Saturday 27 September 2014

Skinburness - 2

`The impressive Skinburness Hotel was built, in 1887, by Edwin Hodge Banks of Wigton where his family owned a small cotton mill. It stands on the site of an old pub - The Dukes Head.
The hotel's original interior
Banks also built Chichester House where he enjoyed the lifestyle of a wealthy country gentlemen, keeping his 30-foot steam yacht, the 'Neptune', moored nearby. He was declared bankrupt in 1889 and vanished from the area.
It then became home to the Carter-Woods family. Their son, Joey, was a talented artist; he was killed in World War I. Their daughter, Florence, moved to Newlyn in Cornwall to join her brother in the artists' colony there. 

She met and married A.J. Munnings, famous for his horse paintings. It was an unhappy marriage and Florence committed suicide in 1914. The story is told in the novel “Summer in February” by Jonathan Swift which was made into a movie in 2013.

During Word War II, The Towers was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and became a billet for airmen. It then became an hotel known as 'The Towers' and is now an old people's home.

The Skinburness Hotel has passed through many hands. It was run by the government, as part of the Carlisle State Management Scheme between 1916 and 1971. 
After this period, it never really regained its original glory. The last owners were Adrian and Vanessa Moore, a couple from the North-East. They concentrated on the coach party trade and re-opened the ballroom. However, the venture was unsuccessful and the Moores, like H.E. Banks before them, were declared bankrupt. Their total debts amounted to over £1.2 million.
The hotel in September, 2014
(Picture by Gordon Akitt)

The hotel closed in 2006. A proposal to demolish it and build a "retirement village" on the site was rejected, after fierce local opposition. It now stands derelict, all the fittings having been removed.

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Skinburness - 1

The village, around 1920
 Skinburness lies about a mile (1.5Km) north of Silloth. The original village has been extended by an area of modern housing and is a popular spot for retirement.
Before the harbours at Silloth and Port Carlisle were built, it was an important anchorage for ships. Goods were landed there to be taken by horse and cart to Carlisle or transferred to smaller boats for a journey up the River Eden to the city.

It became a naval base during the time of Edward I’s campaigns against Scotland. In 1300, Edward ordered 27 ships from the Cinque Ports, on the south coast of England, to assemble there. They were joined by others from Ireland, Whitehaven, Allonby and many other ports in England. The king established English garrisons in Dumfries and Lochmaben on the Scottish side of the Solway. All their supplies were shipped through Skinburness.
In 1301, Edward granted a Royal Charter to the Abbot of Holm Cultram to hold a weekly market in Skinburness with a fair to be held for fifteen days during June. It had a very short life. The winter of 1305/6 must have been a stormy one. In March 1306, the King received a petition from the Abbot to move the market as “a great part of the road leading to the borough, and much of the borough itself, by divers invasions and storms were wasted and that the inlets of the sea were become so deep that people could not resort hither or inhabit the place as before”. The Abbot was granted leave to move the market to ‘Kirkby Joan’ which some writers identify as Newton Arlosh.

Local historian, Dennis Perriham, has recently suggested that it was after this disaster that the monks of Holm Cultram began construction of the Sea Dyke which ran right around the coast to Dubmill. Today, the dyke, seen below, still protects the village from high tides.
After the excitement of the fourteenth century, Skinburness became again a quiet fishing village although ships were still being beached there for unloading in the mid 1800s.

One of the most interesting buildings in the village is the Longhouse which stands directly above the shingle beach where the boats would come ashore. It may have been built, around 1770, as a base for fishing boats and for salting and preserving the catch.
It was supposed to be the model for Joe Crakenthorpe’s tavern in “Redgauntlet”by Sir Walter Scott. In the novel, it is here that Bonnie Prince Charlie bids farewell to his supporters before boarding the ship which will take him into exile.
The prince's departure. From a 19th century edition
of 'Redgauntlet'

The building has had a chequered history. In the late 1700s it was home to a pub, known as The Greyhound. By 1900, it was a private hotel.
Guests at the Longhouse hotel, 1920s
The hotel's proprietor cashed-in on the literary connection and issued these souvenir postcards for visitors.
The Longhouse also seems to have been the base for a regular ferry service over the Solway to Scotland. This was operated by a relative of Lucy Carrick who was landlady of The Greyhound Inn.
Today it has been converted to attractive private residences.


Monday 22 September 2014

Greenrow Academy - 1

Greenrow Academy was founded in 1780 by John Drape. It stood between Bliterlees and Silloth on the site of what is now Stanwix Holiday Village. John Drape came from the West Cumberland port of Whitehaven, where his father, another John, ran a Mathematical School, publishing two books on the subject during the mid 1700s.
John Drape died in 1795 and was succeeded as headmaster by Joseph Saul, a member of a prominent local Quaker family. He ran the school for almost fifty years during which time it attracted pupils from all parts of the British Isles and some from overseas. It is said that, by 1811, there were 135 boys on the register.
A pupil's sketch of the school's interior
(Carlisle Library collection)
A wide range of subjects were taught, these included: English, Latin, Greek, French and Spanish as well as Drawing, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Navigation, Geography, Scripture and Astronomy. The fees were 25 guineas per year.

Joseph Saul died in 1842. His memorial, in Holm Cultram Church, says ‘he imparted to thousands the benefits of a sound education and set before them a constant example of equanimity, integrity and love of truth’.
Joseph Saul from his memorial
Following Joseph Saul’s death, the school was taken over by his son, John. When John died, in 1853, Isaac Drape, a grandson of the founder, became headmaster.

During Isaac Drape’s headship, the boys were taught drawing by Matthew Ellis Nutter (1795-1862), an artist of some note. He came from Carlisle where, for many years, he lectured at the Academy of Art. In later life, he suffered from ill health and had retired to the coast on the advice of his doctor. Many of his paintings can be seen at the Tullie House Galleries in his home town.

Isaac Drape died in December, 1870. On June 9 1871, the Carlisle Journal contained a large advertisement for the academy’s ‘Closing Down Sale’; the entire contents were to be sold by auction on the premises. They included “35 excellent feather beds, 40 wood and iron bedsteads, a number of chemical, astronomical and other scientific apparatus, school desks, maps, globes, kitchen requisites, a pony gig and harness, brass stair rods, a combined washing, wringing and mangling machine, sacks of oats and a quantity of poultry.”

The school building then stood empty for seventeen years. In 1888, it was being used as accommodation for the ‘Carlisle Poor Children’s Holiday’ a venture sponsored by a number of philanthropic citizens of that city. A market garden and nursery were established in the grounds.
On August 31st 1888, the buildings and land were offered for sale by auction in The Queens Hotel, Silloth. They were purchased for £2,190 by Joseph Wood, the proprietor of Wood’s Bazaar on Silloth sea front who continued to live there until his death in 1932. The house was then converted into cottages and was finally demolished in the 1960s to make way for a car park and the Sunset Inn.


Greenrow Academy - 2

Some of the academy's 'Old Boys'
John Francis Ure
 One famous graduate of the Academy was John Francis Ure (1820-1883). Ure started work, aged 15, in the Glasgow marine engineering works of Robert Napier. He later became chief assistant to Andrew Thompson, a leading civil engineer.

After a spell at Glasgow University, he was appointed resident engineer to the Clyde Navigation and Harbour Corporation in 1852. Six years later, he became chief engineer on the Tyne where he carried out major improvements to the docks. Ure then became a senior partner in the Govan shipbuilders, John Elder and Co, where he oversaw the building of the Fairfield Yard.
Robley Dunglinson
Another pupil who distinguished himself was Robley Dunglinson (1798-1869). He went on to the Royal College of Surgeons, attended lectures in Edinburgh and Paris and obtained his M.D. from Erlangen in 1823. He later became Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia. 

He was both a friend and attending physician to Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, and had two sons who also became doctors.


Paul Bahnsen Lorck (1790-1841) attended Greenrow Academy between 1806 and 1807. He came from Trondheim in Norway. His family had a long tradition in trade, and built a successful financial empire. His father, Christian Andersen Lorck, donated 1,000 riksdaler to the new Norwegian university in Oslo. At that time, Norway was under Danish rule, and Norwegians wanting to pursue an academic career, mostly went to Copenhagen. A businessman, Christian probably did not nurture academic ambitions for his son. Why he chose to send him to Greenrow is not known. It is possible his family traded with the West Cumbrian port of Whitehaven which had an extensive timber trade with Norway and the Baltic ports at that time. The Drape family ran a ‘mathematical school’ there in the 1770s before moving to Greenrow.

In later life, Paul Lorck worked in his father's business. His descendant, Frederik Goplen, holds a collection of his manuscripts which includes these marvellous examples of school exercise books from his years at Greenrow.
William Taylor (1828-1844) attended Greenrow between 1841 and his untimely death there from consumption at the age of 18. He had spent some years at a school in Germany but returned to Greenrow when his health deteriorated. He was attended by Dr William Saul, surgeon, of Abbeytown – Joseph Saul’s son. William Taylor’s family came from Stranraer and were important people in the town where they were Inn owners, military men, and magistrates. William’s mother had 15 children between 1823 and 1849! (Thanks to Peter Robson for this information).
Michael Coupland (1788 – 1860) came from Kendal. He painted this charming view of the academy during his time as a pupil there.
He left in August, 1816 and Joseph Saul provided him with a testimonial in his own hand. The headmaster said he was “sober, well-disposed man” and that he “conducted himself with great propriety and made very considerable progress in the different branches of his education”.
(Information and pictures from Vicki Harding in New Zealand)



Thursday 18 September 2014

Silloth - the early 20th Century

At the start of the century, in the Edwardian era, Silloth was still being promoted as a health resort for the well-to-do.

Criffel Street in the very early 1900s
Martin’s guide book for the period proudly claimed “the amount of Ozone found in the atmosphere is much greater than at any other place in the British Isles. . . this, combined with the almost complete absence of fog, renders Silloth a particularly desirable place for invalids.”


Fresh air, long walks and sea bathing were the town’s main attractions. Already, Silloth may have seemed a little old-fashioned. Blackpool tower had opened 1894. Despite its limited range of facilities, the town could attract large crowds at times during ‘the season’. At other times, the streets were pretty deserted.


A notable feature of photographs from these years is just how well-dressed the visitors are. There isn't a working man in sight! Formal dress was even worn on the beach.

The main entertainment for visitors to the town was provided by a troop of Pierrots who performed, on the green, in an area known as 'Happy Valley'. This view of the Pierrots on stage is taken from a glass negative and must date from around 1910.
David Fuller with his 'Merry Men and Maids'
The First World War took a heavy toll in the lives of local men; many more were injured. The conflict, however, had little real effect on local life. Visitors arrived in large numbers and the Pierrots continued to perform every summer.
After the war, the character of the town and its visitors changed completely. The middle classes deserted Silloth for more fashionable resorts in the South of England and on the continent.

Silloth was forced to re-invent itself. It started to do what it still does today - providing a great day out or a cheap holiday for the working man and his family.
At Bank Holiday weekends and during Carlisle Race Week, vast numbers of day-trippers arrived by rail. Visitors who stayed longer mostly boarded with local families many of whom let rooms in their homes.
Boating trips were very popular with these trippers. The local fishermen hired out their boats for trips on The Solway. In the picture, the three boats (left to right) are the 'Venettia', the 'Trip' and the 'Foam'. All three belonged to the Baxter family who also built the landing stage.

Click on Play in the video frame below to enjoy a trip over the Solway to Annan, filmed in 1939.





Bathing was always popular and dress on the beach became much less formal. It was in these years that Silloth's most fondly remembered attraction first appeared - the donkeys!
This picture was taken in 1934. 'Donkey' Gray, the proprietor,
is standing on the right.
 During the 1920s, the area of the green known as Happy Valley, where the Pierrots used to perform, was converted into a theatre - The Silloth Pavilion. The natural hillside was covered with tiered seating.
Charles Beanland and his 'Silloth Follies' (above) took to the stage every night during the summer season with extra matinees at 11am and 3pm, if wet! The Pavilion was demolished in the early 1950s.
By the 1930s, the cheap day-trips on the railway had become even more popular. The scene above shows Carlisle Station on Whit Monday, 1933. The crowds are waiting for the Silloth train!

Click on 'Play' in the video frame below to watch them arriving at Silloth and taking a trip to the docks where they watch the hydraulic coal hoist in operation and see the 'Asseroe' setting sail for the Isle of Man and Dublin.



In 1938, work began on building a large RAF airfield just outside the town. Throughout the Second World War it was used as a training base for bomber crews. A large Maintenance Unit (22MU) was also located there. Here a civilian work-force fitted armaments, radios and navigation equipment to planes which were then flown south to the operational bases.
After the war, the airfield was sold-off and became the site for many new industries and the Lido holiday village.

Lack of any maintenance during the war years had left Silloth's sea defences in a dangerous state. Many of the pine trees and been washed away and the green was frequently flooded.
In late 1949, work began on a new sea wall and promenade which was completed in late 1950 and officially opened in June 1951.
August 1949
May 1950
June 1950
September 1950
Silloth baths had closed shortly after the First World War. In the 1920s, the building was converted into a tea room. By the 1950s, it had become what is still the town's most popular all-weather attraction - The Amusements.
The West Beach, with its refreshments huts, remained the most popular place for families and picnics. A new attraction was the paddling pool on the green.

CLICK ON ANY OF THE PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW