the Quakers became a large and influential section of the local community.

The Quaker’s influence created several larger properties in the village, a congregational chapel built in 1844, a Meeting House and the Reading Room built on what had been the site of a factory school with a large weaving room and tithe barn. Designed by a Quaker architect from Manchester and opened in 1862 the reading rooms and a library originally stood over an open Italian-style piazza where people could shelter from bad weather; eventually though the open colonnade was bricked in and the space converted into a billiard and games room. The reading rooms served the people of Allonby for more than a hundred years and at one point became home to a collection of natural history specimens. During WW2 they were used by the WVS (Womens Voluntary Services) for the preparation of camouflage netting for the armed forces, and during the 1951 Festival of Britain they served as the venue for a ‘Festival of Antiques’. Unfortunately usage had declined by the early 1970s and maintenance was a problem so the building was sold, with the proceeds being used to upgrade the village hall. The new owner was a local businessman who proposed to turn the building into a motorbike museum but his plans were turned down by the local authority and the place stood empty for thirty years. Gradually the building began to deteriorate and after a severe storm part of the roof collapsed, bringing the gable end down with it. Finally, in 2005 the local council agreed to a partial demolition and conversion to residential use, and after the work was hampered by delays and ever-increasing costs the new owners eventually took up residence in 2013.

And all this history in such a small village!!