Gerard Richardson (author)

Last updated

Gerard Richardson MBE DL A98526 120f9339b43c4ca4bcfa9946e5225cf7.png
Gerard Richardson MBE DL
Royal Visit to Whitehaven 2008 Royal Visit - Sugar Tongue 03.jpg
Royal Visit to Whitehaven 2008

Gerard Paul Richardson MBE DL [1] born 4 January 1962 in Cleator Moor was the founder and CEO of the International Maritime Festivals [2] which ran in Whitehaven from 1999 to 2013. He is also an author of two recipe books with Jean Christophe Novelli [3] four local history books about Whitehaven [4] & West Cumbria and a businessman in the town. He has served as a Magistrate since 1994 and was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Cumbria on 29th April 2022

Contents

He joined the Royal Navy as an Naval Air Engineer in 1981 and served until 1986 when he joined Sellafield, serving primarily as a Fireman. During this period he planned the Maritime Festivals, staging what was intended to be a one off event for up to 10,000 people in 1999. When an estimated 80,000 turned up, the Maritime Festival Company which ran the event decided to stage it every two years.

He is a drinks columnist for a number of Newquest newspapers in the UK [5] [6]

Whitehaven Maritime Festival Company

The festivals were held in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and then annually until 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, the company organised two Home and Garden Festivals, a First World War Parade [7] with air shows, and their final event was the Western Lakes Film Festival in June 2015. The latter event is credited with the temporary re-opening of the town's only cinema, the Gaiety, which closed 12 years earlier. [8]

In addition to his work with the festivals, he also organised a number of other events during the same period. He announced his retirement from events in 2015, and the Festival Company closed down in 2016. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Awards and honours

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Civil Division [22] [23] Medal for services to Cumbrian Tourism and services to the Community in the 2011 New Years Honours List.

Cumbrian News Lifetime Achievement in Business award 2012 [24] [25]

Cumbria Community Heroes Lifetime Achievement award 2015 [26] [27] [28]

Commended by the United States Ambassador to the UK in 2010 for furthering relations between the UK and USA [29]

He was Appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Cumbria on 18 April 2022. [30] [31] This gave him the Post Nominal Letters "DL" for Life.

After retirement

He runs Richardson's of Whitehaven, a wine and coffee merchants, in the town and is working on his first novel. [32] [33]

Related Research Articles

Cumbria Ceremonial county of England

Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county. The only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the south-western tip of the county.

Westmorland Historic county of England

Westmorland is a historic county in North West England. It formed an administrative county between 1889 and 1974, after which the whole county was administered by the new administrative and ceremonial county of Cumbria. The people of Westmorland are known as Westmerians. In April 2023, it is planned that local government in Cumbria will be reorganised into two unitary authorities, one of which is to be named Westmorland and Furness and would cover all of the historic county along with parts of historic Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland.

Cumberland Historic county of England

Cumberland is a historic county in North West England that had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. It is bordered by the historic counties of Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria. In April 2023, local government in Cumbria will be reorganised into two unitary authorities; one of these is to be named Cumberland and would include most of the historic county, with the exception of Penrith and the surrounding area.

Whitehaven Town in Cumbria, England

Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Carlisle and 45 miles (72 km) to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is the administrative seat of the Borough of Copeland, and has a town council for the parish of Whitehaven. The population of the town was 23,986 at the 2011 census.

Cumbria Constabulary English territorial police force

Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 police staff, 93 police community support officers, and 86 special constables.

Ravenglass Human settlement in England

Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland District in Cumbria, England. It is between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Historically in Cumberland, it is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. It is located at the estuary of three rivers: the Esk, Mite and Irt.

St Bees Human settlement in England

St Bees is a coastal village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Copeland district of Cumbria, England, on the Irish Sea.

Egremont, Cumbria Human settlement in England

Egremont is a market town, civil parish and two electoral wards in Cumbria, England, and historically part of Cumberland. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, five miles south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen.

CN Group Limited was formerly an independent local media business based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, operating in print and radio. It is now owned by Newsquest and their newspapers are printed in Glasgow.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service Fire and rescue service in north west England

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Cumbria, England. Since 2012, the headquarters for the service's 38 fire stations are at Penrith next to the headquarters of Cumbria Constabulary.

Cumbria County Council

Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body responsible for the most significant local services in the area, including schools, roads, and social services.

2009 Cumbria County Council election

An election to Cumbria County Council took place on 2 May 2009 as part of the 2009 United Kingdom local elections. All 84 councillors were elected from various electoral divisions, which returned one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. They coincided with an election for the European Parliament. All 84 seats in the Council were up for election, and a total of 301 candidates stood. The total number of people registered to vote was 392,931. Prior to the election local Conservatives were leading a coalition with the Liberal Democrats with the Labour party as the council's official opposition.

West Cumberland Hospital Hospital in England

West Cumberland Hospital is a hospital in Hensingham, a suburb of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, and was the first district general hospital to be built in England following the creation of the National Health Service. It is managed by the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. A campaign group is fighting to maintain hospital services at the West Cumberland Hospital, many of which have been moved to the Cumberland Infirmary, 40 mi (64 km) away from the population centres of the West Cumbrian coast.

The Whitehaven Academy Academy in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England

The Whitehaven Academy is a comprehensive co-educational secondary school with academy status, located in Whitehaven, in west Cumbria, England. The school was established in 1984.

2017 Copeland by-election

There was a by-election in the British parliamentary constituency of Copeland on 23 February 2017, following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jamie Reed. Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison gained the seat from Labour, the first gain for a governing party in a by-election since 1982.

The Cumbria Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cumbria Rugby Union. It was first introduced during the 1882-83 season, when it was known as the Cumberland Challenge Cup, and the inaugural winners were Aspatria. Originally it was open only to club sides in Cumberland, but in 1974, as a result of the 1972 Local Government Act, Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness merged to form what we now know as Cumbria, and the competition was renamed as the Cumbria Cup, although the Westmorland & Furness Cup continued intermittently up until 2008. It is the most important cup competition in the county ahead of the Cumbria League Cup and Cumbria Shield.

The Lakeland Book of the Year, also known as the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year is an award given annually for a book "set in or featuring Cumbria in some way", and is named for the Lake District of north west England. It was founded by writer Hunter Davies in 1984 and is administered by Cumbria Tourism. The judges in 2021, for books published in 2020, were Hunter Davies, Eric Robson and Fiona Armstrong. The prizes are traditionally announced at a gala lunch in June, although in 2020 the proceedings took place online because of COVID-19.

Cumberland (district) District and Unitary authority in England

Cumberland is a future unitary local government area in north-west England. It will be formally established on 1 April 2023. The district will consist of the areas covered by the current Cumbrian districts of Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland. It will cover 75% of the area of, and 90% of the population of, the historic county of Cumberland. The authority will sit within the ceremonial county of Cumbria.

Westmorland and Furness Future unitary authority area in England

Westmorland and Furness is a future unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Cumbria in north-west England. The council will cover the areas currently served by the districts of Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland. It will include all of the area of the historic county of Westmorland as well as the Furness district of historic Lancashire. It will also incorporate a very small part of historic Yorkshire together with about quarter of the area of the historic county of Cumberland.

References

  1. "Cumbria today interview".
  2. "Lakestay web".
  3. "Lakeland Web news".
  4. "waterstones".
  5. "Expert shares seocrets". North West Evening Mail. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. Lacie-Davidson, Mattie (6 October 2018). "The only two kinds of sherry". East London & West Essex Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. "Cumbria Crack". December 2013.
  8. "Whitehaven News". May 2015.
  9. "In Cumbria". October 2015.
  10. "BBC News". 2005.
  11. "Copeland Council grant forum" (PDF). June 2002.
  12. "BBC News archive". July 2005.
  13. "News and Star". August 2006.
  14. "BBC News". June 2008.
  15. "Northumberland Gazette". June 2008.
  16. "News and Star". June 2008.
  17. "News & Star". August 2008.
  18. "WesternLakeland web site". June 2010.
  19. "Cumberland News". December 2014.
  20. "Copeland Council archive".
  21. "News and Star". May 2015.
  22. "Evening news".
  23. "Cumberland & Westmorland Herald". Cumberland&Westmorland Herald. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  24. "Times & Star". November 2015.
  25. "Cumbrian News".
  26. "Whitehaven News". November 2015.
  27. "Times and Star". November 2015.
  28. "Cumbria today topical news website".
  29. "Lakestay". lakestay.co.uk. 2013.
  30. Lewis, Brandon (29 April 2022). "New Deputy Lieutenants Appointed". Whitehaven News. p. 1. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  31. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions CUMBRIA LIEUTENANCY". The London Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  32. "Richardsons of Whitehaven Shop website". May 2017.
  33. "InCumbria".