Britain's nicest library?

The lending library inside Boot mill

 IS this the nicest lending library in Britain? It most certainly is!* It is located in a restored mill in the village of Boot in the valley of Eskdale on the western edge of the Lake District. And, if you'll forgive the pun, it's a library that certainly isn't run of the mill.


The best way to get to it is to drive to Ravenglass, then catch the 'Ratty' steam train to Dalegarth. Stop for their famous Cumberland sausage, egg and chips - then walk the quarter of a mile to Boot. At the end of Boot, you'll find the mill - probably with Dave King the miller sitting outside and Stanley the cat 'on guard' by the mill entrance. Inside you can enjoy a tour of the old mill and buy any number of items from ice creams to antiques dug up locally. And don't worry if Dave's not around - you'll find an honesty pot on the counter (it would be inconceivable that any money would be taken from the pot). The library has a hundred or so books and are borrowed by the 200 villagers or the tourists staying at the campsite down the road. 

Boot Mill, Eskdale

Originally, the mill was owned by the county council and was an 'official' library. But when the council sold the mill to a Trust, the new miller - Dave King - decided to keep the library going. He collects the out-of-date or remaindered library books from Whitehaven library and puts them in his mill. You can borrow them for as long as you like. I'd recommend sitting in the mill garden or by the river to read a good book on a summer's afternoon. To be honest, it's never very clear where the mill building ends and the surrounding mill garden starts. The two wonderfully merge into each other. If only every building was like that. I've been in the mill photographing before and seen a variety of wildlife wander in and out. 

Dave King in his 'office' at Boot mill

Libraries keep trying to reinvent themselves and coming up with digital this and digital that. If they only followed the example of Boot library, I'm sure they'd have no shortage of families visiting and hanging around for hours on end.


* Unless of course you know differently. If you know of a 'curious' library that's different from the crowd then please let me know.

History Boys proves top class

The History Boys at Keswick Theatre (March  24 to April 21 2012)
Review by Alan Cleaver

Peter Rylands as Hector

IT must be frustrating for all concerned when Keswick Theatre schedule a play for a four-week run - but on the first night realise it's such an obvious smash hit that they should have left it running all summer!


So grab a ticket quick. History Boys is only at Keswick until April 21 and if you don't book quickly you'll miss out on a real treat.


The Alan Bennett play is directed by Ian Forrest and stars Peter Rylands as Hector the inspirational teacher  clashing with the grammar school's headmaster, a new teacher and changing times. Peter falls easily into the role, having played Alan Bennett in Keswick's production of Lady in the Van. At times he slips into 'Alan Bennett' mode but that's no bad thing. Bennett's dry humour is brought to life by Rylands and the rest of the cast as Hector's view on the world and his teaching methods is contrasted with a modern desire of headmaster (Robert Pickavance) to get the History Boys of the title into Oxford or Cambridge. Helping them is another Keswick favourite, Kieran Buckeridge, playing new graduate teacher, Irwin.


The boys - an elite class of eight students - pull off a show-stopping performance all of their own. A variety of antics, songs and dances are used to great effect adding to the warmth and charm of this production. And while all perform superbly, Meilir Rhys Williams has to be singled out for his delightful solo performances. It would aslo be remiss not to mention Mitchell Hunt for his electrifying portrayal of cock-sure Dakin. Oh dear, now I feel I should name them all as all the performances are top notch - so here's the rest: Jack Brown, Andy Daniel, Phil Duguid-McQuillan, Greg Herst, Freddie Rogers and Phil Adele.


It is the boys that the audience are cheering on, but it's Hector who is the jewel in this show. Rylands is following in the footsteps of Richard Griffiths' award-winning portrayal in the play and later film of The History Boys but Rylands makes this his own. Inspirational teachers have become something of a cliche in the world of the arts and yet Rylands wows us all once more with a warm and sincere performance. It is, of course, a vehicle for Alan Bennett to show off his literary knowledge and his humour but director Ian Forrest ensures this is a visual feast as well as a mental one. 


The show's only woman - Mrs Lintott played by Maria Gough - is a breath of fresh air and Robert Pickavance as the headmaster is the loveable villain of the piece.


This is a terrific night's entertainment but you'll need to be quick to get a ticket.


Box Office is 017687 74411. Be aware there is strong language in this play.

Knives In Hens

Knives In Hens
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, 
February 3 to February 18.

HelenMacfarlane in Knives In Hens

THEATRE serves several purposes. Primarly we hope it entertains. But if it makes us think as well that's no bad thing. Keswick Theatre tends to put its more challenging theatre in the smaller-sized auditorium of The Studio. Which, sadly, probably tells us all we need to know about ourselves and our current TV diet of easily digestible drama. 


It's also a pity because we miss out on remarkable and thought-provoking plays such as Knives In Hens. Contemporary Scottish playwright David Harrower. He wrote it in 1995 from a sense of rage at the irrelevant work he saw being put on the stage at that time - and anger at having been told "what makes a good play"! Knives In Hens certainly tears up all the rule books - and there's more than a dash of anger as the three characters interact on a minimal but atmospheric stage.


The setting is simply described as 'rural' and at first you think it might be medieval Britain or perhaps some middle European country. But it could equally be set in the future or on another world. It doesn't matter. What Harrower does - and director Jez Pike expands on this brilliantly - is put the  trio  in a setting which makes you think more carefully about how they are behaving and what they have to say.


Their language is staccato but accessible and the simple love-triangle plot allows Harrower to concentrate on more important things. Actors Helen MacFarlance, Adam O'Brian and Liam Smith give a faultless performance squeezing every last nuance from the sizzling script. They're helped by the imaginative set designed by Thomasin Marshall. This is a play which makes you say a small prayer of thanks for the gift of theatre. 


The idea that without drama like this we might have to stay at home and watch Big Brother, Dancing on Ice or Loose Women all the time is just too horrible to contemplate. 


Knives in Hens runs at Keswick Theatre until February 18. Box Office: 017687 74411. www.theatrebythelake.co.uk

The hare-fairy of Carlisle

I promised the fairy enthusiasts on the Fairy Folklore of the UK and Cumbrian Folklore Facebook groups that I would report back on the reference I had found to a hare-fairy being caught in Carlisle. The huge tome of The Saturday Review (Vol 94) for 1902 has now arrived from America and here is the full extract (the whole article on Lakeland fairies and boggles runs to about a thousand words.


The hare-fairy reference comes at the end when the unnamed author is talking about a Mr Cowper and a Mrs Hodgson who have collected fairy stories. I've come across these before - both local historians at about the turn of the 20th century. Mrs Hodgson contributed an article on "Surviving Fairies" to the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society in 1901. Sadly I know nothing more about her (let me know if you do!) but I'll investigate further and see if her papers are kept in the Cumbria Archives. 


The author mentions the witch that turned into a hare at Outgate near Ambleside (a famous legend) and then goes on to say...


...but Mrs Hodgson has caught a real live hare-fairy still haunting the neighbourhood of Carlisle. "There was a fairy that looked like a hare. It was  a real fairy, but a man caught it for a hare, and put it in a bag and thought he would have a nice Sunday dinner. While it was in the bag it saw its father outside, and he called to it, 'Pork, pork'! (query, Puck, the Icelandic puki?) and it cried out 'Let me go to Daddy'! Then the man was angry and said 'Thoo ga to thy Daddy'! and it went away to its Daddy; and he was very much disappointed at not getting his Sunday dinner.


I assume when the writer says Mrs Hodgson has 'caught' a real live hare-fairy, he is meaning that she has tracked down a still current hare-fairy legend. 


The rest of the article refers to other well-known Lake District legends (the phantom army on Souther Fell - though the author says there is also one on Helvellyn, need-fires and the Armboth boggle legend. The Saturday Review was evidently a weekly 'magazine' looking in-depth at a variety of subjects.


This is another delightful fairy legend - I keep a map locating other fairy legends in Cumbria so take a look at let me know of any I have missed!

Let there be light...

Queen Street Square, Whitehaven

AT the start of February the two street lights at the back of my house went out plunging Queen Street Square into darkness. Ten months and countless phone calls, emails and letters later, the lights have at last been fixed.*


I'd like to thank...

• Sheila on the county council streetlight 'hotline'; 
• The four council workmen who came to look at them
• County engineer Mike who finally found out they didn't own the lights. He suggested they belonged to Home Group and even rang them to let them know the lights were out of order (May 5).
• The receptionist at Home Group, Copeland who took delivery of my hand-delivered letter about the lights (although I never had a reply)
• Home Group's Freedom of Information officer who received my FoI request - but did nothing about it
• Steve from the Information Commission who let me know Home Group aren't answerable to FoI requests
• MP Jamie Reed (although he never replied to my letter)
• Kathryn from Home Group who said she would investigate whether they owned the lights and would let me know by Friday (Sept 30). I still haven't had a report back.
• Home Group chief exec Mark who finally gave his staff the kick up the arse they needed.
• His secretary for letting me know what was happening
• Sincere thanks to Home Group Customer Care manager Lorraine who really pulled all the stops out to resolve this problem
• The three workmen who came to find out what was wrong with the lights
• The two workmen who, on December 6, came round and changed the light bulbs.

How many people does it take to change a light bulb? 20. 


Final thoughts...


This 'problem' will happen again and again unless organisations which own street lights are encouraged (required) to put their phone number of the lights (Something like "Faulty? Phone 0800...")


Home Group and councils need to be 'answerable' to someone. Unless they are fined for not doing their job they really can get away with doing nothing for months.


* Two days later, one of the lights broke again!

Review: The Firework Maker's Daughter, Keswick Theatre
By Alan Cleaver

From L to R Front Row Declan Wilson, Joanna Holden, Phil Corbitt
 Back Row Matt Nalton

PHILIP Pullman's story, The Firework Maker's Daughter, has been brought to the stage at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake for their Christmas season. And it's a show all members of the family will enjoy.


This really is a show with everything: laughter, drama, colour, music, a great story and - rather amazingly - a firework show re-created inside the theatre.


Director Stefan Escreet and set/costume designer Martin Johns have kept to a few simple set and ingenious theatrical tricks rather than complicated electronics to bring this magical tale to life. A few wooden poles are used to evoke a mountain and the minimal number of stage props conjure up a raging river. It's only in the firreworks that the skills of the lighting department (led by Andrew J Linday) are called upon. But even here, there are simple 'tricks' used to bring about everything from a single fire cracker to a fullscale firework display.


The tale itself revolves around Lila (Vera Chock) setting out to discover the final secret of making fireworks so she can win the firework competition and save the life of her father, Lalchand (Ashley Alymann). Helping her with her quest is a talking elephant - again ingeniously brought to life on stage - and the elephant's master, Rambashi (Declan Wilson).


Music, courtesy of a gamelan orchestra and composer/musical director, Chris Stones plays a large part of the show as does dance (Ella Vale). With its heroine, hero, baddies and a friendly elephant it would have been easy to convert this play into a seasonal pantomime. Stefan draws back from drowning a good story in "Oh yes he did, oh no he didn'ts" - but some comic devices, such as the clap-ometer, are rather thrown away despite an audience keen to get more involved in Lila's quest. Moments of tense drama are also lost on occasion in this fast-paced show. 


The colour, sound visual feast that is The Firework-Maker's Daughter will stay long in the memories of audiences long after the curtain falls. It's a show children, adults and pensioners will love - and it's absolutely perfect for the Christmas holiday.

• The Firework Makers Daughter runs at Keswick Theatre until January 8. Box office: 017687 74411.

Something to Smile About

Keep Smiling Through at Keswick Theatre.


THERE are plenty of laughs but more than a few tears in the World War II drama, Keep Smiling Through now showing at Keswick Theatre.


The play was written by the theatre's Associate Writer Lisa Evans and is receiving its premier in the town where the drama is based.


Lisa drew on the wartime experiences of children evacuated to Keswick and the families that cared for them for her script. This 'invasion' of evacuees, army girls and assorted folk brings more than its fair share of tension in a community already under pressure.


But interspersed with the fears for men fighting abroad, attacks by German airplanes and coping with rationing are layers of warm nostalgia - not least through the many wartime songs performed by the accomplished cast. Lisa brings out the bitter-sweet moments from the dark days of war when everyone pulled together to defeat a common enemy.


Maggie (Heather Saunders) and Peg (Polly Lister) are the two women at the centre of this maelstrom. While Heather brings a vulnerability to her role, its balanced by the bravado and humour brought out by Polly's portrayal of Peg. 


Evacuee Hilda (Fiona Drummond) is the 'cuckoo in the nest' and she gives a powerful performance as the unwanted child who people eventually realise is the future they are all fighting for.


But no one is quite who they seem in this drama which has more than a few twists and turns. German national Leonore (Heather Phoenix) is as much a victim of the war as everyone else but is caught up with the hatred towards all that Germany has come to stand for. 'Hero' Rob (Benjamin Askew) reveals his vulnerabilities as a frightened young man called on to do his duty for King and country, finally snapping under the pressure. Only popular doctor Alec (Ben Ingles) appears to be the calming influence in this storm - but even he has his surprises.


Director Ian Forrest ensures a fast-moving and slick production keeps the focus on the interplay between characters rather than allowing it to wallow too much in nostalgia. 


But there's nothing wrong in the occasional wallow and the end of the show allows the audience to let their emotions loose. Tears, laughter and plenty to talk about - this is theatre at its best.


Keep Smiling Through runs until Friday, November 11.Box office: 017687 74411 or visit www.theatrebythelake.com