Stephen Sykes in Hill Top, Haverthwaite, the last home of Arthur Ransome.

Stephen Sykes, owner of Arthur Ransome’s last home, Hill Top in Haverthwaite, will be giving a talk about “The Ransomes at Hill Top” next Friday at the Carthouse Cinema in nearby Oxen Park, Cumbria.

Hill Top, a former farmhouse dating from 1860, was first rented by the Ransomes in 1956, before they bought it in 1960. Stephen and Janine Sykes have converted part of it into self-catering accommodation, and also offer house tours to guests. 

Stephen Sykes has also restored the only known radio recordings of Arthur Ransome from a series of short BBC Radio programmes recorded and broadcast in 1948 and 1956.

The Carthouse Cinema is a 40-seat community cinema that was opened in November 2014 in an old Oxen Park village barn and brewery carthouse, and has been restored to its original pitched-roof form. It is situated in the Colton Valley, approximately at the mid-point between Hill Top, Rusland Church (the resting place of the Ransomes), and the southern tip of Coniston Water. 

Stephen Sykes’ talk is on Friday 7th February at 7:30pm. Tickets are £4 on the door and places should be booked by contacting Carol McNeil (e-mail: crlmcneill@gmail.com or telephone: 01229 861507). The postcode location of the Carthouse Cinema is LA12 8HG, while refreshments are available at the nearby Manor House.

Carthouse Cinema talks programme.