In 1984 theatre group leader Anne Hopper stepped centre stage in Kendal to pick up a trophy she never expected.

Mrs Hooper, chair of Ulverston Outsiders, received the Francis and Frieda Scott memorial trophy for the best musical production in Cumbria of the year. It was handed over by memorial trustee Olive Clarke.

The award was a surprise because the Outsiders’ production of Cabaret had been entered in the Cumbria awards section for drama.

“Cabaret was described as a play with music,” said Mrs Hopper. “We were astonished to win the award for best musical.”

In 1990 Ulverston Outsiders performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Coronation Hall.

The cast included Robin Twyford as Lysander and Kerry Willison-Parry as Hermia.

Helena was played by Diane Hunt and Neil Metcalfe portrayed Bottom.

Michelle Hindmarsh-Bissett was Puck and Titania was played by Julie Lloyd.

The play was directed by Neil Curry and Neil Metcalfe.

Also in 1990, Ulverston Outsiders had the audience rolling in the aisles when they presented Willy Russell’s One for the Road at the Coronation Hall.

Dennis Cain, played in macho style by Neil Metcalfe in Ulverston Outsiders’ production, wants to escape from his dormer bungalow on the Castlehills Estate with a nine to five job, a telly, dishwasher, wife and children.

Life becomes unbearable when the estate snobs and organisers of neighbourhood watch and every other association come to dinner.

Dennis’s wife, Pauline, played with a convincing Liverpool accent by Kerry Willison-Parry, is anxious to impress guests Jane and Roger, but Dennis, disenchanted by the whole caboodle, couldn’t care less.

Jane Fuller, played in a suitably sniffy aitch-dropping manner by Julie Lloyd, and Chris Baron as Roger, her pet poodle of a husband, arrive bursting with the news that their garden has been vandalised.

In 1988 another Furness arts group, the Young Image Musical Society, performed Babes in the Wood, which features Robin Hood and his Merry Men.