IN his book, Historic Penrith, written in 1935, William Irving said: “It is hoped that, in spite of necessary changes, the Penrith of the future will still retain that charm and picturesqueness as a town which has always been its chief characteristic.”

Welcoming signs on some chief approaches still use the term “historic town”, but what of the “charm and picturesqueness” which journalist William found so appealing in 1935?

He wrote about Robinson’s school (now the town museum, in Middlegate), the old yards where Penrithians hid from the Highland army during the 1745 rebellion, of Thacka Beck, once the virtual lifeblood of the town, the King Street premises where John Wesley, the Methodist divine, once preached, and the town centre landmark, the Musgrave Monument clock.

All these features and many more are part of the history of Penrith and remain to this day, but “charm and picturesqueness” have declined somewhat, partly because genuinely local shops have been squeezed out by the competitive edge of supermarkets. The historian of 72 years ago could not have envisaged that vast shopping malls would displace the friendly shops of Pattinson and Winter, Pears and Elliott, Tom Smith, Robert Hunter, Ernest Dawson, Alex Gardiner and other grocers.

Family butchers also suffered in the trading revolution and gone, too, though for different reasons, are many of the old pubs. They also gave much character to Penrith, thanks to distinctive painted signs above doorways, mostly the work of local artist David Creighton.

Remember eye-catchers like the Blue Bell and the White Horse?

The sublime streets, which inspired William Irving to write of “charm and picturesqueness”, are now a mundane mish-mash, dominated by building societies, travel agents and takeaway food outlets, many with garish signs, plus some empty shops.

If current trends continue, despite massive development plans, how will writers describe “historic Penrith” 70 years from now?

NEW-STYLE “CAPPERS”

The original “Orton cappers”, a century or more ago, were monster mushrooms, heavyweight carrots and peculiarities of nature.

Villagers of Orton were keen to outshine neighbouring communities and their claims about size, weight and rarity, all reported in the Herald, became known as “cappers”. The following is typical:

“There can be seen in a garden at Orton the extraordinary number of nine cabbages growing from a single stem. It is the greatest curiosity of its kind ever seen in the neighbourhood.”

Pleasant Orton no longer makes claims about “cappers”, although some features certainly qualify!

For example, is there any other village, the length and breadth of the land, with a flourishing chocolates factory?

Kennedy’s Fine Chocolates, a small family firm, has been producing luscious handmade chocolates in the old school at Orton since 1991, the mouth-watering assortment now numbering more than 70, with truffles, cups and heart-shapes.

A village chocolates factory must surely rate as a “capper”.

Another one takes the form of a roadside sign, attached to the outer garden wall of a row of houses in the middle of the village.

The short simplicity of “No parking” is not sufficient in Orton, whose sign is much more positive and persuasive: “Don’t even think of parking here”.

Could an added deterrent, a short distance from the warning sign, be the village stocks — the old timber framework, with holes in which the ankles and wrists of petty offenders were once confined by way of punishment?

Yet another of Orton’s “cappers” in 2007!

VICTORY IN VERSE

A proud day in the sporting history of Shap was uniquely and amusingly memorialised by John Bayliffe, the village’s talented versifier.

In “Cricket Crack”, a work of 28 verses, John described how Shap’s cricketers of 1951 vanquished Penrith first team, thanks to a famous guest player, Australian spin bowler George Tribe.

From far and near the crowd poured in,

Not just to see if Shap could win,

But brought there by the magic name,

George Tribe, of Test and worldwide fame.

The Shap total of 100 proved to be well beyond Penrith’s batsmen, who were baffled by Tribe’s spinners and collapsed to 39 all out, the Aussie taking six wickets for 15.

John Bayliffe’s verses recorded the swift downfall of the Penrith bats — Harold Millican, Ken Watson, Frank Davidson, Mike Burrow, Peter Reynolds, Horace Tabberer, Ernie Dalton, Bill Lewis, Peter Sarjeant, Terry Mullen and Arthur Hillman.

Alongside Tribe in Shap’s team were the Rev. H. W. Mycroft and Geoffrey Harker (both from Kirkby Stephen) and local players Eric Lowis, Tom Gates, Charlie Prentice, Bert Newton and Dr. J. A. Judson.

The final verse paid this tribute to George Tribe:

If we should ever get the chance,

We’ll go to see more batsmen dance.

For very many hearts in Shap

Admire and love this canny chap.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

The eye-catching sticker, displayed in the rear window of a car being followed along a Penrith street, suggested the driver is a caring individual who wants to see the town flourish.

The message was short and simple: “Think local, buy local, act local.”

Many of us share the view without pronouncing it so publicly.