The Club was formed in 1946, shortly after the war ended. This was when the now wide eroded paths on the  fells were pleasant minor tracks. A preliminary meeting was held at Currock House on the 14th of March 1946. This was called by Mr Andrew H Corcoran with a view to forming an H.F. and C.H.A. Rambling Club. 17 people attended the meeting and 5 were elected as a temporary Committee. These were Miss Olive Routledge, Miss Nan Dawson, Mr Stuart Illis, Mr F Davison and Mr Andrew Corcoran.

Right from the outset, the Club was affiliated to H.F. (Holiday Fellowship) and C.H.A. (Countrywide Holidays Association). To facilitate this both organisations ran guest houses in the Lake District and elsewhere in the U.K. for walking holidays. Sometime after, the C.H.A. ceased to operate and the affiliation with it ended. The Club then took on the title Carlisle & District Rambling Club.

The first walk of the new club took place on Sunday the 28th of April 1946. The group took a 10am Ribble bus to Bridge End, Dalston then walked to Sebergham, returning to Carlisle on the 7pm bus. This walk was repeated to celebrate the 40th and 50th anniversaries in 1986 and 1996. It was also repeated for the 60th anniversary and could be a consideration for the upcoming 80th next year.

The first general meeting of the club took place on the 6th of June 1946 when 40 members attended. Mr Corcoran was elected as Secretary and for a few years meetings were held at Currock House. The first hill walk was up Helvellyn on the 23rd of June 1946 for which a special bus was hired. The first weekend away was on the 18th/19th of October 1946 where 20 unmarried ladies attended along with a few gentlemen. The club was dominated numbers wise by ladies right up until the 1970s. The first A.G.M was held on the 28th of February 1947 when a set of rules was adopted. Apparently a walkers bus would leave Carlisle every Sunday for a Lakeland location This was used for the first time on the 4th of April 1948 for a hike up Great Gable led by Miss Marion Graham. Between 1949 and 1951 club expenditure grew from £2.15s.11d. to £7.3s.2d. One of the reasons was because brandy was purchased for the First Aid Kit.

The club numbers did not start to grow until the 1960s and with the decline of public transport, cars were used more and more. The only coach outing at that time was the Annual Ramble. In 1965 the office of President was created, the first being a Mr Harold Stevens. He held the position until he died in 1990. In 1976 subscriptions were raised from 3 shillings 6 pence to 5 shillings due to the introduction of a printed programmes. Five shillings being the equivalent to 25 new pence. At that year's A.G.M the club had a healthy balance of £20. 16s 3d. There were 7 candidates for 2 vacancies on the Committee. Toward the end of the year walking was halted for 3 months due to an outbreak of foot and mouth. In 1976 the club membership stood at 97 and started to grow yearly until it reached around 300. In the early 1980s  coach walks were introduced, this was the brain child of Mr Roger Diver and has continued to be a feature to this day. There have been at least 15 marriages in the club over the years.

In more recent times, Mr. Graham Bell held the post of Chairman. During this period the first website was posted on the internet. Graham subsequently held the position of President and in recent memory has probably led more walks than any other member. Graham was followed by Mr. John MacKay who was in post as Chairman for 10 years. John was instrumental with regard to the advancement of our internet status. Judith Mingins is the current President. In the past few years there has been a slight increase in younger membership but it is still predominantly persons in their  later years.

As we approach our 80th year the club continues to flourish. Recently we have gone on Face Book, keeping up with the times. The Website has been refreshed and we are also on WhatsApp. Membership is strong at 140 and the club is managing well with the increase in expenditure on Coach outings, one of our major outlays. Looking towards next year I would hope we can celebrate  the anniversary in a number of ways. If you, as members have any thoughts or ideas on how we can do this please get in touch.

Also if there are any old pictures lying around that we can post please let us have a copy.

Wishing everybody many more happy years of walking and club membership.

​

​

 

​