Snittmits of Carlisle

PP Joe Watt introduced himself as a ‘Carlisle lad’born in the shadow of Dixon’s chimney as he began his talk about bits & pieces and false memories of a failing memory. He reminded us that when built in 1836 the chimney was the tallest in the world and whenever he sees it he is reminded of photos from the Cumberland News of Micky Potts (the legendary leader of the Gateway Jazz Band) having a cup of tea at the top in 1970. Something Joe couldn’t do because of acrophobia (an intense fear of heights) which he looked up in a dictionary. It was in the same category as arachibutyrophobia (a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth!).

Joe went on to recount that his beloved Carlisle was not always in England, certainly not at the time of the Doomsday Book. It was located in the ‘debatable land’- a ribbon of land some 8 to 10 miles wide between the Solway and the Tyne where neither Edinburgh nor London were keen to claim jurisdiction. While in Australia recently, he was persuaded to take a Ancestry DNAtest which yielded no real surprises. 97% divided equally between Scottish and English and two others making up the 3% remaining. Being descended from the Graham clan it confirmed no adventurers or world travellers - just Reivers!

Another big influence in the region’s history were the Vikings. They have left us a little of their language in several place names that end in thwaite and yat (meadow and gate) and some well known strange pronunciations like Torpenhow (said Tripenner). They spoke a form of Brythonic Celtic known as Cumbric and their counting of sheep is still remembered by a few - yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp, sethera, lethera, hovera, dovera, dick.

One of Carlisle’s more recent claims to fame is the nationalisation of all the pubs in the area. The State Management scheme or ‘Carlisle Experiment’saw 339 licensed premises and 5 breweries taken over. 53 of the 118 pubs in Carlisle were closed leaving just 65 to be managed by the government, but why? In 1916, during the first world war, a huge munitions factory was built between Eastriggs and Longtown employing some 2,000 workers - mainly women. So to curb over drinking from these young, well paid, vital employees handling The Devil’s Porridge the scheme was introduced to try to reduce alcohol consumption - hangovers and explosives are not a good combination.

To conclude, Joe apologised for not mentioning the railways but noted that it is known as a ‘railway city’ having no less than 7 companys operating from the city’s Citadel Station at its peak.

He then went on to impart three lesser known facts:

• Carlisle was the only city to have the 2012 Olympic torch flame pass through it twice (as the gateway to/from Scotland).

• Her Majesty’s Theatre (formerly on Lowther Street) was the first to be lit with electric lighting.

• There are more ‘boutique’ breweries per person in Cumberland than any other county.

Do you have to be a drinker to live here? he asked - I think not!

[Have you ever heard of Carlisle Mint Cake? Let alone the Merry City!]

Leading architect Harry Redfern was brought in to design a number of new pubs that incorporated bowling greens to give patrons something else to occupy their time other than just drinking. Indeed the one built at Kingmoor bears his name.