THE work of father and son photographers Edward and Raymond Sankey will feature at the Friday, January 25, meeting of the Barrow Civic and Local History Society.

Speaker Geoff Holme will give his short presentation after the 2pm annual meeting and a discussion on the future direction of the society.

The meeting is at 2pm in the Trinity Church Centre, on Abbey Road, Barrow. All are welcome.

Admission, including refreshments, is £2.50 for members and £3.00 for visitors.

The speaker for the society's last meeting of the year was Dr Rob David, whose talk was called Holidaying in the Lake District in the 1940s and 1950s.

Dr David invited the audience to share with everyone at the end of his talk any holiday memories they might have from that era.

Since he first gave this lecture four years ago, he has added the personal stories of people who have been at one of his talks.

The Lake District was popular with holidaymakers just as much in those days as today, with the landscape as its main attraction.

It was interesting to compare the types of holidays such as caravanning and camping, though there were fewer organised campsites and hardly any with the amenities we have come to expect today.

Scouting and Guiding holidays took place annually, with the equipment and the children often travelling together in a removal van.

Holiday organisations such as the Co-operative Holidays Association and the Holiday Fellowship arranged a week’s long programme of activities, some of which involved strenuous fell walking up to the top of the Lake District’s highest mountains.

The YHA holidays and cycling club tours were a way for different generations to meet and enjoy being outdoors.

Dr David recalled the holidays he and his family had spent at the Strands Hotel in Nether Wasdale in the 1940s and 1950s.

Like many holidaymakers today, they had enjoyed the journey on the “Ratty” steam railway between Ravenglass and Eskdale, fell walking and visits to the seaside.

When visiting the Roman Fort on Hardknott Pass, they had left their car at the bottom and walked up, as motoring on those roads was difficult in the 1950s.

The old photographs and oral history accounts made this talk even more interesting and everyone enjoyed hearing about the variety of holidays in the Lake District during that time.

The vote of thanks was given by Mark Newbrook.

Barrow Civic and Local History Society was established in 1985 and has enjoyed the support of local people for over three decades.

It aims to promote the heritage of Barrow and encourage a sense of civic pride.