Thornthwaite Village Community Plan completed by members of the Thornthwaite Community.in Spring 2012. Further work by Becx Carter will consolidate this plan into the Above Derwent Community Plan. Contents Section: Page No: 1. General Introduction 3 2. Background – History, Present-Day 4 3. Community & Cohesion 13 4. Action Plan of findings 15 5. Acknowledgements & Key Contacts 22 6. Appendix 1- Questionnaire 23 7. Appendix 2- Demographic Information 25 8. Appendix 3- History of Thornthwaite Mining 26 9. Appendix 4- Maps 27 Section 1: General Introduction 1.1 THORNTHWAITE COMMITTEE A group of Thornthwaite villagers formed a Community Planning committee which began with informal planning discussions in the spring of 2011. In May 2011 a ‘strawman’ questionnaire was drawn up and circulated among the group for approval. In June 2011 the questionnaire was approved and in July was circulated by hand around the village to residents. After three weeks the questionnaires were collected by hand. All information entered on each questionnaire was captured and analysed for use in the first issue of the Thornthwaite community plan. 1.2 COMMITTEE MEMBERS Members of the Thornthwaite Community Planning Committee (in alphabetic order), Helen Davies, Colin Grant, Sue Grant, Patricia Highton, Brenda Kealey, Richard Kealey, Clive Lomas, Wilma Lomas, Ann Monk, Ron Monk, Anne Thoburn, Donald Thoburn, Margaret Throp, Steven Throp, Helen Wilkins 1.3 DOCUMENT LAYOUT The Thornthwaite questionnaire was designed to gather feedback from village people on their current quality of life and the need for improvement. The questionnaire covered the following topics. 2.2.1 Profile of Village People 2.2.2 Everyday Life in the Village 2.2.3 Information and Communication 2.2.4 Getting about in the Village 2.2.5 The Environment 2.2.6 Impact of Tourism 2.2.7 Community Cohesion & Involvement 1.4 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS Feedback has been incorporated into this document and analysed to produce the Thornthwaite Action plan. Both a copy of the questionnaire and the draft Action Plan are shown in Appendix 1 & Section 4 respectively. As feedback is summarised all Personal information is protected. 1.5 REVISION The draft Thornthwaite plan is revised in order to align better with the other 3 community plans in the Above Derwent area. It was felt appropriate to create separate village plans in order to reflect the uniqueness of each, which differ in size, needs and aspirations. This revised plan still reflects a consensus view of all residents within the Thornthwaite. Becx Carter, a Consultant, will consolidate this updated draft plan with the Braithwaite, Newlands & Portinscale plans to produce the Above Derwent Parish Community Plan. Section 2: Background 2.1 HISTORY OF THORNTHWAITE The Bronze Age has left some traces of human endeavour in this area, and it is possible that a Romano-British main road must have come through the parish of Thornthwaite – the clearing with the thorn bushes from the 'old' Norse thorn thveit. The village itself is probably well over 1000 years old, and was settled by families of Norwegians, whose kinsmen colonised Iceland in 874 A.D and probably arrived in our area about 900 A.D. The Norsemen were mixed farmers from a mountainous country, and probably the mountains surrounding our village reminded them of the country, which they had left. The land around the settlement would probably have supported about 100 people in approximately 10 farms. It began on the lower edge of the forest and is recorded from 1220 onwards, and in 1240 a small chapel was provided for the settlers by Patrick de Workingham who owned the surrounding lands. There are some records of farming in the area, for example in 1578 there were four farms at Powter Howe alone. The settlement slowly extended upwards and deeper into the woods leaving the chapel alone amid the fields, but in 1652 a preacher was ordained to serve the parish and by 1746 money was found for a ‘perpetual curate’ for the village At one time Thornthwaite was a township in the Manor of Braithwaite and Coledale held by the Earl of Egremont and later by Lord Leconfield of Cockermouth Castle. Lord Derwentwater took part in the Rebellion of 1715 and was captured and beheaded as a traitor. His estates, including Thornthwaite, were given to Greenwich Hospital. By the eighteenth century the village population was growing fast, and there was a profitable lead mine, a bobbin mill, two woollen factories, and a saw-mill in Thornthwaite. The Governors of Greenwich Hospital began a planting programme, and in 1814 when Thornthwaite Common was enclosed the whole of the area was designated for forestry. By 1840 the church was accommodating 180 people and had acquired a burial ground, and in 1853 a new church was built in the form, which we see today. A pointer to the size of the population can be seen in the churchyard where in the nineteenth century extra land was acquired and consecrated three times. The extensions can be mapped by the dates on the gravestones. The first vicarage was at Hallgarth, but in 1845 Ladstock was purchased, and became the vicarage. The forest areas around Thornthwaite Common were the first to be planted by the Forestry Commission in 1919. The growth of the estate involved the displacement of four flocks of Herdwick sheep (about 1,600) and caused a certain amount of controversy in the local area. In the 1940’s and 50’s there was even a hostel for the 100 or so workers. Although the village did not have its own railway, Braithwaite Station was a useful means of transportation both for passengers and freight, and was in use for over 100 years. Pure lead from the Thornthwaite mines was loaded at Braithwaite for conveyance to all parts of the country. Until the last century there was a village hall (opposite the old garage), and also a shop (closed in the 1960’s) in the same area. There was a Post Office (again closed in the 1960’s), and other services including blacksmiths when the mines were in operation. There was also a thriving timber yard and sawmill. There were nine farms in the village – two at Lanefoot, one at Hallgarth, Croftlands, Beckstones, The Faulds, Thornthwaite Hall, Jenkin Hill, and Woodend (now only three remain). 2.2 PRESENT-DAY IN THORNTHWAITE The village has a central cluster of homes with outlying dwellings including Lanefoot Farm, Hallgarth, Ladstock, Powter How, Wood End and Beck Wythop. 2.2.1 PROFILE OF VILLAGE PEOPLE Today there are just over sixty resident homes in Thornthwaite and as only a few non-resident owners of second and holiday homes were available answer questions a separate analysis has been used (Connecting Cumbria Broadband project) and shows 50% of the total number of homes in Thornthwaite are second homes &/or holiday homes. Q. Occupancy Type of dwelling Use of dwelling No No 2nd answer Main answer Holiday Owning Renting 54 5 2 52 4 5 2 89% 8% 3% 83% 6% 8% 3% More than half the community of Thornthwaite is aged over 55 years old. There are sadly very few young people in the village although there are sufficient people moving into the village who are between the age of 26-55 years to keep Thornthwaite vibrant. Q. Number of occupants by age group All occupants by age grouping 25 55 70 4 No 18 - - - - - 0 70+ 5 26 56 19 answer 2 19 13 29 39 34 3 1.4% 13.7% 9.4% 20.9% 28.1% 24.5% 2% Luckily the community in Thornthwaite is fairly static with over a quarter of villagers’ resident for over twenty years. Q. How long have you lived in the village? Number of years occupancy by dwelling No <1 1-5 5-20 21+ answer 5 8 28 17 3 8.2% 13.1% 45.9% 27.9% 4.9% 2.2.2 EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE VILLAGE Today Thornthwaite village is seen as an active community, with social gatherings including coffee mornings, village events including meals, entertainment and quizzes. The most frequent of these are coffee mornings held monthly. Overall approximately half the community support the organised village activities including charity events. Venues include the Thornthwaite Gallery; St Mary’s church; Hallgarth Barn; Thornthwaite-Cum-Braithwaite Memorial Hall. There is a small and very popular village school locally in Braithwaite, which services most of the primary school age children in the area, with Keswick School being the nearest secondary school. Q. How do you rate the quality of life in the village? (1-5 where highest rating is 5) Quality of Life rating by dwelling No 5 4 3 2 1 answer 22 20 8 0 2 9 36.1% 32.8% 13.2% 0.0% 3.3% 14.6% Over 80% residents felt the quality of life in the village is good. However continual village change appears to adversely affect those who have spent all/most of their lives in the village. Overall a little more than half feel a sense of increased community spirit and wellbeing, while others have real concern about an increase in holiday homes, cyclists, the loss of a pub, too few children and less permanent residence. A third of residents highlighted the need for a ‘pub/shop/meeting place’ as the current venues are not always available, or have a primary other use. The Memorial Hall which is by far the largest venue provides meeting rooms, field sports and self-catering facilities and has been in operation since 1919. It is a much used today and is managed by successive committees, trustees and village people living close by.