Christmas Lunch and Lecture 1 December 2011

It is the season to be merry. On 1^st December over a hundred members of CDFAS assembled at their customary venue of Hundith Hill Hotel to enjoy a delicious meal and a fascinating talk. The atmosphere was convivial, reflecting the friendly mood that the society has established. The event demonstrated that CDFAS is not only a source of knowledge; but also a focus of social activity.

Prior to the meal we were treated to a wide ranging talk on the history and influence of the Keswick School of Industrial Art. A topic of such local interest would inevitably engage the interest of the audience. However the detailed knowledge of our speaker, Ian Bruce, added an extra level of enjoyment.

Keswick is not a location that would be immediately associated with the term industrial!! However, while not being a centre of smoking chimneys in the nineteenth century, at that time Keswick burgeoned as a focus of arts and crafts movement. Our speaker’s enthusiasm for his topic originated from a chance encounter during a walking tour in Keswick. He came across the building that housed the school of Industrial Art and a life- long interest began.

He explained how the school was founded in 1894 by the Rawnsley family with the admirable intention of providing worthy leisure activities. This objective was linked to the struggle against the march of industrialisation at that time. There was a reliance on hand working , with thehumanity of the creator being central to the process. Edith Rawnsley extended the activity of the school into providing elegant, but functional, objects for the home. The activities of the school were inspired by such luminaries of theThis was followed by a very good lunch at the Hundith Hill Hotel attended by 109 members. This is probably a record although last year we would have had about the same number if the day had not been beset by heavy snow which meant that many could not make it. A rural society always suffers most from travelling hazards. movement as Ruskin and Morris.

As the reputation of the School spread, skilled crafts people were drawn to Keswick. The exceptional standards of work in metalwork, embroidery and eventually lace made products of the School increasingly desirable. By the early 1890s the work of the school had extended to providing night classes that ensured that expertise was made available as widely as possible. All the work produced aspired to the motto inscribed on the building ‘ A loving eye and a patient hand’. Apparently there has been some dispute over the exact wording of this motto. In some places the ‘patient’ is replaced by ‘skilful’. In the question session we were treated to an entertaining account of one member’s efforts to protect the inscription from the attentions of a decorator!

Eventually the very mechanisations that inspired the movement caused its decline. The price of handcrafted items compared unfavourably with those produced by more industrial methods. The School had increasingly sought new directions; but the introduction of stainless steel eventually undermined the metal work aspect of the work. The School closed in 1984. But its astonishing output remains in circulation and many members were able to share their own experience of pieces that remain, as the founders wished, both beautiful and useful.

This was followed by the lunch with the excellent attendance already mentioned. This could be a record, although last year we would have had about the same number if the day had not been beset by heavy snow which meant that many could not make it. A rural society always suffers most from any travelling hazards.

The next meeting of CDFAS will take place at Hundith Hill on Thursday 19^th January with two opportunities to hear an informed lecture on Pugin: Man of Contrast. The talks take place at 10.45 and 2.00. We will not be able to offer a Christmas lunch but there will be a warm welcome and an excellent lecture.