TWO Cumbrian arts and cultural organisations have benefitted from the wills of two women.

Keswick Museum and Theatre by the Lake have been remembered by Dorothy Hind and Elizabeth Barraclough in their wills.

It was when studying history at Manchester University that Dorothy met her partner of 68 years Elizabeth Barraclough.

Dorothy trained as a social worker, working for local authorities across the Northeast before finally settling and working for the charity Barnardo’s.

Elizabeth headed Newcastle University’s computer department where she had started work in 1957.

After Dorothy’s parents died, in 1975, she and Elizabeth bought a house in Keswick which provided a welcome weekend retreat from very busy careers and eventually a permanent home for their retirement in 1993.

Both women became key players and participants in so many activities and projects, Dorothy and Elizabeth were well-known in many social circles in Keswick.

Having made the permanent move to Keswick, Dorothy was able to spend more time on her interest in local history - being involved in the long struggle to get the Keswick Museum established as a viable organisation when Allerdale Borough Council were no longer able to support it, and eventually taking over cataloguing some of the huge archives at Keswick Museum - finishing just before she died.

Dorothy's other main interest was Theatre by the Lake.

She was actively involved in the effort to create the theatre in the 1990s, and worked as a ticket checker, usher, programme vendor, front of house manager and has helped sell sweets and ice cream.

Chair of the Keswick Museum’s board of trustees, Clare Poulter, said: “We are immensely grateful for Dorothy’s many years of passionate support as an ambassador and a volunteer and now as a very generous benefactor.

“Dorothy’s generous legacy will allow us to consider even more ambitious exhibitions and events for both our local communities and our visitors.

“Dorothy appreciated the important role Keswick Museum plays as a centre for local culture and history and in the many years she gave us as a volunteer she helped the museum to conserve and celebrate our rich heritage making it possible for us to share our collections and stories for the enjoyment, education and inspiration for all who visited us.

“Cultural organisations like Keswick Museum are facing challenging times and look to our visitors, funders, donors, supporters and communities to help us to continue to be here for our community.

“We are delighted to be able to name a gallery in Dorothy’s memory, a lasting memory of a woman who loved and was loved by Keswick.”

Liz Stevenson, artistic director of TBTL, said: “This gift, left in the wills of these two great supporters of Keswick culture, is all the more valuable as we emerge from another crisis, that of Covid.

“Their generosity has eased the pressure that we, along with all other theatres, face as we tackle the challenges associated with rebuilding audiences against a backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis.”