By Chris Story

Last updated at 14:02, Friday, 06 July 2012

There may not seem to be an obvious connection between a rat catcher and a legendary busker.

Jim Templeton

Nor is there an immediate link between these people and those of their generation who were undoubtedly more affluent and members of a camera club.

Yet there is one. And it comes courtesy of a man who was one of the true characters of modern Carlisle.

They were all part of a rich collection by Jim Templeton, an avid photographer, historian, author and picture collector.

After his death last year at the age of 91, his family have given many of the images he amassed to Carlisle Archives Centre. Some were on show this week as part of efforts to open up more of Cumbria’s history to its residents.

An album from Mr Templeton’s collection is the exhibit of the month at the city archives centre in Lady Gillford’s House, on Petteril Bank. It features some intriguing photographs thought to have been taken of and around Carlisle between about 1890 and 1920.

They are thought to have been gathered over decades by Mr Templeton and include those of a rat catcher at work, the city’s tip and legendary city busker Jimmy Dyer.

It was chosen for display this week by archivist Louise Smith, who believes the album and Mr Templeton’s wider collection, is a social chronicle of life in Carlisle.

She said: “The album is very miscellaneous, but it’s fascinating. We think we will be able to use the pictures his family have given us in all sorts of ways for our displays and exhibitions.”

A chosen archive is being displayed at Carlisle Archives Centre every month in celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Cumbria Archives Service. Other pictures in the album include the Methodist Hall, in Fisher Street, in its former glory – a camera club outing and Carlisle paperboys in 1884.

Interest in local photographs is always keen from visitors to the archives centre. Louise added: “We get quite a lot of groups coming to the centre and if we put a display out, it’s always the photographs and the maps that are the most popular.

“We are trying to build our photograph collection, so this donation has been a really valuable addition. We want to promote the collection and develop it.”

Chosen pieces from collections at other archives centres in Kendal, Whitehaven and Barrow have also been on display this week.

Jim Templeton was one of Carlisle’s best-known characters. He unwittingly achieved world-wide fame in 1964 when he photographed his daughter during a family picnic at Burgh by Sands.

What captured everybody’s attention was the image in the background, a mysterious figure clad in a white space-suit. Even now, the picture of the so-called Solway Spaceman, published and talked about around the world, remains a mystery.

But despite that renowned picture, his work in recording Carlisle’s history is already leaving a rich legacy.

First published at 14:08, Friday, 06 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk