Pie in the Sky

One of the joys of being a newspaper cartoonist in a National Park is knowing that the National Park Authority is going to provide me with material at regular intervals.

The Lake District is currently on its third bid for World Heritage status. It’s been turned down twice before. But that hasn’t prevented some blue sky thinking on what we’re going to do if we DO get it. Literally blue sky. Cable cars, for instance. A cable car spanning the lake and Claife between Bowness and Hawkshead will effortlessly whisk visitors to Beatrix Potter Land. Another to connecting Bowness and Windermere villages will sweep hordes of wheely-suitcases between the railway station and the lake front.

As you can imagine, the suggestion did not meet with universal approval. “Pie in the sky,” said a Tory councillor, leading to a rumour that the cable car is going to have catering. The National Park consultant claims the idea has “wow” factor.

What do you think?

Below are my cartoon sketches submitted to The Westmorland Gazette. The color version is the editor’s choice but which would you have gone for? Are cable cars in the Lake District a fun idea or or just blowing in the wind? Add your comments below.

Blowing in the wind

A mixture of darkness and light in this week's Westmorland Gazette stories.

First, the light. A farm in Kirkby-in-Furness is going to be host to 50,000 solar cells to generate green electricity. The cells will be built above grazing land so the sheep can continue to mill about underneath.

On a darker note, complaints have been heard of boxes littering the fells. Apparently people are scattering the ashes of their dead relatives and then leaving the boxes behind.

Now, normally this last story could be relied upon to set off the Bad Taste Klaxon which is permanently installed on the desk of my Steamed Editor. But no, the subject passed and a cartoon was approved.

So, dear gentle reader, which of these cartoons would you have chosen for the front page of this week's Gazette?

Make your vote known in the comments box below and then shuffle off to my website to see if you were correct.

Making Plans for Brockhole

Brockhole is the Lake District National Park Authority visitor centre and is justly famous. It's a Victorian mansion which stands in Thomas Mawson-designed grounds on the shore of England's largest lake.

It's a lovely old building in a superb setting. I'm quite fond of it.

But over the years it has suffered at the hands of consultants, planners and a number of folk who wanted to improve it, maximise it's visitor potential or chop bits down. As the Park has gradually withdrawn from servicing visitors - closing down many of its tourist information centres, for example - Brockhole is looking increasingly out on a limb, exposed to the cruel ravages of the UK recession and political whim.

Now we have yet another Masterplan. Yes, they've been making plans for Brockhole so that it can boldly go into the 21st century. This was reported yesterday in the Cumbria media, including my own Westmorland Gazette. Not unnaturally, I wanted to tackle it in my front page cartoon.

You can see the results below. My first batch was rejected as a little too aggressive. I submitted a second selection and … we went for a cartoon about Crooklands village constantly losing its electricity supply, whilst the rest of Cumbria gets superfast broadband.

What do you think? Was the right choice? Comments welcome below.

(The musical links in this week's blog are entirely gratuitous. I needed cheering up.)

Veg out

A horticultural theme for this week's Westmorland Gazette cartoon candidates.

Venerable organisation Cumbria In Bloom - which celebrates the best towns and villages in the area - is suffering a shortfall in its finances.

And Brockhole's famous, 110-year old monkey puzzle tree has finally been cut down, despite protests. The National Park Authority says it's been done in order to make the garden more in line with designer Thomas Mawson's original intentions. Complete with adventure playground.

None of which is as exciting as the US Presidential Election but that's the lot of the local cartoonist. Compensate by making Your Vote Count in the comments box below and say which cartoon you think should grace today's front page.

There are no exit polls, no unnecessary chads, no vote rigging … simply head straight to my website to see if you were right.