Church – Services – Village – Events – Giving – Links
The Village
Crosby Ravensworth is the largest of the six parishes in the area, which includes all the upper reaches of the Lyvennet Beck, and over the watershed to Shap Wells Hotel, west of the M6. There are three small villages in the parish: Crosby itself, Maulds Meaburn and Reagill, with a number of scattered farms, but the total population is only about 550. Apart from ‘service occupations’, such as teaching, contracting, hospitality and driving, the only main occupation is still agriculture. A number work from home. Some 15% are Senior Citizens, some of whom have come into the area to retire. Our Church School was built in 1963 to replace the three old schools and it has been extended twice since. It now includes King’s Meaburn children and there are around 46 on roll. There is a well regarded community owned pub in the village, the Butchers Arms, which offers visitors a warm welcome, traditional ales and an excellent menu. There is no shop in the parish but Crosby is home to Vista Veg, a grower’s cooperative selling seasonal fruit and vegetables across Cumbria through a box scheme. The picture above shows the main street of Crosby Ravensworth (below you can see an old photograph of the same scene).
The refurbished Village Hall (see photo below) is well-used by many organisations and groups. There is a flourishing Art Group which meets weekly, badminton, a play group, nursery and regular coffee mornings which raise funds for various charities.
There is a well resourced First Responders group which is effective as Paramedics can take up to 25 minutes to come from Penrith. The Parish Archive has its own dedicated building and there is a thriving History Society. We can proudly boast of having an Agricultural Show every year, the only one in the Leith-Lyvennet Parishes, which has run for over 150 years almost continuously. A local photographer, Mike Angelo has some photographs of the show.
The W.I. is still going strong and is held in the Maulds Meaburn Village Institute. Every spring there is a “Crocus Walk” in aid of Breast Cancer Charities around the village fields and woods, which attracts many people.
Maulds Meaburn is a small village next to Crosby Ravensworth and within our parish. Their newly built Village Institute runs a regular programme of events, houses the pop-up Post Office and is available to book. Further information can be found on their website at www.mmvi.org.uk
There is a monthly news magazine called Lyvennet Link, which covers the villages of Maulds Meaburn, Crosby Ravensworth, Kings Meaburn and Reagill, full of ‘what’s on’. We also have a very active Parish Council. We have a Community Plan in place, which also shows the hopes of the people for the future, which are too numerous to show here.