PICTURES IN THE SNOW DEC 2009

DEC 2009 -- SNOW IN KENDAL

Its Sunday Morning the 20th December 2009 and something very strange happened today :- Take a look:-

Yard 51 Stramongate

 

The Market Place, Kendal

The Sunday before Christmas -- and its snowing

Gives our Christmas Tree a Festive air...

WHATS ON AROUND KENDAL

Well its that time of year again, when normally sane people don ridiculious costumes in the name ofthe "panto", and this year rthe Brewery Arts Centre is showing "Alladin".
The pantomime is showing up to the 9th of january and further details can be found at
http://www.breweryarts.co.uk/event-detail.cfm?id=708&type=1 

"Made in Cumbria" are holding a christmas market in kendal market Place on Mon21st and Tuesday 22nd December from 09.30 to 13.30 daily, so get along and pick up those last minute presents .

On the 2nd Jan 2010, Ken Dodd makes a welcome return to Kendal and is playing at the Lakes Leisure Centre on Burton Road. Doors open at 18.30, but if you want to see this show , I'd get in touch with the booking office post haste, as Ken's visits to kendal are usually a complete sellout.. Tickets are £18.00.

Fancy visiting Santa with the children? well you can find him at Sizergh Castle in Santa's Christmas Grotto from Sat 12th  to Sun 20th December from 11am to 3.30pm  (Note : Saturdays and Sundays only).

Want to join in and sing? -get along to the United Reform Church Main Hall on Highgate on Sunday the 20th December at 4pm for a candle-lite Carol Service, i'm sure all will be welcome.
Well there are loads of other things going on --so leave your comments of the events not covered here, and a Merry Christmas to all my readers (errr is there anyone out there ???)

My Last posting for a while.

Sorry dear Reader,
But this is going to be my last posting for a while as I'm off to spend a few weeks
in Lancaster Royal Infirmary. Not my idea of fun, but these things have to be dealt with.
Kendal is holding a new "Foodie" event for the first time this year, and its called
"The Kendal Festival of Food" (now there's a novel title)It runs from the 24th to the 31 October and there are a wide variety of food related attractions and venues throughout the town. To find out more go to :
http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3121

One event not to be missed is the annual Mountain Festival which is being held
from 19th Nov (Thu) to 22nd Nov, 2009 (Sun) at the Brewery Arts Centre and
Kendal Town Hall and Shakespeare Centre.
Further details can be found at : http://www.mountainfest.co.uk/index.cfm?pageid=1
If your interested in "The great Outdoors" this is one not to be missed.

On a personal note , i was pleased to hear that approx 1/3rd of ambulance cases are now to be assessed at Westmorland General Hospital instead of being taken directly to the RLI at Lancaster. This is the first sensible thing the trust has done in months.

Having had the "pleasure " of riding in an ambulance to Lancaster recently , it ended up having a most enlightening discussion with one of the paramedics about the joys of trundling up and down the motorway day after day . Having been told about the lines of ambulances stood outside the RLI waiting to handover patients , i wondered who was providing cover in South Lakeland while these ambulances were sitting outside the Lancaster Hospital- and the truth seems to be --its No-one, despite what the "Trust" tells the public (Trust seems to be the worst possible name for this group of shiny seated bureaucrats).
So if you live in South Lakeland and your planning on having a heart attack -- my advice to you - either DONT or move to Lancaster first.

Another personal niggle -- South Lakeland Council finally got "Their Way" and have earmarked the free Car Park on New Road for closure. Why should this bother me -- well i must admit to using it from time to time. But recently it was not available over a weekend when i was staying with friends in that area, and it cost me over £9.00 during the 2 day stay. Not so much you may think -- well unfortunately I'm in and out of the RLI a lot at the moment so I'm living on a very modest income until I'm able to return to work, and the cost if i had to use the Council Pay and Display sites all week would amount to 40% of my gross income -so i either park my car legally and starve or park it illegally and end up with a parking ticket costing me even more. This exercise is nothing more that a means of adding to the Councils coffers, and as for the "public consultation" -i went 3 time to put my point of view when it was in Kendal only to find it unmanned -- (Me thinks -that way they don't get to hear things they don't like)

Hummm, i think this blog is turning into a personal rant on the things happening locally that i don't agree with.
Well dear reader, , what do you think of the format of the New Style Westmorland Gazette ? i am most interested to get your comments .

That's all for now , Here's hoping I'll be back to write to you again in a few weeks --

A sunny Saturday in September (2009) in Kendal

A close up of one of the flower arrangements outside the townhall
Crowds of shoppers enjoy the warm September sunshine
in Highgate, Kendal

Burneside Brass Band entertaining the crowds in Kendal

Taking a short break between pieces

Burneside Brass Band entertain the shoppers at the "Birdcage"

on Strickandgate, on Saturday 12th Sept 2009.

The band played a selection of pieces to suit many tastes during their

two hour concert, which was well received by the many people who

stopped to listen

More photos from the Torchlight Procession 2009

"Seedlings" being carried on the back of this vintage tractor.
Crowds enjoy the Fair on New Road.

Beautiful skies at Sunset on Torchlight night ensure a good crown to watch the festivities.

Kendal Torchlight Procession

11th Sept 2009 (40th Aniversary)

Kendal Torchlight Procession 11th Sept 2009

Balloon Sellers doing a roaring trade as darkness falls.
One of the many Shire Horses in the Procession

A "Very" small tractor in the parade of the tractors

Another example of an early tractor from the parade of Tractors

A vintage taxi in the procession.

Kendal Torchlight Procession 2009

One of the highlights of the annual Kendal Gathering Festivities

The Gathering has been an annual event for some 40 years since 1969, and the Torchlight procession continues to be one of the highlight events of this 2 week long festival.

This years procession had over 150 exhibits and with good weather, the crowds came out in force to suport the event.

The Carnegie Library in Kendal

Fig: Main Entrance to Kendal Library.

The Opening Times for the Library are listed below:-

Monday 09.30 to 19.00

Tuesday 09.30 to 17.00

Wednesday 09.30 to 19.00

Thursday 09.30 to 12.00 (noon)

Friday 09.30 to 17.00

Saturday 09.30 to 15.30

Sunday 12.00 to 16.00

Membership of the Library is free, but you will be required to provide proof of identification to avail yourself of all the libraries services

On online application form is available and can be located at

Cumbria County Council Library Service Website

The Library was opened in 1909 and replaced the Old Town Library which was situated in the Market Place. The Library is named after Andrew Carnegie who was an American Millionaire of Scottish Decent who made his fortune in Oil, Iron & Steel, and Railway Sleeping Cars. He started his working life as a "Bobbin" boy at the age of 13, becoming a Telegraph boy at 14 earning $2.50 per week and went on to amass a vast fortune.

He used this fortune for the betterment of mankind and endowed many libraries in the USA, Cananda, UK including Kendal Library and other English Speaking countries.

In addition to the supurb lending library, Kendal library has a fine reference section , local history section, I.T Section and boasts video (dvd) , audio, and music libraries.

It is well worth a visit even if only to wile away a wet afternoon -but I think you'll be back.

The River Kent (Town Centre Views)and Bridge Mills

The River Kent taken from Stramongate Bridge

Looking towards Goose Holme

with Ruins of Kendal Castle in the Distance

A similar view to the above,

but the white building in the centre of the photo

was part of Kendal High School for Girls.

Another view from Stramongate Bridge

looking up the river to Victoria Bridge

with the office block that replaced Bridge Mills

on the left bank of the river.

Bridge Mills was the main Knitting Factory

for E.W. Thompson's better known locally as "K" Socks.

K Socks employed over 400 people at four factories

in the area, two in Kendal and two in Kirkby Stephen, and

was one of Kendal's largest employers for many years.

In the 1970s it was supplying to many of the leading retail companies in the UK

including Marks and Spencer, and Woolworths

The Managing Director at this time was Alan Collison

(whose office was in the Sandes Ave site) and

Alan Oates (whose office was in Bridge Mills)was the Production Director.

Located close to the Town Hall this view shows the yard leading to the South Lakeland District Council Offices. (health and Safety) -- we now have the new addition of a hand rail

This view shows a yard further up from the Town Hall thta also connects to the SLDC offices

The Fleece Inn Yard

One of the "Newer" yards "Wainwright Yard"

Home of the Westmorland Gazette Offices as well as a wide variety of shops including

Hadwins Electrical an old established Kendal business,

and Booths Supermarket.

The yard leads through to Lower Fellside close to

the Quiggins Kendal Mint Cake Factory.

This picture was taken close to the entrance opposite

the Market Place.

Kendal was honeycombed with yards in the past, but many were destroyed in a bid to "upgrade" the town centre in the 1970s, but some survive to this day and many are well

worth a visit. The picture above shows Yard 51 in Stramongate, one of the smaller yards,

but quite pretty thanks to the efforts of the residents in the three houses that form the top part of the yard .

KENDAL A TOWN OF YARDS

WELCOME TO MY KENDAL TOWN BLOG

Thanks for stopping bye.

I hope to provide an insight into Kendal both for visitors and residents, bye posting information of Kendal's History, its present , and its future. With information on its business life past and present, its "Places of Interest" , on its people and links to other sites which may prove of interest to anyone interested in Kendal , The Lake District , and Cumbria

The above picture was taken on a quiet Sunday afternoon in June 2009 and shows Kendal Town Hall looking towards Highgate. The Town hall started life as the "Assembley Rooms" in 1825 and did not become the "TownHall" until some 40 years later. The Belltower and Clock were inaugurated in June 1897. Every three hours during the day the carillion places a different folk tune at 9am, 12noon, 3pm and 6 pm. The clock strikes each hour and chimes each quarter hour.

The Town Hall is a landmark in Kendal and can be seen from many parts of the town. Great for visitors as it currently houses the Visitor Information Centre.

For more information on The Town Hall try this link to the "Visit Cumbria" website

http://www.visitcumbria.com/kendal/kendal-tic.htm

Future Blogs will have photos from all over the town , many featuring some of the "yards" that make Kendal famous (well almost as famous as our Mint Cake).

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