DESCENDANTS of William Wordsworth have awarded a literacy prize to a Barrow schoolboy whose work reminded them of the great Lake District poet.

Members of the Wordsworth family judged Jacob Currie, a Furness Academy student, to be the best young poet in their county-wide competition. 

The 14-year-old student won with his poem 'The Gap in Life', succeeding from more than 150 entries.

The theme of the contest was 'Mind the Gap', inspired by the aftermath of the winter floods which closed the A591, between the north and south of the Lake District. 

Peter Elkington, curator of Rydal Mount, near Ambleside, Wordsworth’s home for most of his life, organised the contest on behalf of the family. Mr Elkington, said: “The writers could interpret the theme in any way they wished, but we thought that it would be an opportunity for some of them to consider how the winter storms and the gap on the A591 have affected their lives and their family lives.”

The poet’s great-great-great-great-grandson, Christopher Wordsworth, said: “There were lots of good poems, but we chose the winning poem because it reminded us of Wordsworth and his nature poems, and the poems of his childhood. 

"It also took the ‘Mind the Gap’ theme and developed it into something more universal than just the road.”

Jacob was presented with a £50 prize, a trophy, and his name was added to the roll of honour plaque at Rydal Mount.

Jacob said: “I feel exceptionally privileged to have been able to meet the descendants of William Wordsworth. I am thrilled to have won the poetry competition and would also like to congratulate all the other winners.”

His teacher Emma Lashmar said: "I could not feel more proud of each pupil who entered the competition; each poem was creative, emotive and full of individuality. It has been a pleasure for us all to be involved in the competition, particularly with so many of our pupils being personally commended by the descendants of William Wordsworth for their entries. Jacob is the very worthy winner of the overall prize, and every member of our school community is elated at his success and honoured to share this experience with him." 

The school has created an anthology in the English section of the school website.

In the senior schools category, the winner was Ross Casson, 16, from Dowdales School. The junior winner was Amelie Tyson, 11, of Ambleside CE Primary School. They both received books.

There were also books for the highly commended poets.They were Connor O’Hara, 14, who is home-schooled, Elliot Knowles, 13, Joshua L’Anson,14, Fay Baron, 14 and Milly Mckinnell, 13, all from Furness Academy; Joseph Rollit, 11, and Jack Dixon, nine, from Grasmere Primary School; Sammy Barnett, seven, from Ambleside Primary; and Kaleb Million, eight, and Molly Salt, five, from Storth Primary School.

Each entrant received a certificate signed by the Wordsworth family.