A. R. C. Johnston (FN 37-42)

Arthur Johnston, the former Carlisle architect who died at the end of May 2016, was a popular and enthusiastic personality who devoted his attention to many areas of Cumbrian life. With a flair for precision and getting a job well done, he was committed to the long-established family architectural practice of Johnston and Wright in Carlisle and was a well known participant in community and social work.

He was born in Carlisle in 1924 and educated at Carlisle Grammar School then St. Bees School, where he won a Grindal Exhibition and subsequently became Head of School. In 1942 he began studies in Architecture at Liverpool University for a year before conducting his military service with the Queens Royal Regiment and the Border Regiment. On discharge from the army he returned to Liverpool to complete his degree and successfully obtained First Class Honours. During this period he was awarded the Ravenhead and Holt Travelling Scholarships, the Holland Hannen and Cubitts Prize, and also the RIBA Archibald Dawney Scholarship.

His career began at Michael Scott Architects in Dublin before he returned to Carlisle to join Johnston and Wright in 1950. There, with his brother David, he worked as a partner, director and consultant, representing the third generation of his family to do so since 1885. He managed the commercial and industrial work for the firm which received numerous Department of the Environment, European Architectural Heritage and Civic Trust Awards for the design and conservation of buildings in the North of England. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1958 and became an active lifelong member, as a Northern Architectural Association assessor for the RIBA and Civic Trust Awards, and a Chairman of the Cumberland Branch of the Northern Architectural Association.

He was a natural and capable organizer and his abilities were put to good use on numerous local voluntary committees. He worked with Voluntary Action Cumbria, and in 1959 was the founder chairman of the Cumbria Best Kept Village Competition. He was a founder Chairman of the Cumbria Countryside Conference and a long-serving member of the Rural Industries Committee. He also served as a Vice Chairman of BBC Radio Cumbria Local Radio Council.

He served as a Church Warden of St Mary’s Church, Beaumont, with Kirkandrews-on-Eden and Grinsdale, and after many years on Beaumont Parish Council was elected Chairman from 1993 to 1999.

He was a keen sportsman at school and played rugby for various clubs in England and Ireland as well as being selected to play for Cumberland and Westmorland. Other interests included walking, shooting and gardening.

In 1953 he married Fay Lightfoot, daughter of Lionel and Sylvia Lightfoot. For the most part they lived in Beaumont near Carlisle, where his ashes were interred on Friday 20 January 2017. Fay survives him with their three children, Richard, Adrian and Sarah, and their seven grandchildren.

 

 

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