Newsletter June 2017
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Cartmel Peninsula Local History Society Founded in 1996 with the aim of promoting an interest in local history within the area Villages Special Newsletter : June 2017 Contents Chairman’s Message Cark in Cartmel – on the way to somewhere Banking in Cark in Cartmel Middle Row at Cark Stockdale Family Tree Horse racing at Cartmel Mr Watson’s Hearse Researching the Early History of Cartmel Flookburgh Life & the Crown Inn Flookburgh in the 2nd World War Newton-in-Cartmel School Henry Alfred Ransome Allithwaite Bowling Club A Bronze Age Cemetery in Allithwaite CPLHS - Bringing History to the Local Community Bridges in the Lindale Area Research Group report Lecture Summaries & Membership News Forthcoming Lectures & Events Contacts Chairman’s Message A very warm welcome to this Newsletter which, as you will see, once again concentrates on a theme: this time it is the villages within our area. In recent years a considerable amount of interest has been shown by members in the history of individual villages and in Lindale a separate group was established, with many enthusiastic members, to continue research. In this newsletter we feature Cark, Cartmel, Flookburgh, Newton-in-Cartmel, Lindale and Field Broughton – hopefully showing all readers a slightly different look at each. Our two summer walks, which both start at High Newton, will reveal the fascinating and widespread flax industry as well as the interesting vernacular style of the buildings in that village. There has been such enthusiasm for these walks that, despite holding each walk twice, I fear we cannot, unfortunately, accommodate any more members. At the back of the Newsletter you will find brief details of our remaining two lectures for this season. As usual, the final meeting this year will be our Annual General Meeting in November. In addition to the formal (and brief) business we shall have other ideas which will be included in the next Newsletter. And last but, certainly, not least, we are delighted to report we now have a record number of members: thank you to all. Stuart Harling 1 Cark in Cartmel: on the way to somewhere Cark in Cartmel is a hamlet in the Lower Holker census records of 1841 to 1851 there was an in- Township in the parish of Cartmel. Much of Cark's crease in men and women who declared their em- economic and social history has been as a conse- ployment to be fishermen and it saw a decline in quence of its geographical location in the south the number of men employed as agricultural la- west of the Cartmel Peninsula. It has the Ay or Eea bourers. running through the village first as a fast flowing beck and finally entering Morecambe Bay through Another aspect of Cark's coastal location, which a winding creek. The hamlet lies irregularly in and has in the past brought wealth to the village in the above the chasm through which the Eea flows with form of travellers, was the route to Ulverston over housing along its bank, on the road to Haverth- the Sands. There were in fact three routes across waite towards Holker Hall and over Cark Bridge the sands, the first going through Flookburgh. past the Engine Inn towards Cark and Cartmel Sta- Thomas Butler of Flookburgh ran a carrier service tion towards Flookburgh. Cark Hall built in 1582 to Lancaster on Tuesdays and Fridays. However in lies on the edge of the village on the road to Cart- 1810, a shorter route was established which went mel. via Cark and John Butler of Cark was recorded as having a carrier service which ran on Mondays and The proximity of fast flowing water has generated a Thursdays to Lancaster. The third route was via number of water powered mills possibly since me- Holker and went to Braddyl's Arms in Ulverston on dieval times and at least since the seventeenth Mondays and Thursdays. century. However, it was not until 1785 that the construction of a Cotton Mill was undertaken which With the coming of the Ulverstone and Lancaster would according to Stockdale in the Annals of railway in 1857, the Over Sands route began to Cartmel fundamentally change Cark from a rural decline and by 1882, the routes had ceased to op- idyll to a pre industrial mill village. Employing up to erate. However, Cark was well placed to benefit 400 men, women and children, at least three rows from the railways as it became the location for the (Low, Middle and High Row and Mill Yard) of hous- Cark in Cartmel station. ing were built to accommodate this influx of work- ers. The mill was probably in decline from 1805/6 Cark in Cartmel railway station owed much of its due partly to the negative impact of the Napoleonic existence to the efforts of the Duke of Devonshire wars, but lasted until 1815 when it and its housing in the 1840's. The station was designed by Paley were liquidated off to Stockdale's inheritors. Ed- and Austin and was probably built in the 1870's, a ward Hall became the new owner of the mill which superior design than other small stations on the was to be used as a corn mill until 1936 when it line. It even boasted an awning which he attributed burnt down. to the station being used by the Cavendish family and at times royalty. In addition to transporting Cark’s milder coastal location and the improve- people in the early years freight was also im- ment to the soil through the addition of lime (Cark portant. The Low Wood gunpowder works had a had a lime kiln in 1665) allowed for lucrative wheat depot there until the opening of the Lakeside crops to be grown instead of the more usual oats branch in 1869. But the General Manager of Fur- and barley. Any surpluses of these crops along ness Railway, Alfred Aslett, saw the potential of with money from peat which was being cut from both the trains and steamers in attracting tourists the reclaimed mosses created profits which were to South Lakeland. Carriers operated locally as the beginnings of agrarian wealth. It has been well as coaches to Newby Bridge. suggested that this surplus of wealth may have contributed to local investment in coastal shipping The railways, together with clean air and fresh and other investment ventures. produce, saw Cark become a tourist destination. Several properties such as the Railway Inn, the Cark’s proximity to the sea along with the neigh- Station Hotel, the Queens Arms, the Engine Inn bouring village of Flookburgh has provided em- and the Rose and Crown in addition to several ployment opportunities in fishing. According to the apartments were ready to cater for day trippers 2 and holiday makers fom the industrial Furness were sub branches of either Grange over Sands or Peninsula. With the improvement in roads, cycling Ulverston. By 1911, there were two banks in Cark was becoming a popular pastime and ads in the with partial opening times probably dedicated to 1895 Handbook welcome cycling parties to Cark. the operation of the auction mart: The Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Co Ltd along with With Cark's hinterland still predominantly agricul- the London and Joint Stock Bank Ltd on Station tural, the railway provided Cark with a convenient Rd. In addition to the usual village shops, Bulmer’s location to set up an auction mart and photograph- also notes an agricultural seed dealer in Gainsbor- ic evidence shows a thriving auction mart operat- ough House a site occupied today by Bob's hair- ing at Cark and Cartmel station in 1908. dressers. In 1928, the third bank opened which was Martin’s bank. In 1900, there were 100 fishermen in Flookburgh and many of the cockles being harvested, passed through the station onwards to destinations in Lan- cashire and Yorkshire and beyond. With the estab- lishment of the airfield at Flookburgh, known as RAF Cark, in 1941, the station catered for move- ments of both RAF personnel and Americans. Finally, a mention must be made of the influence in terms of the built environment, land ownership, farm tenancies, investment and employment that the existence of Holker Hall has had on the history of Cark. Since the suppression of Cartmel Priory in 1536, the Hall was owned initially by the Preston family and through inheritance it passed firstly to a Cark and Cartmel railway station Auction market junior branch of the Lowther family and then to the 1908 : Cumbria Image Archive. Cavendish family, its present owners. The influx of animals and farmers both brought Rose Clark trade to the businesses in Cark and created the need for the establishment of several banks which Banking in Cark in Cartmel In today's high street the bank is becoming a rarity Co located, according to Bulmer's Directory of and 2017 will see the closure of another branch; 1911, at Bank House, Station Rd and open initially National Westminster Bank in Main Street, Grange on Fridays ; the London and Joint Stock Bank Ltd. over Sands. Banks are leaving the small market also located in 117 Station Rd. which is Bank Cot- town high street but in the late nineteenth century tage today ; and the Bank of Liverpool and Martin's they were part of the local landscape in not only Ltd. located opposite at 114 Station Rd. All three market towns but even villages and hamlets. For banks were characterised by the fact that the over seventy years, the hamlet of Cark in Cartmel, banking premises occupied only one room of the Cumbria had three banks ; the Lancaster Banking building that they occupied.