ROGER Hart and his late wife Mary came to Allerdale to retire - but it seems that neither knew the meaning of the word.

Roger, 76, retired from Allonby Parish Council at the last elections, after 17 years, including the last six years as chairman.

"I thought at my age that it was time to give someone younger a go," he said.

Originally from Manchester, Roger was a civil servant working for his local council in St Helens when he retired 21 years ago.

He and Mary decided to retire to Lake District but, instead, found themselves on the coast in the seaside village of Allonby.

"After retirement I had started collecting antiques. We were packing to come here and I was using a tea chest with "Lynwood". The house we were going to live in was called Lynwood - that seemed to be a sign."

Once they arrived in the village, it did not take long for the couple to become involved, both in Allonby and further afield.

Roger became the grants development officer with the Cumbria Community Foundation, an organisation which promotes philanthropy.

It manages more than 100 grant making funds, supporting more than 500 community projects per year on behalf of fundholders. Since 1999, the organisation has invested more than £56m into almost 4,000 groups and 8,000 individuals throughout Cumbria.

He and Mary were among those who fought successfully to save the Maryport Maritime Museum when it was threatened with closure.

He was one of the organisers of an exhibition of photographs telling the story of Allonby past and present with photos supplied by him, Peter Ostle, and Martin Reid.

As part of the Allonby Forum, he was one of those instrumental in getting the village play area upgraded.

He was spokesman for the forum when it held a pie and pea supper to tell the story of a ship grounded in Allonby in 1903.

A cargo 32,000 cans of pears, 24,000 cans of salmon and an equally large number of peaches just disappeared - but the last laugh might have been on the villagers as all the labels had been washed off the cans!

Roger also became a member of the Cockermouth Lions Club and served as president.

Now Roger is looking forward to retirement again - but watch this space!