John Dalton was one of the scientific giants of the early 19th century. In the 1960s I often attended lectures at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on George Street, Manchester. (The “Lit and Phil” still exists, now based at the Manchester Business School). Inside the building great prominence was given to John Dalton, and not far away is one of Manchester’s major city centre thoroughfares, John Dalton Street. Today a University Campus also bears his name. So who was this John Dalton, and what is his connection with Cockermouth in the far north of the Lake District?

John Dalton (1766-1844)

Dalton’s early researches into the behaviour of gases led to what became known as “Dalton’s law of partial pressures”. In the first decade of the nineteenth century he published papers proposing that all matter is made up of minute, indivisible discrete particles and that all such “atoms” of the same elenment are identical. He became renowned worldwide as the developer of the atomic theory of matter.

In the two centuries that have passed since then it has, of course, been discovered that elementary atoms are themselves composed of even smaller entities, but he laid the foundation on which all modern theory of matter is built. He paved the way for successive revolutions in the physical and chemical sciences. He had wide-ranging scientific interests. He was a keen meteorologist (in fact his first published book was on that subject) and also one of the earliest systematic researchers into colour blindness, from which he himself suffered and which became widely known as Daltonism.

John Dalton never married. He lived for many years in George Street at the home of a friend, the Rev. W. Johns. (Was this the evenual home of the Lit and Phil?) He was focused on his work, but did find time to make annual visits north to Cockermouth. Another great son of the Lake District, John Dalton died in 1844. [More on John Dalton].

See also “Cockermouth: More Men of Science.”

More on Cockermouth

Cockermouth on the Around-England blog

The Lake District, West: Cockermouth

On Thursday afternoon I made a long-postponed return to what, in my not entirely unbiased opinion, is possibly the most beautiful valley in the Lake District, Longsleddale.

The entrance to Longsleddale valley viewed from the top of the lane, near the A6

Having described it in those terms I have to say that it is also one of the less visited valleys. Its access is away from the major tourist routes and for many people the thought of driving up five miles of very narrow lane might be offputting. Driving north toward Shap up the old A6 road above Kendal it is very easy to miss the junction as you climb the hill but when you do turn down the lane toward Garnett Bridge you are faced, as shown above, with an enticing prospect.

Garnett Bridge, Longsleddale, Cumbria

The River Sprint at Garnett Bridge

It is more than twenty years since my wife and I spent a night in B&B accommodation at Garnett Bridge. We saw it then in sunshine, and I saw the same again this week. The Sprint is one of the feeder streams of the River Kent, from which Kendal gets its name. Here, after some recent rain it foams its way under the bridge. (Apologies for the tilt on the camera; you should see the other shot!)

From here I made my way up the valley to the car park by the old schoolhouse, now the Community Hall. This featured in a wonderful little book by a former teacher, Olwen Harris (School in the Fells) in 1969, describing not only the school but life in the valley during the 1940s. It is scarce now, but can be found secondhand (click on the link).

The Old Schoolhouse in Longsleddale

There are many very old farmhouses in Longsleddale, the oldest of which is Ubarrow (or Yewbarrow) Hall which has an ancient pele tower. The valley provided the inspiration for the village of Greendale in the Postman Pat children’s TV series. In the 19th century it was the location for the popular novel Robert Ellsmere by Mrs Humphry Ward.

As is very often the case in old villages, the schoolhouse is right next to the parish church. In these days when the church is too often viewed as irrelevant to society it is important not to forget that in past centuries it was usually the parish church or chapel that provided education for local children. Long before there were school buildings as such the vicar or curate would often double as a schoolmaster. From the Lakeland valleys many a boy found his way to Oxford or Cambridge and out into the wider world as a result of his early teaching by the country clergyman. Nearby Docker Nook provided one example in Isaac Godmond (1734-1809) whose memorial is in the north transept of Ripon Cathedral.

St. Mary's Church, Longsleddale

At the beginning of this article I mentioned my own bias toward Longsleddale. Part of the explanation lies in the gravestone to be seen on the photograph above resting against the church wall between the left and centre windows.

The Rev. Robert Walker was my 4xgreat-uncle. My great-great-grandfather, son of a poor miner from the hills above Sedbergh, arrived in Longsleddale as a farm labourer in the 1830s. Tom married one of Rev. Walker’s nieces, starting a farming family that still has members in these Lakeland hills. I would have liked to honour his final resting place but he lies unmarked, in common with most people of that period.

Looking up the valley toward Stockdale and Sadgill from Longsleddale churchyard

It was time to move on. As the scene above shows there is still more to be seen of the Longsleddale valley as it twists and turns up into the mountains. Passing the Swinklebank farms (Tom brought up his family and shepherded his sheep at High Swinklebank), and then the lane up to Stockdale, I arrived at the old bridge.

Ancient Packhorse Bridge at Sadgill, Longsleddale

From here I could have gone further if the day had been longer, or rather if I’d started in the morning rather than mid-afternoon. From here one can go up to Harter Fell, walk over to Kentmere, take the track over Gatescarth Pass to Mardale (where the village of Mardale Green now lies under the Haweswater reservoir) or take the bridleway to Staveley. For this time, however, I must return to the car and be satisfied with a view of the young Sprint as it comes down from the fells on its journey to the Kent, and ultimately to Morecambe Bay.

The top of Longsleddale with the young River Sprint above Sadgill

For more on Longsleddale see the excellent Longsleddale Community Web Site.

A few days ago I came across this photograph of the River Kent in Kendal, forgotten in my camera from May of last year. I quite like it, and it may catch the imagination of others who love Kendal, the southern gateway to the English Lake District.

Kendal Reflections

The journey up the A1, across the Pennines on the M62 and then north on the M6 to Kendal can scarcely be described as providing the most enjoyable motoring experience.  The combination of the A1 and A66 to Penrith is scarcely better.  However, over the next few weeks whether by one of those routes or across Yorkshire and north via Skipton, Settle and Ingleton, I expect to be doing the journey several times.

This post is really by way of an apology, a warning that there will be less new material arriving on the blog during March as we move ourselves back north and settle into our new Cumbrian home (although actually it’s quite old). I’m not saying that there will be no posts at all, but I suspect that while my hands are busy packing and unpacking hundreds (actually thousands!) of books they’ll not want to be too busy on the keyboard at the end of the day.

So, a slower March is predicted, but then we’ll be marvellously located to continue writing and picturing the North.

In the meantime, here is a photo I took a couple of weeks ago in Kendal – The Bewery Arts Centre.

Two bits of Lake District news in today’s post.

As for stationary objects I’m not referring to Janice who refuses to be dragged out of her bed on time in the morning, nor Bill who won’t be budged from the telly on Saturday afternoon.  No, I’m talking about a real statue, one that when it’s erected should stay put for many a decade.

Although the Westmorland Gazette went a bit too far recently in referring to Alfred Wainwright as “one of Kendal’s most famous sons” when in fact he was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, it is nevertheless excellent news that Kendal is to raise the funds for permanent bronze memorial to the town’s most famous 20th century resident.  May it come quickly and last long.

My second snippet is certainly not about staying in the same place for long.  It’s a reference to the mountain bike endurance race scheduled for 29th March at the Whinlatter Forest Park.  The Altura Whinlatter Challenge has apparently already passed 200 entrants.  Let’s hope that this latest Lake District mountain bike event is successful.  30 miles over this terrain is more than I would ever have attempted in my youth (even if there’d been such a thing as a mountain bike in those days) and I admire those young people with the energy, enthusiasm and dedication to training that’s needed to pit themselves successfully against the challenging course.