THE first talk of the autumn season at the Ulverston-based North Lonsdale Society on Tuesday, September 13, will mark the end of an era for local history lecturer Walter Johnston.
This will be his final public lecture after a career stretching back to the 1960s and is on the topic of the Duddon Valley.
The talk starts at 7.30pm in the Methodist Church, in Neville Street, Ulverston, and will look at the industry, people, landscape and buildings of one of the most remote and scenic parts of South Cumbria.
The North Lonsdale Society has been promoting the study and celebration of local history for 50 years and although Mr Johnston was not a founder member he was one of its first lecturers.
His Johnston, of Yarlside Road, Barrow, was born in the town in 1936 and from school days gained an interest in local history, literature, music and later in antiques.
In the 1960s he started lecturing on the Lake District and its famous writers and gave courses of lectures for Lancashire County Council and from 1974 for Cumbria County Council.
He has lectured on John Ruskin and the Lake District at Oxford and his television work has included pieces on Wedgwood Pottery and the Furness Abbey Mystery Plays.
Mr Johnston’s interest in gardening has seen him lecture for the Royal Horticultural Society and research the life and garden designs of Thomas Mawson.
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