New Year honours awarded

People who have served the wider community as well as the areas in which they live were honoured along with those who have worked in industry.

They rubbed shoulders with the likes of actor Alan Bates, comedian Jasper Carrot, athlete Ashia Hansen and golfer Sam Torrance when the awards were announced on Monday.

Among the high-profile names in South Lakeland to get an MBE for services to local government was district councillor Elizabeth Braithwaite (pictured). Her work as an elected independent repre-sentative for Grasmere spans 25 years and she is a former chairman of South Lakeland District Council.

She represents SLDC at county, regional and national level as well as being president of Grasmere Village Society, vice president of the Lakeland Housing Trust (homes for local people) and a vice president of Cumbria Tourist Board.

Coun Braithwaite is also a member of the North West Regional Assembly and, for the past seven years, the chairman of the Cumbria Rural Development Group.

Born and educated at Leeds in Yorkshire, Coun Braithwaite studied at the College of Commerce and the Home Office College, and moved to South Lakeland when she married her oil engineer husband, Stanley. They have two adult sons, Ian and Nigel, and two grandchildren.

Coun Braithwaite is the only Honorary Freeman of the Lakes, a Millennium accolade for public service, and made history in 1966 by becoming the first woman to make the ascent of Scafell England's highest peak on horseback.

She served on Lakes Parish Council for 25 years, South Cumbria Community Health Council for 12, and is still a member of the Local Government Association General Assembly, Rural Commission and Rural Housing Task-Force.

Coun Braithwaite , who counts being elected first woman chair of SLDC as one of her proudest career moments, said she was still "reeling" from the news.

"This came as such a shock because in public life one just ploughs on day after day, week after week, month after month and the years roll on.

"I am aware, of course, it is a very great honour, but I have had the support of family and I have been very touched by the telephone calls and e-mails I have received from people from London and locally about the news."

OBE for park chairman

Former chairman of the Lake District National Park Authority Peter Phizacklea was awarded an OBE for services to the national park and to Cumbria.

He said the news had come as a total surprise. "This was genuinely totally unexpected. It came out of the blue."

The married father-of-three said his two stints as chair of the authority between 1981 and 1985, and 1999 and 2002 had been without doubt the "highlights of his career".

"To be on the authority is great in itself, but to be chair is marvellous. I have said it many times before but it really is the best job in local government. I have been incredibly fortunate to have done that job twice."

Mr Phizacklea, (pictured) who was chair of the LDNPA during foot-and-mouth, described it as the "worst of times" for the county. "It was desperate, it created all sorts of problems for people in Cumbria, in farming and tourism. It is something we all hope we never see again."

The Dalton-born and bred grandfather-of-seven joined the LDNPA in 1977 and is believed to be the longest-serving authority national park authority member in the country.

He has represented Dalton North on Cumbria County Council since the authority was formed in 1974. His future ambitions include a long-standing desire to see the Lake District become a World Heritage Site.

He has also served on numerous other organisations including the Environment Agency Flood Defence Committee for the Northern area, the Northern Development Company and Equal Arts Northern Area.

Award for shipbuilder

Michael Joseph Salmon, construction director for the Astute submarine being built by BAE Systems Marine Ltd, Barrow, has received an OBE for his services to shipbuilding.

Mr Joseph, a 53-year-old father-of-two who lives at Gleaston, near Ulverston, said he was "absolutely delighted" to have received the award and was feeling "a bit numb" since getting the news.

"In my job, you work in teams and this award also recognises the teams that I have worked for," said Mr Joseph (pictured), who until recently was operations director at the company.

"I am very proud, not just for myself but my family."

Mr Salmon, who is married to Sue and has a daughter, Jenni, and a son, Paul, has worked on the majority of big projects since starting work at what was then VSEL over 30 years ago. He is originally from Barrow but has lived in Gleaston for 15 years.

A former rugby player, Mr Salmon is now a keen spectator watching both league and union games.

Community effort

Former Lake District National Park Authority member John Fryer-Spedding, OBE, who is chairman of the Cockermouth-based Cumbria Community Foundation an organisation which makes grants to a wide range of voluntary organisations throughout the county receives a CBE.

Mr Fryer-Spedding, (pictured) who lives in Bassenthwaite, said the award was in recognition for the work the charity did during the foot-and-mouth outbreak when it raised

£2.2 million.

"I feel very proud for Cumbria," said Mr Fryer-Spedding, a fellow of The Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere. "It's the staff and trustees that I have who are being honoured."

He paid tribute to the director Andrew Beeforth, vice chairman Arthur Sanderson and president James Cropper.

l Other people to get "gongs" in Cumbria are Carlisle farmer Richard Carruthers Davidson, who receives an MBE for services to the rural community; British Nuclear Fuels Ltd process worker Peter Foley, of Whitehaven, who receives an MBE for services to race relations; Graham Franklin Thompson, head of science and physics at Keswick School, receives an MBE for services to education; Joseph Bragg gets an MBE for services to the community in Whitehaven; and Margaret Veronica Broughton is awarded an MBE for

her work as a contracts assistant with the

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at Windscale.

January 3, 2003 09:30