EDEN is the most moving and meaningful of names, for it inspires many pleasurable thoughts.

According to Eye on Eden, the district council newsletter, “Eden is a great place to live.” The editor even suggests that the council can take some of the credit for the near-Utopia!

A more romantic view is that of Eden as a happy valley, a rolling rural landscape of meandering minor roads, drystone walls, thick hedges and secret streams, dotted with small villages and the occasional market town.

But that definition is topped by Cassell’s Dictionary with this superlative: “Eden is a region or abode of perfect bliss, a state of complete happiness.”

The naming of the far-flung district back in 1974, at the time of local government reorganisation, was truly inspired, capturing the ethos, appeal and wild beauty of the area in four letters.

There were other proposals for the title, such as Wordsworth Vale, Coleridge County, Peneden and Heraldshire, but the Department of the Environment preferred a simple, straightforward name.

At a joint meeting of the councils which were about to disappear, it was Mrs. M. Sowerby, a North Westmorland councillor from the village of Winton, who proposed Eden and her suggestion was accepted with acclaim.

Yes, Eden is “a great place to live”, a delectable land, rich in beauty and tranquility, where life continues much as it always has — regardless of the Government in power or the district council in command.

RANTING ABOUT REFEREES

Football referees are vital to the game, but they are more maligned and hated than ever before!

Players and spectators have always queried refereeing decisions but, on the evidence of recent televised matches, the reaction is much more venomous, with officials surrounded by clusters of angry footballers, while incensed managers scream in disbelief and fans rant, rave and yell, “Cheat”.

These wild protestations may make “good television”, with commentators’ views often adding to the abhorrence of luckless officials, who do not have the benefit of slow-motion replays of incidents which led to penalties or dismissals.

England “stars” are among the petulant offenders and, after one recent incident involving a Chelsea player who was disrespectful to the referee when he remonstrated with him for an ugly tackle, manager Fabio Capello “read the Riot Act” to the national team.

Sadly, the fierce confrontations with officials are seen as examples by young footballers. Long gone are the days when junior players addressed the referee as “Sir” and accepted his decisions without a murmur.

RABBITS, RABBITS

An article in the newsletter of Cumbria Family History Society sheds a new light on the Great War of 1914-18, recalling how many men in Eden sought exemption from military service, some for conscientious reasons and others because they were needed to run farms.

A tribunal which sat in judgement at Kirkby Stephen and Appleby, turned down many appeals by young men, who were told by Col. Mason, a member of the panel, “You are frightened to death to go, but once you get into the Army you won’t want to come home.”

But seen as a special case was the appeal of Robert Braithwaite, Sandford, Warcop — because he was a rabbit catcher!

It seems the Eden Valley had a serious problem with rabbits in 1917 — there were “hundreds of thousands” of them — and the Sandford man, as the only catcher between Appleby and Kirkby Stephen, was said to be “indispensable”.

The call-up of poachers had contributed to the vast number of rabbits, which “destroyed turnips and corn wholesale”. So Mr. Braithwaite was exempted from war service to do battle with the bunnies!

BREAKFAST TOAST

Rain was sloshing down, driven by a chilly wind. Not surprisingly, there was not a soul in sight — until a small figure emerged from the gloom, plodding gamely along the wet street with a heavy load.

The little hero — for hero he was to defy the downpour — was our teenage paper boy.

Like his senior partner in making doorstep deliveries, the postman, the paper lad cannot take a few days off or decide it is too stormy to turn out.

The news must go through while it is still “hot” and meaningful — and on Saturdays the bulk of Stars, Suns and Mails is boosted by weekly Heralds.

If you are still sipping breakfast tea while reading this piece, please raise your cups or beakers. The toast is: “The paper boys, whose smiling service we often take for granted”.