EVENTS AT THE ARMITT

Back by popular demand is Penny Bradshaw, Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Cumbria and author of A Literary Walking Tour of Ambleside (2021), who will lead this three-hour literary-themed walk, with readings, around the environs of Ambleside. The walk will begin and end at The Armitt and along the way, we will hear from a range of celebrated writers who visited Ambleside, from John Keats to Charlotte Bronte. We will also encounter the homes of many important literary figures who settled in this region, including Thomas De Quincey’s home in Ambleside and that of William Wordsworth at Rydal. By the middle of the 19thC Ambleside had become a hub of intellectual and imaginative pursuits, but it had also come to be at the centre of a Victorian vogue for ‘literary tourism’. During the tour, Bradshaw will offer insights into this important aspect of the town’s history and will share some of the responses it inspired in its literary visitors.

After the walk, there will be an opportunity for attendees to explore The Armitt Museum as part of the ticket.

NB: the tour will mainly involve walking along good footpaths but attendees are advised to wear suitable footwear and outer clothing. Please have lunch beforehand as the walk will be continuous and only stop briefly for readings.

Cumbria Family History Society will be at The Armitt to provide suggestions and support on ways to explore your family history. Come along any time between 10am-3pm when a member of the society will be on hand to support and answer questions. Our library also has lots of local history books and materials that you can use to help with your research. Standard museum admission applies.

If you would like to book in a specific time slot to speak with a member of CFHS about a query or how to go about starting your family history research, please get in touch on info@armitt.com

This is the story of the German miners and their families who arrived in Keswick in 1565 and set up a large scale Copper Mining and Smelting Industry. Their impact on the society and economy of The Lake District was enormous. They met with violence, hardship and a cash crisis, but succeeded in producing lots of fine copper and sparked a baby boom! And arguably they left an important legacy that contributed to Britain’s Industrial Revolution.

Mark Hatton is a member of the Cumbria mine history society called “CATMHS” and studies the Mining Heritage of the Lake District from his base in Ambleside.

Over a century after they were first published, the ghost stories of M R James retain their power to terrify and amuse. This gripping one-man show retells two of the earliest and eeriest. In Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book, a young Cambridge antiquary discovers the devil in the details of an old book in a medieval town in the French Pyrenees…In The Mezzotint, a ghoulish revenge is enacted within a work of art, before the helpless eyes of a museum curator in Oxford…This performance is suitable for ages 12+. There will be refreshments served in the interval and are included in the ticket price.

Come and join us at The Armitt as we read The Great Hill by Daniel Errico and Up on the Mountain by Peter Donnelly.

Once you’re feeling inspired by these stories, we’ll have a crafting session where you’ll have the chance to create your own unique mountainscape collage using recycled materials and other zany bits and bobs. Scrunch, colour, glue, rip and tear to your heart’s content! For kids (and adults) that love the outdoors, stories, art and everything in between. Please note, that this session is aimed at children 5-10 years old. The ticket price of £5 is per child. Any accompanying adults are free of charge.

In August 2021, an Armitt trustee donated to the museum a rare 1815 book entitled ‘Views of Saint Helena’. This was introduced and superbly illustrated by George Hutchins Bellasis. Ongoing research has shown that he was born in Long Marton in Cumbria. He was in Bombay from 1801 till 1804. Illness forced his return to England and also caused him to stay in Saint Helena for eight months on his return journey. Sketches done during his stay at the island became the basis for his subsequent illustrated publication, timed to coincide with Napoleon’s exile to this remote island.

Further research has resulted in making contact with one of George’s descendants who has very kindly donated 10 pictures and prints of Bowness and the surrounding area by George and members of his family. These pictures are of considerable local historical and artistic interest.