• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    • All
    • The Raven
    North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust cares for 75 COVID-19 patients in hospital

    289 COVID-19 patients in north Cumbria’s hospitals

    Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

    Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

    1,500 laptops needed urgently to help educate Cumbria’s children

    1,500 laptops needed urgently to help educate Cumbria’s children

    Mother appears in court charged with child neglect

    Woman accused of causing pedestrian’s death by careless driving appears in court

    £800,000 cost of rural crime

    More than 100 people caught in drink and drug driving campaign

    Firefighters tackle Appleby flat blaze

    Cumbria’s firefighters praised for work during COVID-19 pandemic

    Bid to secure future of Penrith’s Coronation Garden

    Bid to secure future of Penrith’s Coronation Garden

    Coronavirus

    303 more coronavirus cases diagnosed in Cumbria

    County leaps to support of Cumbria police chief

  • Sport
    Keswick Mountain Festival challenges off-road cyclists with new gravel event

    Keswick Mountain Festival challenges off-road cyclists with new gravel event

    Penrith AFC bosses praise Grant Davidson as he clocks up more than 500 games

    Penrith AFC bosses praise Grant Davidson as he clocks up more than 500 games

    Carlisle United at top of table is exciting says Gavin Skelton – but vital for team to focus

    Carlisle United at top of table is exciting says Gavin Skelton – but vital for team to focus

    Penrith Angling Association wins £7,500 for beck pollution incident

    Fishing banned during lockdown

    Lakeland Rowing Club’s championship medals haul

    Lakeland Rowing Club’s championship medals haul

    Uncertainty looms as Penrith Rugby Club issues rallying cry

    Penrith’s festive fixtures kicked in touch by coronavirus

    Penrith AFC lose out on COVID Cup win

    Penrith AFC lose out on COVID Cup win

    Workington Reds win derby as Penrith AFC wait for league season ruling

    Workington Reds win derby as Penrith AFC wait for league season ruling

    Mark Donovan takes well earned break after Grand Tour debut

    Mark Donovan takes well earned break after Grand Tour debut

  • Farming
    • All
    • Red Shepherdess
    Red Shepherdess joins fight to save Newton Rigg College

    Red Shepherdess joins fight to save Newton Rigg College

    MP tells Parliament animal welfare is priority in trade deals

    MP tells Parliament animal welfare is priority in trade deals

    Online agricultural webinars to help industry thrive

    Online agricultural webinars to help industry thrive

    NFU president joins campaign to save Newton Rigg

    NFU president joins campaign to save Newton Rigg

    Cumbria YFC create video to support Newton Rigg

    Cumbria YFC create video to support Newton Rigg

    CLA director Dorothy Fairburn to retire

    CLA director Dorothy Fairburn to retire

    Optimism and record numbers at Kirkby Stephen mart

    Optimism and record numbers at Kirkby Stephen mart

    Veganuary? You’d be better going back to basics….

    Veganuary? You’d be better going back to basics….

    Penrith Angling Association wins £7,500 for beck pollution incident

    Local fishing allowed under lockdown rules

  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Recruitment
  • Photosales
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    • All
    • The Raven
    North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust cares for 75 COVID-19 patients in hospital

    289 COVID-19 patients in north Cumbria’s hospitals

    Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

    Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

    1,500 laptops needed urgently to help educate Cumbria’s children

    1,500 laptops needed urgently to help educate Cumbria’s children

    Mother appears in court charged with child neglect

    Woman accused of causing pedestrian’s death by careless driving appears in court

    £800,000 cost of rural crime

    More than 100 people caught in drink and drug driving campaign

    Firefighters tackle Appleby flat blaze

    Cumbria’s firefighters praised for work during COVID-19 pandemic

    Bid to secure future of Penrith’s Coronation Garden

    Bid to secure future of Penrith’s Coronation Garden

    Coronavirus

    303 more coronavirus cases diagnosed in Cumbria

    County leaps to support of Cumbria police chief

  • Sport
    Keswick Mountain Festival challenges off-road cyclists with new gravel event

    Keswick Mountain Festival challenges off-road cyclists with new gravel event

    Penrith AFC bosses praise Grant Davidson as he clocks up more than 500 games

    Penrith AFC bosses praise Grant Davidson as he clocks up more than 500 games

    Carlisle United at top of table is exciting says Gavin Skelton – but vital for team to focus

    Carlisle United at top of table is exciting says Gavin Skelton – but vital for team to focus

    Penrith Angling Association wins £7,500 for beck pollution incident

    Fishing banned during lockdown

    Lakeland Rowing Club’s championship medals haul

    Lakeland Rowing Club’s championship medals haul

    Uncertainty looms as Penrith Rugby Club issues rallying cry

    Penrith’s festive fixtures kicked in touch by coronavirus

    Penrith AFC lose out on COVID Cup win

    Penrith AFC lose out on COVID Cup win

    Workington Reds win derby as Penrith AFC wait for league season ruling

    Workington Reds win derby as Penrith AFC wait for league season ruling

    Mark Donovan takes well earned break after Grand Tour debut

    Mark Donovan takes well earned break after Grand Tour debut

  • Farming
    • All
    • Red Shepherdess
    Red Shepherdess joins fight to save Newton Rigg College

    Red Shepherdess joins fight to save Newton Rigg College

    MP tells Parliament animal welfare is priority in trade deals

    MP tells Parliament animal welfare is priority in trade deals

    Online agricultural webinars to help industry thrive

    Online agricultural webinars to help industry thrive

    NFU president joins campaign to save Newton Rigg

    NFU president joins campaign to save Newton Rigg

    Cumbria YFC create video to support Newton Rigg

    Cumbria YFC create video to support Newton Rigg

    CLA director Dorothy Fairburn to retire

    CLA director Dorothy Fairburn to retire

    Optimism and record numbers at Kirkby Stephen mart

    Optimism and record numbers at Kirkby Stephen mart

    Veganuary? You’d be better going back to basics….

    Veganuary? You’d be better going back to basics….

    Penrith Angling Association wins £7,500 for beck pollution incident

    Local fishing allowed under lockdown rules

  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Recruitment
  • Photosales
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home News The Raven

Looking back at the Raven

by CWH
3 December 2020
in The Raven
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The editor has asked me to pen a few lines about the way The Raven has evolved over the past fifty years, despite the fact that I have tried to tell him that I was ‘in charge’ for only 35 of those years – even though it sometimes feels longer!

I arrived in the parish in 1979 (nearly nine years after the first Raven).

There was a ring on the door-bell early one evening, and there was a smiling Joyce Kirk offering me a Raven, and very gently shaking a tin.

If it wasn’t this Raven, it was certainly the next edition which mentioned the family’s arrival, and it meant a lot to us.

We had been living in similar villages to Kirkoswald for several years and were beginning to work out how they functioned – this after nearly three decades of living in big towns and cities – but we hadn’t come across a village magazine before.

When looking at our entry in Out and About, we wondered for a second or two how we had made it thereto, then we realised that our milk was delivered by …. our next door neighbour!

Now, I am not one for always looking over my shoulder and declaring how good life used to be, but I do believe that the modern world is inevitably much less aware of what is going on in the day to day lives of other people.

Fifty years ago, there were rather more local shops and pubs in the parish than now, and probably an equal number of more itinerant folk who drove into the parish, providing more than useful goods and services.

As there was nearly always some personal contact between customers and providers, the grapevine was always kept well-watered.

One person’s good or not so good news was soon common knowledge, and, as often as not, made its way into the next Raven. I don’t think we ever felt the need in those days to ask people’s permission to include their news – it just seemed the right thing to do for a community which cared about everyone in it.

In fact, for quite a few years, there were no contact details included in The Raven. It was just assumed that everyone knew how to get in touch – and, mostly, they did (or, if they didn’t, well, they never grumbled to me!).

Of course, it was relatively easy for The Raven to keep well informed of what was going on in the parish, as, without wishing to sound a little parochial, there wasn’t that much actually happening.

Yes, there was the usual trickle of births, deaths and marriages, but not that many comings and goings. I can’t speak for Renwick, but I think that around thirty years ago, I could have named at least 80 per cent of the residents of Kirkoswald.

I did a quick calculation before typing the next line, and suspect that that figure for me is now nearer 25 per cent, and it is more than likely that the missing 75 per cent have never heard of me, I hasten to add!

So, how have the above mentioned changes in parish life impacted on The Raven? In a general sense, they haven’t in any negative way in that The Raven is possibly a more interesting and informative magazine nowadays, particularly so since it embraced modern technology and has started including illustrations – often in colour – to enhance the written word, but perhaps it has lost a little of ‘the personal touch’ given the increasingly busy and distanced (from the parish) lives many residents now live.

It’s called progress, and we have to accept it as there is not a lot that we can do about it.

Nigel Harbron, former editor of the Raven

Previous Post

10-year-old entrepreneur Lois Atkinson’s hug in a mug

Next Post

Kirkoswald Christmas tree

No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

County leaps to support of Cumbria police chief

21 January 2021
Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

Snow and ice warning issued for Cumbria

22 January 2021
Firefighters tackle Appleby flat blaze

Cumbria’s firefighters praised for work during COVID-19 pandemic

22 January 2021
Mother appears in court charged with child neglect

Woman accused of causing pedestrian’s death by careless driving appears in court

22 January 2021
Man who brandished two shotguns at birthday party told to expect jail term

Four women to stand trial for £500,000 fraud of Penrith-based haulage firm

21 January 2021
North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust cares for 75 COVID-19 patients in hospital

289 COVID-19 patients in north Cumbria’s hospitals

22 January 2021
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo
14 King Street
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7AH

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England no: 33217
VAT registration number: 256271948

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view
  • The Raven

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Recruitment
  • Photosales
  • Digital edition
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2020

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
IPSO Logo
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Sport
  • Farm and Countryside
    • Red Shepherdess
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Recruitment
  • The Raven
  • more
    • Photo sales
    • Subscribe
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald