Events Diary:
1^st July Oleanna Dinner Theatre
8^th July Railway Poster Exhibition start
14^th/15^th July Spellbound Theatre, Settle to Carlisle
20^th August, Festival of Books and Drama starts
26^th August Charter Fair Market
  There are loads of exciting things going on in Sedbergh this summer and most events feature a big slice of Sedbergh talent, as someone said to me recently "Sedbergh does really punch above its weight" in the talent and get-up-and-go stakes.
  Spellbound's new organisation has teamed with the Book Town to produce the acclaimed musical drama by Kim Lyon, Settle to Carlisle. Mid July this year marks the twenty year anniversary of the reopening of many of the stations on the line and there are events happening all along the route.
  Westwood Books hosts an exhibition of those wonderful Railway Posters dating from around 1910 to the '50s which showed the delights of holidaying in the Dales, at Ullswater or in the Lakes. The LNER line (London and North East Railway) produced thousands of remarkable posters, commissioning original paintings from some of the finest artists of the day, which make Yorkshire and the Dales look far more appealing than Florida or Majorca in our own times and,of course, it was always sunny. LMS (London, Midland and Scottish) which came up the west side of the country obviously had not realised the potential of the poster, the Lakes area seems to have been advertised in only around 25 posters over a very long period with Ullswater being on the route from Darlington and so benefiting from the LNER poster frenzy with around 6 all to itself. We have original and facsimile posters on show and all will be for sale.
  Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama 2006 with Dalesman and Cumbria magazines
  We have a real advocate for all things Book Town in the two A5 format magazines Dalesman and Cumbria. The publishers have decided to support the Festival for at least three years. Thanks to Dalesman we have two rather famous Yorkshiremen visiting, SIR BERNARD INGHAM who will be speaking as a writer on Yorkshire matters, although I expect he could be persuaded to tell some tales about Maggie; and GERVASE PHINN that spinner of tales of the ups and downs of school life. Gervase has a new book out in September and we are privileged to be launching it here at Powell Hall on 20^th September this should be a marvellous day. I am told that both Yorkshire gentlemen are hilarious! Speaking about funny guys, JOHN MURRAY the acclaimed Cumbrian author is to host a tea party on Sunday 3^rd September to introduce his new book "Gentleman's Relish", again we are promised a side splitting time.
  Pre- Programme advert! Things for you to take part in this year are:
2 Writing days with SANDRA GLOVER. Thursday 24^th August and Thursday 31^st August. Sandra is the wife of the editor of the Westmorland Gazette but has published 7 or 8 novels herself aimed at the teen/adult market. Sandra will suggest ways to "get started" on your writing career and then give you ideas for "My Autobiography", but I am sure her advice will be pertinent whatever you want to write. Following on this there is help for budding writers, SUE ALLEN of "All Write" the writer's newsletter from Eden Arts will be talking about the writing scene in the county. There are simply loads of opportunities offered every quarter in All Write, competitions for stories, poems or books, classes, meet the author days etc. If you are serious about writing you need to know about All Write. To round off this theme PETER AND MARGARET LEWIS of Flambard Press will give a talk on "How to get Published", surely the most difficult part of a writer's path to fame and fortune.
  Another event for you to get involved in is the "Make an Anthology Day" with LYNETTE McKONE come along either as an individual or group and let Lynette help to get your literary favourites into book form.
  AUTHORS APPEARING -
  Our headline authors this year are: ROGER MCGOUGH who kicks off the Festival, the presenter of Poetry Please on Radio 4, is also so well known as part of the Liverpool scene but has also been called "the Godfather of English Poetry", which considering lots of his stuff is extremely funny is probably much too pompous. We will be doing a family ticket for Roger as so much of his stuff is part of the school curriculum for all ages.
  JANE GARDAM, from Cullercoats over on the east coast started her distinguished career with the Whitbread Award for her book "The Hollow Land" which tells the story of Bell and Harry 2 lads living under Mallerstang and their adventures. Jane has gone on to win dozens more literary prizes being short listed for the Booker etc. She will be telling us about her book "Old Filth" which is just coming out in paperback.
  RODDY MARTINE ex editor of Scottish Field, is as obsessed by Rosslyn Chapel as any Da Vinci Code reader, having written 4 books about its history. His latest "The Secrets of Roslyn" will clarify the legends which have led dozens of authors to feature the seeming ordinary chapel in Edinburgh, in their tales of mystery and imagination.
  BARBARA ERSKINE will be a familiar name for those who love historical and slightly spooky tales, her latest book Daughters of Fire will be published in August so we will be among the first to see and hear about it. Barbara is an author whose books sell in the millions come and see why. ANDREW WHITLEY is a local, being the guy who started Melmerby bakery, his new book Bread Matters! is being launched in the north on Charter Fair Day here in Sedbergh. After opening the Charter Fair Andrew will explain just why factory-made bread is poisoning us all. It promises to be another Jamie Oliver-like scandal, just what are food producers doing to us all?
  MARTIN BANKS is a specialist and his subject is Berthold Brecht who was one of the giants of 20^th century theatre. Brecht wrote poems, stories and plays but he will be known to most of you as the author of plays like Mother Courage and The Threepenny Opera which was an adaptation of the play by John Gay The Beggars Opera. Most of us know all the words to Mack the Knife the song describing the gruesome exploits of Mack Heath the music is by Kurt Weil. Martin is bringing an exhibition to illustrate his lecture and this is an absolute must for anyone who loves the theatre. Speaking of theatre we have 2 plays to offer. Our home-grown playwright Stuart Manger has written and produced "FOR LOVE OR MONEY" which is loosely based on the Canterbury Tales and of course features Sedbergh's finest thespians. EDUCATING RITA the play is by Willie Russell and will be the second play on the theme of professor and pupil that you can see this summer. Rita is being performed by a touring group Library Theatre from Yeadon.
  GARETH THOMPSON from Ulveston has just published his new book The Great Harlequin Grimm, this is a tale about 2 boys and how being 'different' can lead to adventure and tragedy. Come along and ask Gareth just how he managed to get Doubleday to publish his work and his path to a best seller.
  SUSIE MCGUIRE has brought together stories about that staple item in everyone's wardrobe "the Little Black Dress". Susie is an actress and comedian so I think we can expect some entertaining illustration of her new anthology just for ladies.
  Poetry has not been forgotten this year we have an exciting Poetry Day on Wednesday 30^th August, Jane Routh award winning poet and Jonathan Allen tutor to Sedbergh Poetry Group, will be giving you Poetry Encounters in the street and later Jane will introduce her new book. The Sedbergh poetry group is publishing its new anthology to coincide with the Festival watch for more news.
  And Last but not Least, most afternoons there will be a SHORT STORY read aloud in a café or the library or a book shop and some of them will be broadcast by BBC Radio Cumbria. Whose stories will be read? well it could be yours, for more information ring Stuart Manger 20108, 5000 - 6000 words, age 14 up.
  Tickets and Programmes for the Festival from around mid July at the T. Office

  It is practically two months since I was elected to the South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) and I wanted to share with you from time to time, some of the issues I am working on, on your behalf.
  The two big issues I have been apart of, have been the work on the Garsdale Road and the transition of the Joss Lane Car Park to Sedbergh Parish Council.
  The former, as many of you will be aware, has been an issue for sometime and the Garsdale Parish Council have persistently raised concerns about the state of the roads, with matters coming to ahead recently with the emergency road closure. This resulted in an emergency meeting arranged by the County Councilor, Jo Nicholson, between himself, the road engineers, myself and Parish Council members where the road was actually being repaired. At the meeting, local farmers were more than willing to disassemble wails and allow vehicle access over fields to prevent a full road closure but the costs, according to the engineers, would have proved prohibitive. In the absence of any notification by the County Council to local residents of the situation, I was also concerned about keeping Garsdale residents informed. That same day, the Parish Council Chair, Neil Howarth and I, got together to produce an information sheet to all Garsdale residents alerting them to the closure and drawing their attention to a hot line number for regular updates on the status of repairs.
  A whole number of issues have arisen from the way road repairs have been approached in general as well as in this particular instance, and via Tim Farron's Office, we are taking a number of matters up with the County Council who have responsibility for our highways.
  As mentioned elsewhere in the Lookaround, I have been working closely with Sedbergh Parish Council, fellow councillors and District Council officials to work through the issues surrounding the transition of Joss Lane car park from SLDC to the parish Council. It has been a real team effort here in Sedbergh between myself and fellow Counsillor, Kevin Lancaster and the Parish Councilors, to move forward on the stalemate that John Stanton highlighted in last month's Lookaround. Following a meeting I chaired with Parish Councillors, the District Council's Chief Executive, Mike Jones and the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Car Parks, Graham Vincent, we are pleased to say that we are now making headway. Mr Jones has taken on this matter personally and assures the Parish Council that he will present them with a new offer in July with the hope that a final decision will be reached by September. We are all very hopeful that a resolution is just around the corner.
  Another issue than I am beginning to explore is the future of Dent Store. A group has been formed, the Friends of Dent Store, and Eddie and Rita, the store owners are all working closely with residents and the Friends of Dent Store in attempt to stave off closure, which as most residents have argued, would be a great loss to Dentdale. They are engaged in a number of initiatives to promote the store, such as the sale of organic produce, but as Eddie points out, there is a need for more people to make basic purchases on a frequent basis if the store is to prove viable and survive.
  Of course, there are also the day to day issues, I am reporting on your behalf, including the partial road flooding adjacent to the playground on Havera and various pot holes and loose cobbles. I'll keep a close eye on progress, but in the meantime, do let me know if there is anything I can do to assist!

Craig Strephenson, SLD Councillor

Year 9 Marketing and Enterprise Day
Marketing Fair Trade Products
  Mrs McMullen from Kirkbie Kendal School led the Enterprise Day on marketing Fair Trade products.  After playing some group games, we had to try and sell a ladies cardigan and top - it was really difficult because our market research showed that none of Year 9 would buy it; only Mrs Walsh and Mrs McMullen would.  We worked in groups of 4 and 5 and developed our group skills in the morning.
  The best bit about the whole day was when we played warm-up games - trying to ignore each other and listen to a partner as if we were not at all interested in what they were saying - to improve on group skills and communication ideas.  It was also good when we were doing all the presentations and everyone was determined to win.  I don't think we ever came last, which was good.
Claire Winn
  A few weeks ago all Year 9 students were set a competition to market Fair Trade products.  In the morning we got split into ten groups.  There were around 5 people in each group - in my group there was James Woof, Callum Hopps, Daniel Amos, Kim McCarthy and I.  In our group we were asked to promote Fair Trade hair dye.  We had to prepare our presentation which we were to present to a panel of business people!  We had to do some market research, surveying the whole class to see if they dyed their hair, would they use the hair dye, and what would be a suitable price for it.  We used promotional ideas and our market research to design a poster to help us to give our presentation.  We were the last to present our product to the judges; Mr Stuart Manger, Mrs Pauline Marshall and Mr Mike Clark.  We tried our hardest to impress them.  However, it wasn't enough, we didn't win a prize!  There were rosettes for the teams who did the best market research, best promotional ideas and best enterprise skills.  The overall winners, "Baby World and Charming Jewellery", won a packet of cookies.  My favourite part of the day was presenting our talk to the judges and the Year 9s.  Not only was it fun, it was also a real challenge. Natalie Iveson
  My group was Elizabeth, Stewart, Tom, Annwen and me.  We called ourselves "Baby World".  We were selling clothes and toys for very young children.  The judges gave us a prize for "Best ideas in Posters".  We put drawings and bright colours on it; I enjoyed putting on the colour and pictures.  It was good the meet new people like Anne Catterson and Mrs McMullen and the judges, who have us lots of encouragement.
Carolann Fitzpatrick
  My group for the Marketing Day was Simone Raw, David Goad, Elizabeth Parkinson, Matthew Mudd and mself.  We were called "Charming Jules" and we all chose items of jewellery to sell.  This was a set of earrings with diamonds on them.  We also offered 25% off a necklace which came with the earrings.  Our group got prizes for "Enterprise Skills" and we were judged joint first place for the whole event.  It was a good day because it helped us develop skills for jobs and it was fun when we had a competition at the end of the day.
Sam Whitehead