"peppery old swine". In November 1884 Rawnsley and his wife began organising classes in metalwork and wood carving. There was considerable unemployment in Keswick and the surrounding area, particularly in the winter months, and the Rawnsleys aimed to provide productive and satisfying work. Rawnsley was mindful of advice given to him by William Morris: The classes, for men only, were held in the parish rooms near the centre of the town, under the supervision of Edith Rawnsley, assisted by a local designer and another professional from the South Kensington School of Design. This led to the establishment of the Keswick School of Industrial Art. It flourished and quickly gained a reputation for high-quality copper and silver decorative metalwork. By 1888 nearly seventy men were attending the classes. By 1890 the school was exhibiting nationally and winning prizes. To accommodate the increased numbers of students Rawnsley raised funds for a purpose-built home for the school, adjacent to the River Greta. It opened in 1894 and in 1898 a full-time head, Harold Stabler, was appointed, succeeded in 1900 by Herbert Maryon. The school was mainly financed from sales of its products, and continued in operation until 1984. For the women of Keswick and the district the Rawnsleys introduced spinning and weaving classes, led by Marion Twelves, a protégée of Ruskin. Rawnsley was proud that when Ruskin died in 1900, the pall for the coffin was handspun and handwoven in Keswick under Twelves's direction. In 1887 Rawnsley revived the moribund Keswick and District Footpath Preservation Society, with the principal aim of stopping landowners blocking public rights of way across their land. The owner of Fawe Park, Portinscale, had done so between the Derwentwater shore and the slopes of Catbells. When persuasion failed, Rawnsley led hundreds of demonstrators to demolish the barriers. Bott comments that this dispute roused local passions, but that the next confrontation between Rawnsley and local landowners earned national headlines. The owner of Latrigg, a fell overlooking Keswick, attempted to block access along two paths and challenged the objectors to trespass, with a view to bringing a test case in court. The barriers were torn down and more than 2,000 people marched to the Latrigg summit. The case came to trial and a compromise was reached: one path remained closed but the other was recognised as an inalienable public right of way. In addition to his post at Crosthwaite, Rawnsley was