Beattie's flag

Spent today in Grange as I do every Tuesday & took a look around the charity shops - as one does. The top hospice shop always has quite a number of books so I bought a recent biography of Nelson for a few quid. I also bought a volume of little value that my father used to have - The Story of 25 Eventful Years in pictures -

It is a pictorial record of the first 25 years of the reign of George V and Queen Mary, from 1910 to 1935, & describes the vast changes wrought in Britain and the world in these years. Quite a few pages are dedicated to the armistice of 1918 & the peace celebrations of 1919. One of the pictures, a double page spread, shows a section of the Peace March of July 19, 1919. On this day thousands of troops marched past Lutyens' temporary Cenotaph in Whitehall led by many of the wartime leaders.

The Royal Navy were represented by David Beatty who as a Rear Admiral had famously led the First Battle Cruiser Squadron at Jutland and, after two of his ships blew up, uttered the immortal words,

'there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today'

In September 1919 Beatty was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet and elevated to the Peerage as 1st Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale and Baron Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby. Not bad!

Beatty can be seen on the pic, he's the one in the centre with the sword behind the lad carrying the flag.

The lad with the flag was a midshipman, reputedly related the the Cavendish family of Holker. The flag he carries is now in the Parish church at Cark, near Cartmel. Rather sadly relegated to a corner, above the bookstall, at the back of the nave.

Silverdale Roll

The boundary between Cumbria & Lancashire weaves along the ridge between Silverdale (Lancashire) & Arnside (Cumbria). So quite a few men who are commemorated on memorials in Silverdale would now be considered Cumbrians. Thus I include on the blog a roll of honour from the village of Silverdale.

It has quite an interesting history. Apparently it was used for many years as a backing board for a picture in the Methodist church and only saw the light of day a couple of years ago when the picture in question was checked out.

It is interesting. Pre printed and dedicated to 'King, Country & Humanity', most unusual. Along the top are representations of three medals; The Victoria Cross in the centre, the Distinguished Service Order on the left (Officers), & the Distinguished Conduct Medal on the right (other ranks).



The flags include that of Italy which only entered the war on the allies side in April 1915. The hand writing appears to be all one hand including details of a 1918 death; altogether I suspect it is post war.

There are three Australians and five 3rd Bn Kings Own Royal Lancaster Rgt. One guy is named only as Proctor - no forename. There are no women named.

It seems that the roll has disappeared into the black hole of a private individuals collection of Silverdaleiana - bad news - of all things memorials such as these shoulkd be in nthe public domain for all to see, that the men may be honoured.

Got an email from Howard of Cartmel:

Minor detail regarding Silverdale.

In 1909 Haldane reforms 3rd Bn - which was Militia, became Special Reserve - HQ Bowerham. The 2 volunteer Bns became 4th and 5th. 4th was North Lonsdale Territorial Bn. and 5th South Lonsdale. The distinction between these two became more and more blurred during WW1 - Lord Cav was Colonel of the 5th. until wounded at 2nd Ypres, either way the 3rd was mobilised at the outbreak of war and became a feeder unit for the fighting battalions abroad. The men would join up as members of the 3rd Bn. train and then go abroad to wherever.

Edwin Lutyens in south Cumbria

Sir Edwin Lutyens (29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was probably the most famous and respected British architect of his generation.


Through a long career he undertook a huge number of commissions throughout Britain and the Empire. Perhaps his most spectacular achievement was the design of New Delhi as the administrative centre of British India. However, back in Britain he also designed many country houses utilising firstly arts and crafts and then classical ideas in a very personal and recognisably English style.

In 1913-14 Lutyens was working in South Lakeland on the design for Abbey House, Barrow in Furness. This rather lovely building was built to provide guest accomodation for Vickers Ltd and a flat for the Managing Director, Sir James McKechnie and later Commander Craven RN. In 1951, having been acquired by Lancashire County Council, the house was adopted as an old people’s home and somewhat neglected. In 1984 it was sold and restored as an hotel.

Post 1918 the services of Lutyens, Herbert Baker and Reginald Blomfield were called upon by the Imperial War Graves Commission to create designs for the War Cemeteries that were being built throughout the world. Lutyens' most astonishing design of these years must be the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme that bears the names of over 73000 British and South African dead from the Somme battles of 1916 to mid 1918 who have no known grave.

Pictured here with Blomfield's Cross, the memorial is a most remarkable creation. It is impossible to capture on a photograph its overwhelming sense of presence. To be with it, to experience its power, is a deeply moving experience.

Lutyens also contributed the altar-like Stone of Remembrance or Stone of Sacrifice that stands in every major British War Cemetery.


However even these iconic designs must be overshadowed by the The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.

Using what one historian has described as,

rituals of social cohesion

it is the place where each November the British nation reafirms its debt to The Glorious Dead.



The design took less than six hours to complete......

Clearly Lutyens is a seminal figure not simply as an architect but a major player in the creation of the iconography and rituals of Remembrance in Britain. Thus it is quite poignant that vast numbers of people drive up to the west coast coast of Cumbria oblivious to the fact that they pass a fine example of Lutyens' work in the War Memorial at Muncaster.


It is a beautifully simple but elegant design with rather odd but successful proportions. I have no idea why Lutyens was appointed to design a memorial in this most secret corner of Lakeland. I guess it may be something to do with nearby Muncaster Castle, the ancient home of the Duff-Pennington family.


Since writing this post Tim Skelton, author of a new book on Lutyens & the Great War, has posted a most interesting comment.
Please do read it.

A most odd memorial

I love cemeteries.

They are places that are overflowing with history, of peoples lives and of attitudes not simply to death, but also to life, to those things that were held to be of highest value in the lives of the dead or which defined their status in life - for it is these achievements that are recorded on the memorials. Most often it is their professions that are remembered, architect or farmer, sometimes their qualities. But occasionally it is something quite different.

Thus in Ulverston cem there are two gravestones standing side by side that record the lives of various members of the Birrell family.




That on the left remembers Andrew Birrell of Swarthmoor Hall who died on the 31 August 1883, aged 59 years. Below his name are those of Margaret, his widow, who died at Rosside House in 1902 aged 72; Robert, their son who died aged 18 in 1873 and finally Andrew Birrell Kitchin, their grandson who died in 1884, aged 1.

I have an interest in Swarthmoor Hall, a beautiful old house nr Ulverston, the spiritual home of The Quakers. As a consequence of my interest I looked into the family and it was quite fascinating. Andrew Birrell came down from Carlisle, via Brigham & Lamplugh where his children were born, and farmed at Swarthmoor from the 1860s. After he died his widow, Margaret, continued at The Hall into the 1890s which is when this photo would have been taken.

The seated lady is Mary Snowden, an American Quaker. And that is a bit of a coincidence. In the 1830s Andrew Birrell himself was in the USA, his return by boat is recorded online.

And then to return to the two gravestones - the one on the right is;

In Memory of
Adam Birrell
Private, Co H, 9th Regiment
Indiana Volunteer Infantry
United States America
Who died at Rosside House
March 14, 101
Aged 71 Years

He must be a veteran of the American Civil War.

This old photo shows members of Adam Birrells unit during the conflict, in this case Company A, but Adam probably knew them.

I cannot trace the birth of Adam Birrell but he must have been a brother or cousin of Andrew, certainly a close relation. They were probably in America together in the 1830s. Andrew returned home to farm at Swarthmoor, Adam stayed on to fight for the Union only to return to England to die. Clearly he or his extended family felt that whatever else he might have done in life, his service in the Union Army was the achievement for which at considerable expense he should be remembered.

Remarkable

St Catherine's church, Crook

On the road from Bowness to Kendal there is a small roadside church serving the dispersed rural community of Crook. The church itself was built in 1882 to a design by Stephen Shaw replacing an earlier Manor Chapel, the tower of which still stands in the fields some way away.

The principal war memorial is an unascribed brass in the nave of the church. It bears four names from the Great War; two Borderers and two Colonials, a New Zealander and a Canadian.


The memorial states that 21176 Pte Robert Barker served with the 16th (Waikato) Regiment of the New Zealand Infantry although the CWGC registers describe him as serving with the 1st Auckland Regiment. He was 28 when killed at Messines in June 1917 leaving a widow, Louisa, living at Maehau, Cape Colville, Cabbage Bay, Auckland. What does AIB signify ?

Just over a month earlier 26 year old 150681 Pte George Walker had been killed in the great Canadian attack at Vimy Ridge, or Vimmy as the memorial describes it, while serving with the 5th Bn (Saskatchewan Regiment) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was farming near Brandon, Manitoba when he joined up in November 1915. His father, Richard, remained in Crook.

The two lads who stayed at home were killed at Thiepval on the third day of the Somme offensive and on the Italian front in 1918.

Many of the guy's contemporaries are named on the pre-printed roll which hangs in the church. It is an early one, probably 1915; there are no Japanese or American flags.


After the 39/45 war another name had to be added to the principal brass memorial, that of Derrick Read, son of Richard and Annie Read of Crook.

Though there was just enough room for '1939 - 45' on the original memorial Read's name had to be inscribed on a piece of brass that was then inserted into the existing memorial. I imagine that there was originally an inscription which had to be cut out.

Unusually Read is also remembered on a stone memorial at the south west corner of the church, effectively the village's WW2 memorial commemorating their only loss. The flowers show that he is still very much remembered.


Temporary Leading Airman Derrick Read was killed in an air crash while flying with the 771 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm from HMS Tern, a lonely airbase at the unfortunately named village of Twatt on the Orkneys. His pilot, Louis Weatherall, Temp Sub Lt (Air) Royal New Zealand Volunteer Reserve, was also killed and is buried at St Olaf's, Kirkwall. He was the 22 year old son of Francis William and Louisa Culf Weatherall, of Ettrick, Otago, New Zealand. Derrick Read's body was never recovered. His name appears with those of some 2000 others of the Fleet Air Arm with no known grave on the memorial at Lee on Solent.

Sgt John Longmire of Bouth

I gave a talk some months ago to a group of people in Ulverston. Some time later there was a knock on my door and a lady who had been at the talk handed me a carrier bag. Inside were some old photographs and a hand written document.

The photographs were of Sergeant John Longmire of Bouth, a long time member of the 1/4th Battalion, Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.



The document was a handwritten citation, bearing the Regimental crest, that was presented to John by members of Tottlebank Baptist Church and the Methodist congregation at Sparkbridge to commemorate and celebrate ten years of service to 'God and the Empire'.


Great that they remain valued by the man's family and also very satisfying that I can bring memories of John Longmire and his service to a wider audience.

Crosthwaite in the 1920s

The memorials that I find in the villages and landscapes of Cumbria are now firmly embedded in the great continuum of English history. The raw emotional impact that they had in the days of their creation is lost, we are three or four generations on from the people who created them. Thus it is always very poignant and, I am bound to say, thrilling, when I discover something that transports the imagination back in time to a period when the memorials had an immediacy and intimacy for people and their communities.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving through the Lyth valley and found that the Memorial Hall was open with a sort of village market in progress. On a table were the last two available copies of a book, 'Cameos of Crosthwaite & Lyth', published in the valley in 2002/3. It is profusely illustrated with pictures of the communities and people of this delightful place.

On browsing thro' it I was astonished and immensely pleased to see one image which I had been hoping to find for many years.


It clearly shows a memorial service being held around a wooden cross, made from village oak and erected in the churchyard in 1916, that was Crosthwaite's first memorial. Many of those seen here will have been thinking of their fathers, brothers and husbands. The dead were commemorated with brass plaques that were pinned to the cross by the bereaved as and when the men were killed or died.

This cross remained in the churchyard until 1998 when, following restoration, it was moved inside the church, first to the south transept and subsequently to its present position by the chancel arch.


In the 1920s the village acquired a more imposing memorial in the form of a large brass plaque which, rather surprisingly, they purchased from Harrods of London.